Europe's drugs regulator will review the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University this month under an accelerated timeline, the watchdog said on Tuesday.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS * Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals https://apac1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1592404098 for a case tracker and summary of news.
EUROPE
* The European Commission plans to conclude this week preliminary talks with French company Valneva over the advance purchase of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
* Chancellor Angela Merkel has told lawmakers in her conservative party that she expects a lockdown in Germany to last until the start of April, top-selling Bild daily reported.
* Spain aims for all its nursing home residents to have received a first dose of vaccine by the end of the week.
* Polish retailers are considering suing the state over coronavirus restrictions, arguing the rules unfairly discriminate against clothing and other shops.
* Sweden has vaccinated around 80,000 people since it began with its programme last month, the Public Health Agency said.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* China imposed new curbs in areas near Beijing, putting 4.9 million people in Langfang city under lockdown as new infections raised worries about a second wave.
* Japan is considering extending a state of emergency further beyond Tokyo to include Aichi prefecture and other central and western areas.
* Malaysia on Tuesday declared a state of emergency as it reported 3,309 new cases, the biggest daily rise since the start of the pandemic, while Indonesia reported a daily record of 302 new deaths, bringing total fatalities to 24,645.
* Indian airlines started delivering batches of COVID-19 vaccines nationwide, preparing for the launch of a campaign to offer shots to 1.3 billion people.
AMERICAS
* The Trump administration plans to release vaccine doses it has been holding back for second shots and will urge states to offer them to all Americans over age 65.
* U.S. greenhouse gas emissions fell 10.3% in 2020, the largest drop in emissions in the post-World War II era, according to a report.
* Mexico is considering acquiring 24 million doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine and will receive its first batch of AstraZeneca jabs from Argentina to finish production of them.
* Ontario is considering "next steps" amid calls to put Canada's most populous province under more stringent lockdown.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Two senior Malawian cabinet ministers and two other senior political figures died on Tuesday from COVID-19.
* Nigeria is working on what type and quantity of COVID-19 vaccines to procure and will make financial provision for them in its 2021 budget, finance minister said. The country expects to receive 20% of the vaccines in donations.
* Turkey will begin administering vaccines as of Thursday or Friday, while Egypt expects to start receiving shots through the Geneva-based GAVI vaccine alliance in the coming weeks.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* British drugmaker GSK and U.S.-based Vir Biotechnology will evaluate a second antibody-based treatment in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 in an early- to mid-stage trial, the companies said.
* The vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech showed a general efficacy of less than 60% in its late-stage trial in Brazil.
* Pfizer's partner BioNTech boosted the 2021 delivery target for its vaccine to 2 billion doses, up from 1.3 billion previously.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Wall Street was headed for a steady start on Tuesday as a sell- off in U.S. Treasuries lifted demand for the dollar and markets hoped for a calmer countdown to Joe Biden's inauguration next week. [MKTS/GLOB]
* Japanese bank lending continued to rise in December to hit a fresh record, as companies kept piling up cash to weather the fallout from the pandemic.
(Compiled by Anita Kobylinska and Ramakrishnan M.; Edited by Shailesh Kuber and Angus MacSwan)
