The latest on the coronavirus pandemic and vaccines

By Jessie Yeung, Zamira Rahim, Kareem Khadder and Ed Upright, CNN

Updated 0115 GMT (0915 HKT) March 5, 2021

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5:53 a.m. ET, March 4, 2021

Denmark records first case of P.1 Covid-19 variant initially identified in Brazil

From CNN’s Antonia Mortensen in Milan

Denmark has detected a case of the P.1 coronavirus variant -- which was first discovered in Brazil -- in the country for the first time, the Danish health minister said Wednesday.

The first case of the variant P.1 has been found in Denmark. P.1 was originally detected in Brazil and is one of those we have a special focus on. Intensive infection detection has been initiated,” Magnus Heunicke tweeted.

The variant has been found by the Technical University of Denmark, which helps analyze samples, and confirmed by Denmark's national infectious disease agency.

Research suggests the variant is as much as 2.2 times more transmissible and could evade immunity from previous Covid-19 infection by up to 61%.

Six cases of the P.1 variant were also reported in the UK this week with a manhunt underway to find one unidentified case.

Researchers commented that this is unlikely to cause a surge in cases, adding that “you need many introductions to start an epidemic, so six is very few.”

Public Health England said in a statement on Sunday that the unidentified person is one of six cases of the variant. The agency added that three of the cases were found in England and another three in Scotland.

The variant has also been detected in other European nations including Spain, Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands.

Read more about Covid-19 variants here:

New coronavirus variants keep popping up. Here's what we know about them

5:32 a.m. ET, March 4, 2021

EU regulator begins review of Russian vaccine

From CNN’s James Frater, Vasco Cotovio and Zahra Ullah

Vials of the Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine are at Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow on February 19. Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The European Union’s vaccine regulator, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), has begun a rolling review of Russia’s Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V.

“The decision to start the rolling review is based on results from laboratory studies and clinical studies in adults” the EMA said in a statement on Thursday.
“These studies indicate that Sputnik V triggers the production of antibodies and immune cells that target the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and may help protect against Covid-19.”

“EMA will evaluate data as they become available to decide if the benefits outweigh the risks,” the statement adds.

The rolling review comes after complaints about the European Commission’s slow vaccine deployment. The delays have led to some member states unilaterally approving Sputnik V, the vaccine produced by Russia’s Gamaleya National Centre of Epidemiology and Microbiology.

The shot has been found to be 91.6% effective against symptomatic Covid-19 and 100% effective against severe and moderate disease, according to an interim analysis of the vaccine's Phase 3 trial results published in The Lancet medical journal.

The head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, Kirill Dmitriev, welcomed the announcement saying the decision “should be above politics.” The fund is responsible for global production and distribution of the vaccine.

“Vaccine partnerships should be above politics and cooperation with EMA is a perfect example demonstrating that pooling efforts is the only way to end the pandemic,” Dmitriev said.

He went on to say Russia could provide the European Union with enough vaccines to inoculate 50 million people, with distribution beginning in June 2021.

“Sputnik V can make an important contribution to saving millions of lives in Europe and we are looking forward to a thorough review,” he said.

5:08 a.m. ET, March 4, 2021

Spanish princesses' Abu Dhabi vaccinations spark controversy

From CNN’s Al Goodman in Madrid and Claudia Rebaza in London

Spain's Princess Elena, left, and Princess Cristina. Ballesteros/Pool/Getty Images

The Covid-19 vaccinations of two Spanish princesses in the United Arab Emirates -- much earlier than they would have received them in Spain -- have sparked controversy since the news was first reported by El Confidencial digital newspaper in Madrid.

Several Spanish ministers on Wednesday publicly criticized the two princesses, Elena and Cristina, who were vaccinated recently while visiting their father, Spain’s former King Juan Carlos, in Abu Dhabi, where he’s living.

Soon after the criticism, Princess Elena issued a statement that she said was “in response to media reports about the vaccination.”

“My sister (Cristina) and I, having gone to visit our father (in Abu Dhabi) and with the aim of getting a health passport that would allow us to visit him regularly, we were offered the vaccine and we accepted it.”

The statement concluded that had it not been for the circumstances, the princesses would have waited for their turn to get the vaccine in Spain.

A royal household spokesman noted that princesses Elena and Cristina, while sisters of Spain’s King Felipe, have not had any official duties as members of the royal family at least since 2014.

The spokesman also emphasized that the King, Queen and their two daughters are strictly following Spain’s Covid health guidelines, and “will wait their turn” for the vaccinations in Spain, based on their ages and health conditions.

Spain, like other European Union countries, has had delays in its vaccine program due to limited supplies. It has also seen a number of government officials and a few Roman Catholic clergy who have jumped the queue to get vaccinations. Several of them later apologized publicly and some resigned from their positions.

Health Ministry data shows that just 1.4 million people in Spain have received both doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, along with some others getting the AstraZeneca vaccine, in a population of about 47 million.

3:21 a.m. ET, March 4, 2021

Germany will authorize Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for over 65s

From CNN's AJ Davis in Atlanta

A doctor administers an Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in Berlin, Germany, on February 10. Kay Nietfeld/Pool/AFP/Getty Images

Germany's vaccine commission will soon authorize the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for people aged over 65, following the latest studies, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday.

The commission had recommended in January that the vaccine should not be given to over 65s due to insufficient data.

Coronavirus restrictions nationwide will be eased in five stages, Merkel added -- each additional step will be taken every 14 days if infection rates stay low.

“We will install an emergency brake if we get into an exponential growth of infections surpassing a weekly rate of 100 per 100,000," she said.

Merkel also said that all Germans will be able to receive a free rapid test every week, starting March 8.

"We are once again at the threshold of a new phase of the pandemic that we can go into not carelessly but still with justified hope. Today we can speak of hope and the transition to a new phase because all of us have achieved a lot in our country in the past few months," she said.

3:14 a.m. ET, March 4, 2021

India's Covaxin vaccine is 81% effective, early data shows

From CNN's Akanksha Sharma and Manveena Suri

A medic prepares a dose of the Covaxin vaccine at Hindu Rao Hospital on February 16, in New Delhi, India. Sanchit Khanna/Hindustan Times/Getty Images

India's home-grown Covaxin vaccine is 81% effective against Covid-19, according to early data released Wednesday.

The vaccine was jointly developed by the company Bharat Biotech and the government-run Indian Council of Medical Research.

The clinical trial involved 25,800 participants between 18 and 98 years old, according to Bharat Biotech. The efficacy figure is based on an early analysis of 43 Covid-19 cases. Some 36 cases occurred in participants who got a placebo, compared to seven participants who got the vaccine.

Data indicates the vaccine can also effectively combat the variant first spotted in the UK, according to an analysis by India's National Institute of Virology.

“Today is an important milestone in vaccine discovery, for science and our fight against coronavirus," said Bharat Biotech chairman Dr. Krishna Ella. "Covaxin demonstrates high clinical efficacy trend against COVID-19 but also significant immunogenicity against the rapidly emerging variants."

About the vaccine: Covaxin is a two-dose vaccine. It is the first Covid-19 vaccine that has been developed in its entirety in India.

More 40 countries have expressed their interest in Covaxin, including Mongolia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Bahrain, Oman, Maldives and Mauritius.

3:03 a.m. ET, March 4, 2021

It’s "inexplicable" that US states are lifting restrictions right now, Fauci says

From CNN Health’s Lauren Mascarenhas

Dr. Anthony Fauci attends a press conference the White House on January 21, in Washington, DC. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

It’s “inexplicable” that some US states are pulling back on restrictions as Covid-19 continues to infect tens of thousands of Americans every day, said Dr. Anthony Fauci on Wednesday.

Texas and Mississippi moved this week to end state-wide mask mandates.

“It just is inexplicable why you would want to pull back now,” Fauci told CNN.
“I understand the need to want to get back to normality, but you're only going to set yourself back if you just completely push aside the public health guidelines -- particularly when we're dealing with anywhere from 55,000 to 70,000 infections per day in the United States,” he added. “That's a very, very high baseline.”

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the administration’s guidance about pandemic precautions is not arbitrary.

"We know that these interventions work. It's very clear,” Fauci said. “When you implement them, you see the cases go down. When you pull back the cases go up.”