Hong Kong’s decision in August to increase mandatory hotel quarantine to three weeks for arrivals from most countries has prompted a backlash from banks, hedge funds, and traders who say it is hampering new investment into the asset management market and risks setting off a brain drain. Financial services contribute around 20% to Hong Kong’s gross domestic product, government statistics show.
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20 APAC re/insurers record a higher premium of $821.4bn in 2020, COVID induces demand for life & health products, GlobalData
Seven players reported more than 5% rise in premiums earned. In addition, the top companies maintained financial robustness through flexible hedging of assets under management.The most notable performers in the region were Japan-based insurer Dai-ichi Life, China-based New China Life Insurance and China Reinsurance; and Taiwan-based Cathay Financial.Dai-ichi Life outperformed the top players, with its revenue growth surpassing 20%, as the weaker Yen allowed the company’s returns from its investments soar significantly over the previous year.
China Reinsurance reported 19.2% increase in y-o-y revenue owing to swift growth in savings- and protection-type life, domestic P&C reinsurance, and health reinsurance business, which led to 16.2% growth in premium income; and obtaining surplus investment returns by surpassing the market benchmarks.
Indian growth jumps in April-June, helped by looser pandemic curbs
Cyber attacks seen on coronavirus vaccine infrastructure: U.S. Senator Peters
“IBM recently released a very disturbing report detailing cyber attacks on COVID-19 vaccine distribution infrastructure,” Peters told a congressional hearing. “Just last month a cold-chain storage company also reported that they were the target of a cyber attack.”
U.S. COVID deaths smash daily record amid pleas to trim back Christmas
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK ( The daily U.S. death toll from COVID-19 has surpassed 3,000 for the first time, prompting pleas for Americans to scale back Christmas plans even with vaccines on the cusp of winning regulatory approval.COVID-19 deaths reached 3,253 on...
World’s largest vaccine maker India tees up global blitz to contain virus
Others that are likely to benefit from an expected surge in demand are: pharmaceutical firms Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Cadila Healthcare and Hetero; logistics company FedEx; cold chain storage specialist Snowman Logistics and Hindustan Syringes & Medical Devices, among others.
Hindustan Syringes says it will increase capacity by 42% to 1 billion units by the first half of next year. It has already shipped some 140 million syringes that disable themselves after one use for the global vaccine distribution program COVAX.
Indian pharma industry’s COVID-19 vaccine plans
SII has already made and stockpiled more than 50 million doses of COVISHIELD and aims to ramp up production to 400 million doses by mid-2021. It has already applied for emergency use authorization of the vaccine in India.
The company could sell the vaccine at 250 rupees ($3.39) per dose to the Indian government and 1,000 rupees on the country’s private market. By comparison, the Pfizer’s supply deal with the U.S. government amounts to $39 for a two-dose course, while Moderna plans to charge between $25 and $37 per dose.
UN chief warns ‘vaccine nationalism’ is moving at full speed
The UN chief on Wednesday reiterated his call for vaccines to be treated as a global public good, available to everyone, everywhere on the planet, especially in Africa. And he appealed for 4.2 billion in the next two months for the World Health Organisation’s COVAX programme, an ambitious project to buy and deliver coronavirus vaccines for the world’s poorest people.
After a virtual UN meeting with the African Union, Guterres said at a news conference that financing COVAX is the only way to guarantee vaccines will be available in Africa and other developing areas.
How the novel coronavirus has evolved and adapted to human hosts
In Asia, the original L strain persisted for longer as several countries, including China, were quick to shut borders and curtail movement. In contrast, North America and Europe did not restrict movement as much, at least initially, which allowed the G strains to spread – and mutate – at a faster pace.
“This virus moves in superspreader events, which means the virus doesn’t have to be particularly contagious,” said Catherine Bennett, epidemiology chair in the Faculty of Health at Melbourne’s Deakin University. “We will see different patterns because of cluster transmission.”
Those vaccinated against Covid-19 may still need to wear masks
“A lot of people are thinking that once they get vaccinated, they’re not going to have to wear masks anymore,” said Michal Tal, an immunologist at Stanford University. “It’s really going to be critical for them to know if they have to keep wearing masks, because they could still be contagious.”
AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine 70.4% effective at preventing the infection
The Company is also making rapid progress in manufacturing with a capacity of up to 3 billion doses of the vaccine in 2021 on a rolling basis, pending regulatory approval. The vaccine can be stored, transported and handled at normal refrigerated conditions (2-8 degrees Celsius/ 36-46 degrees Fahrenheit) for at least six months and administered within existing healthcare settings.
UK warns people with serious allergies to avoid Pfizer vaccine after two adverse reactions
“Any person with a history of a significant allergic reaction to a vaccine, medicine or food (such as previous history of anaphylactoid reaction or those who have been advised to carry an adrenaline autoinjector) should not receive the Pfizer BioNtech vaccine,” it said.
Provide more safety data on COVID-19 vaccines: CDSCO expert panel to Serum Institute, Bharat Biotech
“Serum Institute of India has been asked for an updated safety data of phase 2 and 3 clinical trial in the country and immunogenicity data from the clinical trial in the United Kingdom and India. While considering the application of Bharat Biotech company, the SEC after detailed evaluation recommended that the pharma major should submit the safety and efficacy data from its ongoing phase 3 clinical trial in India for more analysis,” a source said.
The application submitted by the Pfizer was not discussed at the SEC meeting as the company has requested for more time for giving its presentation, sources said.