Medical research

The European drugs regulator could soon give the go ahead for an extra sixth dose to be extracted from Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine vials, an EU official told Reuters on Wednesday, lifting the number of available shots at a time when supplies are short.

The EU cleared a second coronavirus vaccine for use on Jan. 6 bringing relief to European countries struggling with spiraling infections, as the world clocked up a record number of deaths in a single day.

More than 1 million people in England now have coronavirus, the British government said, as medics race to vaccinate the most vulnerable against the rapidly spreading disease.

Peaking case rates from the new virus strain mean one person in every 50 in England now has Covid-19, while in London one in 30 is infected, official survey results showed.

Turkey's health minister announced early on Jan. 6 that three inactive COVID-19 vaccine candidates are ready for human trials. 

Fahrettin Koca said 17 different COVID-19 vaccine candidates are currently being developed in Turkey, and among them, "three of our candidate vaccines have applied to the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency for starting testing on humans."

India will begin exporting locally-made coronavirus vaccines within weeks of their launch, a foreign ministry official has confirmed.

The official dismissed reports that India would ban exports of vaccines it is producing to meet local demand.

India makes about 60% of vaccines globally and many countries are eagerly waiting for it to begin shipping doses.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin has discussed possibilites for closer cooperation in the coronavirus pandemic situation. The two leaders are said to have discussed possible ways of jointly producing vaccines during a phone call.

The health ministries of thw two countries will continue the talks on the matter together with exeprts.

Vaccination against the coronavirus with Russia's Sputnik V will begin in Serbia on January 5, state oficial Mirsad Djerlek told reporters on Monday.

"During this week, 2,400 doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine will be used. Most likely, the first batch of this vaccine will be used tomorrow," Djerlek was quoted by Tanjug news agency as saying.

One week after the COVID-19 vaccine is given, antibody production begins. This was stated this evening before BNT by Dr. Alexander Simidchiev, a pulmonologist, head of the department for functional diagnostics at the Ministry of Interior hospital.

This was stated tonight by the State Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Mirsad Djerlek.
He told RTS that the interest of citizens in vaccination is great, which shows that there is a very high awareness that vaccination is the best way to fight the coronavirus.

Greece started vaccinating elderly care home residents against Covid-19 on Monday in the next phase of its inoculation campaign that begun nine days ago.

Officials want around 100,000 health care workers, care home residents and other vulnerable people to be inoculated against the coronavirus by Jan. 20, before rolling out the vaccine to the wider population.