Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis
From: Sebastian-A Molineus <[email-masked]>
To: Natela Turnava <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, Evgenij Najdov <[email-masked]>, Ahmet Levent Yener <[email-masked]>, Abdulaziz Faghi <[email-masked]>, Thea Gigiberia <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 02 Apr 2021 07:05:26 +0000

Dear colleagues – please find attached and below our weekly WB COVID-19 and Vaccine Monitoring report and presentation with key indicators across the region. A nice weekend to all.

Sebastian

2021

Mar 31

Summary – Key Development

Global COVID-19 Numbers as of March 30, 2021 (7 pm ET):

127,880,539
cases

2,796,431
deaths

Fully vaccinated:  126.62 million

Number of doses administered:
564.56 million

Front runner countries (vaccine doses administered per capita): Israel, UAE, Chile,
UK, Bahrain, USA, Serbia, Hungary, Qatar, Morocco, Turkey.

Globally,
new COVID-19 cases rose for a fifth consecutive week, with just over 3.8 million new cases reported in the last week. The number of new deaths increased for the second consecutive week, increasing by 5% compared to last
week, with over 64,000 new deaths reported.

Global
Leaders Unite in Urgent Call for International Pandemic Treaty – 25 heads of government and international agencies come together in extraordinary joint call for a new treaty that would signal high-level political action needed to protect the world
from future health crises.

In countries where the B.1.1.7 variant is dominating, the
picture is getting much worse.

Pfizer
and Moderna vaccines were 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 infection in a real-world setting.

The T cell response—a
crucial element of the immune system—induced by infection with the original coronavirus was shown to be protective against the top 3 virus variants, those first discovered in the UK, South Africa, and Brazil.

India reports novel COVID-19 variant, daily deaths at year’s high.

COVID-19
vaccine hesitancy could lead to thousands of extra deaths - High numbers of people refusing or delaying a vaccine could increase the mortality rate by up to eight times compared with ideal vaccination uptake.

Asian countries scrambled to find alternative sources for COVID-19 inoculations on Tuesday after export restrictions by manufacturer India left a World
Health Organization-backed global vaccine sharing programme short of supplies.

Johnson
& Johnson would start delivering its single-shot Covid vaccine to Europe on April 19, giving the continent a boost as it struggles to speed up its vaccination drive.

Johnson&Johnson
will supply up to 220 million doses of its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine to African Union’s 55 member states from the third quarter of 2021.

BioNTech-Pfizer
raise 2021 vaccine output goal to 2.5 billion doses.

India suffers highest
daily coronavirus infections in five months.

Headlines and Epidemiology update

Update on Key Tools

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Update

Number of weekly confirmed cases reported

IBRD: 2,553,796

IDA-eligible: 149,032

Number of weekly confirmed deaths reported

IBRD: 8,987

IDA-eligible: 2,309

Total number of confirmed cases

IBRD: 61,188,745

IDA-eligible: 3,781,306

Total number of confirmed deaths

IBRD: 1,453,792

IDA-eligible: 69,950

58.1% of all new weekly COVID-19 cases (Mar 22-29) are reported in IBRD countries, 3.4% in IDA-eligible countries and 38.1% in high-income
countries. Likewise, 65.3% of all COVID-19 deaths since last week are reported in IBRD countries, 3.1% in IDA-eligible countries and 31.6% in high-income countries.

Of the total COVID-19 cases: 48.2% were reported in IBRD countries, 3.0% were reported in IDA-eligible countries, and 48.8% in High-income
countries.

Epidemiology Update – New SARS-CoV-2 variants

In countries where the B.1.1.7 variant is dominating, the picture is getting
much worse. French ICUs are packed with 5,000+ COVID-19 patients for the first time since April 2020. Turkey has reached record daily case numbers. Canada reports rising case numbers and hospitalizations.

Brazil’s out-of-control outbreak could seed more dangerous
variants, given “the virus’s track record of acquiring mutations in areas where it abounds,”. The P.1 variant first discovered in Manaus has since reached 34 other countries—and has been shown to be “more pernicious than its predecessors.”

The T cell response—a crucial element
of the immune system—induced by infection with the original coronavirus was shown to be protective against the top 3 virus variants, those first discovered in the UK, South Africa, and Brazil.

India reports novel COVID-19 variant, daily deaths at year’s high.

In Brazil, more young people seem to be getting severely ill and dying from Covid-19.

VACCINES AND VARIANTS

NEW VARIANTS

Source:
WHO
; Date: 03/30/2021

Other Headlines

Globally, new COVID-19 cases rose for a fifth consecutive week, with just over 3.8 million new cases reported in the last week. The number of new deaths increased for the second consecutive week, increasing
by 5% compared to last week, with over 64,000 new deaths reported. All regions reported an increase in the number of cases this week. Europe and the Americas continue to account for approximately 80% of all new and cumulative cases and deaths.

AMR and COVID-19 Many Hospitalized COVID-19
Patients Are Given Antibiotics.  As the Covid-19 pandemic continues into its second year, public health experts are increasingly concerned that the response to this global crisis may be
accelerating another one: the development and persistence of the antibiotic-resistant bacteria known as superbugs. Why? All antibiotic use hastens the emergence of resistance. And although antibiotics aren’t used to treat Covid-19, which is a viral illness,
they’re often prescribed to Covid-19 patients who are at risk for bacterial infection.

First baby born
with COVID antibodies after mom got the Moderna vaccine— here's why that matters.

Global
Leaders Unite in Urgent Call for International Pandemic Treaty – 25 heads of government and international agencies come together in extraordinary joint call for a new treaty that would signal high-level political action needed to protect the world from
future health crises. The main goal of a new international treaty for pandemic preparedness and response would be to foster a comprehensive, multi-sectoral approach to strengthen national, regional and global capacities and resilience to future pandemics.

COVID-19 drives a more severe form of acute kidney injury.

UPDATE ON KEY TOOLS

Vaccine Development and WHO approval

Shanghai
mRNA COVID-19 vaccine begins phase 1 clinical trials -The double-blind placebo-controlled vaccine trials are being conducted among people at high risk of contracting COVID-19 aged 18 and
above.

Pfizer
has started a clinical trial testing its COVID-19 vaccine on healthy 6-month to 11-year old children, a crucial step in obtaining
federal regulatory clearance to start vaccinating young kids and controlling the pandemic.

AstraZeneca
has begun advertising for participants in an early-stage trial to deliver the COVID-19
vaccine it jointly developed with AstraZeneca as a nasal spray.

Novavax’s
Covid-19 Vaccine Trials Start in India with the aim of launching it by September.

mRNA
vaccines and monoclonal antibodies protect against new NYC-B.1.526 variant research team tested how susceptible the B.1.526 variants were to neutralizing antibodies from convalescent plasma,
monoclonal antibodies, and mRNA vaccines.

Pfizer
and Moderna vaccines were 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 infection in a real-world setting.

Vaccine effectiveness of the first
dose of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 and BNT162b2 against SARS-CoV-2 infection in residents of Long-Term Care Facilities (VIVALDI study).
The first dose of BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1 vaccines was associated with substantially reduced SARS-CoV-2 infection risk in LTCF residents.

Vaccine  Access, Delivery, and Rollout

UK
will produce up to 60m doses of Covid-19 vaccine under a new deal to boost domestic supply, due to potential export bans hitting shipments of vaccines from Europe and India.

BioNTech-Pfizer
raise 2021 vaccine output goal to 2.5 billion doses.

Iran’s
‘Fakhra’ vaccine to be mass-produced by late May.

EMA
gives BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Moderna approval for new COVID-19 production facilities which will become one of the largest mRNA vaccine manufacturing sites in Europe and the world. Elsewhere,
additional sites are also set to produce AstraZeneca and Moderna doses.

BioNTech-Pfizer
Raise 2021 Vaccine Output Goal to 2.5 Billion Doses after opening of a new German facility.

Canada
to pause AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine use for those under 55, require new risk analysis based on age and gender.

EU
leaders support “global value chains” rather than support Brussels in using new powers to block COVID-19
jab exports to highly vaccinated countries, despite being told that 21m doses had been sent to the UK.

Novavax
is delaying signing a contract to supply its COVID-19 vaccine to the European Union as the U.S. biotech company warned it was struggling to source some raw materials.

UK
is reportedly planning on giving millions of Covid-19 vaccines to Ireland in a bid to stave off a third wave in Northern Ireland.

China's
CanSino has proposed supplying "tens of millions of doses" of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine to the global vaccine-sharing scheme COVAX .

Russia
has celebrated the arrival of its homegrown vaccine, Sputnik V, in Latin America and Africa, and even in some countries in Europe, calling it a solution to shortages around the world, while importing vaccines at home.

Russian
Direct Investment Fund  had reached an agreement with China's Shenzhen Yuanxing Gene-tech to produce over 60 million doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus in China,
with production due to start in May.

COVID-19
vaccine hesitancy could lead to thousands of extra deaths - High numbers of people refusing or delaying a vaccine could increase the mortality rate by up to eight times compared with ideal
vaccination uptake. The team estimate that this hesitancy would lead to an extra 236 deaths per million population over a two year period for a vaccine with high efficacy.

Asian
countries scrambled to find alternative sources for COVID-19 inoculations on Tuesday after export restrictions by manufacturer India left a World Health Organization-backed global vaccine
sharing programme short of supplies.

Johnson
& Johnson would start delivering its single-shot Covid vaccine to Europe on April 19, giving the continent a boost as it struggles to speed up its vaccination drive.

Israel
plans to buy millions of additional doses of coronavirus vaccine that may be used once its initial inoculation drive is complete.

A new factory in
Abu Dhabi
will start manufacturing Sinopharm’s COVID-19 vaccine later this year.

India
extends shelf life of AstraZeneca vaccine.

Third
Covid vaccine in India likely to be approved soon.

Africa (AFE and AFW)

Johnson&Johnson
will supply up to 220 million doses of its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine to African Union’s 55 member states from the third quarter of 2021.

Ethiopia
expects to receive a consignment of 300,000 doses of the China-backed Sinopharm vaccines on March 30.

Kenya
confirms presence of new Covid-19 variants.

Mali
approves Russia's Sputnik V vaccine.

Europe and Central Asia

Excess deaths in Russia
suggest Covid death toll is closer to 450,000 than the official number of 94,000.

Ukraine
and Bulgaria are reporting record numbers of COVID-19 deaths and cases, respectively,;  in the

Bulgarian city of Yambol, 98% of hospital beds are occupied.

Uzbekistan
to start mass coronavirus vaccination from April 1.

A third wave of coronavirus infections was emerging in
Russia,
which has recorded more than 4.5 million cases since the start of the pandemic.

East Asia and Pacific

A court in
Vietnam
on Tuesday issued a two-year suspended jail term to a flight attendant over breaking COVID-19 quarantine rules and allegedly spreading the virus to others.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Despite
Chile’s speedy covid-19 vaccination drive, cases soar in the country.

Brazil to spend extra $1 billion to fight
pandemic as country hits daily death record.

Hospitals in
Ecuador's capital overwhelmed by COVID-19 infections.

Middle-East and North Africa

Egypt's
COVID-19 robot hospital assistant might just save lives.

South Asia Region

Pakistan
continues to grapple with third wave of coronavirus. Pakistan’s President and
Finance Minister test positive for COVID-19 as hospitals reach capacity.

India
has highest number of critical cases. India
pushes ahead with coronavirus vaccination drive to head off new surge.

India
donates 200,000 vaccines to protect UN blue helmets against COVID.

India
suffers highest daily coronavirus infections in five months.

Mobility

Nairobi goes into partial lockdown.

Philippine Capital Back
in Lockdown as cases surge.

Treatment

Lilly-Vir's
COVID-19 antibody treatments reduced viral load in low-risk COVID-19 patients, results from a mid-stage trial showed.

Cynata
Theraputics is all set to expand recruitment criteria in its active MEseNchymal coviD-19 (MEND) clinical trial of Cymerus mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in intensive care patients with respiratory failure.

How
new insights into COVID's spike protein could guide treatment design SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind the COVID-19 pandemic, is structurally similar to SARS-CoV-1, the virus that caused a much smaller outbreak two decades ago. So why has today’s iteration
of the virus been so much more infectious?

The
PROTECT-V trial investigating UNIONs COVID-19 candidate receives Urgent Public Health Prioritization from the UK government

Pfizer
began the phase one trial of a pill to treat COVID-19. The treatment is a potent protease inhibitor, the same kind of technology used to treat HIV and hepatitis C. The pill demonstrated potent in vitro anti-viral activity against SARS-CoV-2, as well as activity
against other coronaviruses.

New
phase III data shows investigational antibody cocktail casirivimab and imdevimab
reduced hospitalization or death by 70% in non-hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

Foresee
Pharmaceuticals FP-025 showed significant therapeutic efficacy in preclinical inflammation and fibrosis models of the lung, suggesting that FP-025 may potentially avert the lung injury
and fibrosis caused by COVID–19 infections.

Antibody
agents effective at neutralizing European, South African, and United States SARS-CoV-2 variants - Researchers in the United States have demonstrated the effectiveness of three antibody
agents at neutralizing recently emerged variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Diagnostics

New
economical test can accurately detect covid-19 antibodies in a drop of blood in less than an hour.

Thank you and kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

From: Sebastian-A Molineus

Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2021 4:29 PM

To: Natela Turnava ; [email-masked]; [email-masked]' ; [email-masked]; [email-masked]'

Cc: Ekaterine Mikabadze ; [email-masked]; [email-masked]' ; [email-masked]' ; [email-masked]; Evgenij Najdov ; Ahmet Levent Yener ;
Abdulaziz Faghi ; Thea Gigiberia

Subject: RE: Our standing WB offer to support the government of Georgia during the COVID-19 crisis

Dear colleagues – please find attached our weekly WB COVID-19 Monitoring report and presentation with key indicators across the region. Two highlights re. AZ:

AstraZeneca advised that a review of safety data from 17 million people vaccinated in the EU and the UK has shown no evidence of an increased risk of blood clots, in any defined age
group, gender, batch or in any particular country.

Please find a link to AZ’s most recent link on its efficacy rate:

https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2021/azd1222-us-phase-iii-primary-analysis-confirms-safety-and-efficacy.html

Thank you,

Sebastian

2021

Mar 24

Summary – Key Development

Global COVID-19 Numbers as of March 23, 2021 (7 pm ET):

123,968,736
cases

2,728,117
deaths

Fully vaccinated:  104.12
million

Number of doses administered:
458.13 million

Front runner countries (vaccine doses administered per capita): Israel, UAE, Chile,
UK, Bahrain, USA, Serbia, Hungary, Qatar, Morocco.

WHO epidemiological update: Globally, COVID-19
confirmed cases continued to rise for a fourth consecutive week, with just under 3.3 million new cases reported in the last week.

IHME reports that global case increases in recent weeks are
being driven by the spread of the P1 VOC in LAC; and the spread of the VOC 501Y.V1, compounded by increases in mobility and decreases in mask use, in Europe and the US.

India reports novel coronavirus
variant, daily deaths at year's high.

UNICEF, WHO and UNFPA report that
drastic cuts in the availability and use of essential public health services across South Asia, due to COVID-19, may have contributed to an estimated 239,000 additional child and maternal deaths in 2020.

Past infection confers 80.5 per cent protection against
reinfection, which decreases to 47.1 per cent in those aged 65 years and older. These findings show the importance of policies to protect the elderly during the pandemic.

Tuberculosis may have claimed an extra 500,000 lives in 2020 because of the lack of TB diagnosis and care, according to a new

WHO report published ahead of World TB Day.

WHO listed
the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine (Johnson & Johnson) for emergency use in all countries and for COVAX roll-out. COVAX has shipped over 30 million vaccines to 52 economies.

AstraZeneca will publish up-to-date results from its major
U.S. COVID-19 vaccine trial within 48 hours after health officials publicly criticized the drug maker for using “outdated information” to show
how well the immunization worked. Earlier last
week,
AZ had announced results from Phase 3 trial in Chile, Peru, and the US, claiming the vaccine was 79% effective.

AstraZeneca advised that
a review of safety data from 17 million people vaccinated in the EU and the UK has shown no evidence of an increased risk of blood clots, in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country.

Nearly 1 in 4 people
in the US have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, US CDC data shows.

The first 165,000 AZ doses of up to 7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses that MTN Group is donating to African Union countries have

arrived in Ghana.

UN
Deputy Secretary-General highlights that the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region has reported 27.8 per cent of global deaths due to the pandemic despite representing only 8.4 per cent of the global
population.

India restricts vaccine exports amid rising COVID-19 cases.
The Serum Institute of India (SII),
has told Brazil, Morocco and Saudi Arabia that further supplies of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine will be delayed.

Nepal becomes third country
to give emergency approval to Indian vaccine COVAXIN.

Headlines and Epidemiology update

Update on Key Tools

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Update

Number of weekly confirmed cases reported

IBRD: 1,652,390

IDA-eligible: 87,388

Number of weekly confirmed deaths reported

IBRD: 34,098

IDA-eligible: 1,391

Total number of confirmed cases

IBRD: 58,634,949

IDA-eligible: 3,632,274

Total number of confirmed deaths

IBRD: 1,404,805

IDA-eligible: 67,641

50.1% of all new weekly COVID-19 cases (March 15-22) are reported in IBRD countries, 2.6% in IDA-eligible countries and 47.3% in high-income
countries. Likewise, 57.6% of all COVID-19 deaths since last week are reported in IBRD countries, 2.4% in IDA-eligible countries and 40.0% in high-income countries.

Of the total COVID-19 cases: 47.9% were reported in IBRD countries, 3.0% were reported in IDA-eligible countries, and 49.2% in High-income
countries.

Epidemiology Update – New SARS-CoV-2 variants

IHME reports that global case
increases in recent weeks are being driven by the spread of the P1 variant of concern in Brazil, Peru and some neighboring areas; and the spread of the VOC 501Y.V1 (VOC 202012/01) variant of concern, compounded by increases in mobility and decreases in mask
use, in Europe and the US. IMHE states that helping South America to vaccinate on an accelerated basis should be a global priority.

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
estimate a 55 per cent higher hazard of death associated with the VOC 202012/01 variant of concern. This analysis suggests that this variant is not only more transmissible than pre-existing variants, but may also cause more severe illness.

Supercomputer analysis reveals
why B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 Coronavirus Variants Are More Contagious, Deadly.

The neutralizing-antibody response to four variants
is compared in infected and vaccinated individuals to determine how mutations within the spike protein are associated with virus neutralization.

India reports novel coronavirus variant, daily
deaths at year's high.

VACCINES AND VARIANTS

Source:
WHO
Date March 16th, 2021

Other Headlines

WHO
epidemiological update: Globally, COVID-19 confirmed cases continued to rise for a fourth consecutive week, with just under 3.3 million new cases reported in the last week (ten percent
increase from last week). At the same time, the number of new deaths reported plateaued after a six week decrease, with just over 60,000 new deaths reported.

UNICEF,
WHO and UNFPA report that drastic cuts in the availability and use of essential public health services across South Asia, due to COVID-19, may have contributed to an estimated 239,000
additional child and maternal deaths in 2020.

G7 nations
support the IMF’s plan to increase aid for low-income nations.

Past infection
confers 80.5 per cent protection against reinfection, which decreases to 47.1 per cent in those aged 65 years and older. These findings show the importance of policies to protect the elderly during the pandemic.

Domestic travel measures
implemented in Wuhan were effective at reducing the importation of cases internationally and within China, and additional travel restrictions were also likely important. The findings highlight the need to evaluate the potential effectiveness of travel measures
using a risk and context-based assessment and suggest the need to strengthen WHO’s
PHEIC procedures.

Tuberculosis may have claimed an extra 500,000 lives in 2020 because of the lack of TB diagnosis and care, according to a new

WHO report published ahead of World TB Day today. According to the report, 1.4 million fewer people received the TB care they needed in 2020 compared to the year before.

The virus that causes the
common cold can effectively remove the Covid virus out of the
body's cells, say researchers.

UPDATE ON KEY TOOLS

Vaccine Development and WHO approval

AstraZeneca
advised that a review of safety data from 17 million people vaccinated in the EU and the UK has shown no evidence of an increased risk of blood clots, in any defined age group, gender,
batch or in any particular country.

CureVac’s
COVID-19 vaccine candidate, CVnCoV, demonstrates protection against SARS-CoV-2 B.1.351 variant (first seen in South Africa) in preclinical challenge study.

Clinical trials approved
for CanSino’s inhaled COVID-19 vaccine.

Premas
Biotech, an Indian firm has collaborated with American company Oramed Pharmaceuticals Inc. and announced the development of an oral Covid-19 vaccine candidate that has shown efficacy after
a single dose.

German
group Curevac said Monday it will broaden its mRNA Covid vaccine trials to include new virus variants as it aims to file for EU approval in the second quarter of 2021.

Sinovac
said its COVID-19 vaccine is safe in children ages 3-17, based on preliminary data, and it has submitted the data to Chinese drug regulators.

ZyCoV-D by
Zydus Cadila, is undergoing phase III trials. The DNA plasmid platform vaccine is expected to be approved by May-June.

Vaccine  Access, Delivery, and Rollout

WHO
listed the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine (Johnson & Johnson) for emergency use in all countries and for COVAX roll-out. COVAX has shipped over 30 million vaccines to 52 economies.

An editorial in
The Lancet and a
letter in The BMJ raised the idea of appointing a Global Vaccine Coordinator, who would lead an international effort for the equitable distribution of vaccines. The authors argue that clear leadership and oversight are needed to organize what has become largely
a piecemeal vaccination effort, with nations, NGOs, and the private sector working independently or bilaterally. While a centralized global champion or body could provide high-level coordination for global vaccine allocation and distribution, it would be a
major challenge to ensure they have the authority necessary to compel national governments and private sector companies to participate

AstraZeneca will publish
up-to-date results from its major U.S. COVID-19 vaccine trial within 48 hours after health officials publicly criticized the drug maker for using “outdated information” to show
how well the immunization worked.
Earlier last week, AZ
had announced results from Phase 3 trial in Chile, Peru, and the US, claiming the vaccine was 79% effective.

Nearly
1 in 4 people in the US have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, US CDC data shows.

A

large plant to manufacture Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine was cleared by U.S. regulators on Tuesday, setting the stage for the weekly U.S. supply to surge more then 20 percent.

Early successes in
developing vaccines
by upstarts like Moderna and BioNTech now face the next phase: manufacturing doses on an enormous scale.

The European
Medicines Agency plans to inspect the Sputnik V vaccine production facility to see if it can be authorized in the EU.

The European Medicines Agency declared that the AZ vaccine was “safe and effective,” and the
rollout resumed in France
on Friday. However, the reboot efforts were sluggish.

Swiss drugs regulator
Swissmedic approved Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, but has so far not ordered J&J’s one-shot vaccine.

India's
Stelis Biopharma to make 200 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine.

Africa (AFE and AFW)

South Africa
sells AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines to other African countries.

Several African nations
including DR Congo, Cape Verde and eSwatini have suspended the use of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine citing possible side-effects.

The first 165,000 AZ doses of up to 7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses that MTN Group is donating to African Union countries have

arrived in Ghana.

Kenya
hospitals run out of ICU beds as Covid-19 impact hits hard.

Mauritius
increases lockdown measures to combat Covid-19 spread.

Mauritius
receives 200,000 doses of Covaxin Vaccine from government of India.

Europe and Central Asia

Excess deaths in Russia
suggest Covid death toll is closer to 450,000 than the official number of 94,000.

Ukraine
and Bulgaria are reporting record numbers of COVID-19 deaths and cases, respectively,;  in the

Bulgarian city of Yambol, 98% of hospital beds are occupied.

Uzbekistan
to start mass coronavirus vaccination from April 1.

East Asia and Pacific

Moderna
announced that the Philippines has secured 7 million additional doses of COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna through a new supply agreement, bringing its confirmed order commitment
up to 20 million doses.

Vietnam
is expected to have the first batch of locally-produced COVID-19 vaccines at the end of the third quarter of 2021.

Singapore
and Malaysia to work towards mutual recognition of Covid-19 vaccine certificates and progressively restore cross-border travel.

China’s
daily output of COVID-19 vaccines has reached about 5 million doses, more than tripling the 1.5 million-dose daily production rate on Feb. 1.

Indonesia
to resume use of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.

Papua
New Guinea will kick-off its coronavirus vaccination program by this weekend, helped by 8,000 AstraZeneca doses from neighboring Australia as it tries to prevent its basic health system being overwhelmed by a surge in COVID-19 cases.

Macau,
China has suspended the use of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by BioNTech SE due to defects found in the caps of some vials.

Latin America and the Caribbean

UN
Deputy Secretary-General highlights that the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region has reported 27.8 per cent of global deaths due to the pandemic despite representing only 8.4 per
cent of the global population.

The
IMF warns
that the economic impact of the pandemic may be felt in the Caribbean long after the health emergency is controlled due to its heavy reliance on tourism. Assuming no new external financing and realistic tourism scenarios, the IMF estimates the region’s financing
gap at around US$ 4 billion, 4.8 per cent of regional GDP.

Uruguay confirmed on Monday that it had detected the presence of two coronavirus variants that originated
in neighboring Brazil as the tiny South American nation faces a spike in cases and deaths.

Chile has vaccinated 25% of its population
against COVID-19.

Chile’s
fast vaccination program has reached the shores of Antarctica.

Colombia will impose new restrictions on movement and
enact nightly curfews in municipalities with high occupancy levels in intensive care units as it tries to avoid a severe third wave of COVID-19.

Middle-East and North Africa

The Egyptian government
hopes to sign an agreement with China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd before the end of March to manufacture its coronavirus vaccine in Egypt.

Egypt receives its second shipment of Covid-19 vaccines
as a gift from China.

Jordan records 109 COVID-19 deaths, highest daily toll since start of pandemic.

South Asia Region

Pakistan
has bought more than 1 million doses of Chinese Sinopharm and CanSino Biologics COVID-19 vaccines, its first purchase from any manufacturer having previously relied on donations.

India’s health ministry
warned that a huge gathering of devotees for a Hindu festival could send coronavirus cases surging as the country recorded the most new infections in nearly four months.

Bangladesh
sees highest cases in a day in 8 months.

Understanding Covid-19
vaccine wastage in India.

Mumbai,
India to randomly test for Covid at crowded places without consent.

India
restricts vaccine exports amid rising COVID-19 cases.

The
Serum Institute of India (SII), has told Brazil, Morocco and Saudi Arabia that further supplies of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine will be delayed.

Nepal
becomes third country to give emergency approval to Indian vaccine COVAXIN.

The suspension of the vaccine
campaigns in Europe may be a blessing in disguise for Nepal, which is facing delays in shipments of Covishield.

Mobility

Spain to welcome German
visitors over Easter break despite restrictions on national tourism.

Ukraine tightens border controls amid rising COVID-19 deaths.

Bucharest close to quarantine due to rise in COVID-19
cases.

Indonesian tourism minister
says preparations can begin for 'safe travel corridor' between Singapore, Batam and Bintan.

Royal Caribbean International
is resuming cruises aimed at U.S. vacationers. The cruises will depart from Bermuda and the Bahamas, and adult passengers must be vaccinated against COVID-19. Passengers under 18 will be able to
sail with a negative coronavirus test. Crew members will also be vaccinated.

Poland goes into partial lockdown as COVID-19
cases top 2 million.

Treatment

Pfizer
began the phase one trial of a pill to treat COVID-19. The treatment is a potent protease inhibitor, the same kind of technology used to treat HIV and hepatitis C. The pill demonstrated potent in vitro anti-viral activity against SARS-CoV-2, as well as activity
against other coronaviruses.

New
phase III data shows investigational antibody cocktail casirivimab and imdevimab
reduced hospitalization or death by 70% in non-hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

Antioxidants and pentoxifylline as co-adjuvant measures to standard therapy to
improve prognosis of patients with pneumonia by COVID-19

Diagnostics

Association of Vitamin D Levels,
Race/Ethnicity, and Clinical Characteristics With COVID-19 Test Results.

The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security is launching a new

informational webinar series on SARS-CoV-2 testing strategies and best practices from selected organizational leaders. This webinar series will be hosted as part of the Center’s new

COVID-19 Testing Toolkit, which aims to provide essential information for all organizations seeking to engage in SARS-CoV-2 testing.

Thank you and kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/

Thank you and kind regards,

Sebastian

Sebastian Molineus

Regional Director for the South Caucasus

Europe and Central Asia

T
+995 (32) 291 6238

M
+995 (577) 78 7821

M
+1 (202) 492-3914

E
[email-masked]

W
www.worldbank.org/en/region/eca

@smolineus

www.linkedin.com/in/molineus/