New Zealand: Airport worker tests positive day after bubble opens

An Auckland airport worker has tested positive for Covid-19 a day after New Zealand opened a reciprocal travel bubble with Australia. The case appears to be unrelated to the travel…

Denmark: AstraZeneca vaccine rollout stopped completely

Denmark has ceased giving the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine amid concerns about rare cases of blood clots, the first European country to do so fully. The move is expected to delay…

World Wide: More countries stop using Johnson & Johnson vaccine over blood clots

The US, South Africa and European Union will temporarily stop the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Covid jab, after reports of blood clotting. Six cases were detected in…

USA: US agencies call for pause in Johnson & Johnson vaccine

US health authorities are calling for a pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, after reports of extremely rare blood clotting cases. The Food and Drug…

USA: Utah making men pay women’s pregnancy costs

Fathers in Utah are now legally obliged to pay half the cost of a mother’s medical care related to pregnancy and delivery. Supporters of the law – which is thought…

USA: Rules out federal vaccine passports

The White House has ruled out introducing mandatory federal Covid-19 vaccination passports, saying citizens’ privacy and rights should be protected. Schemes to introduce such passports have been touted around the…

UK: Child jabs halted in trial as adult clot link probed

A trial of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine on children has stopped giving out jabs while the UK’s medicines regulator investigates a possible link with rare blood clots in adults. Prof…

New Zealand: Australia and New Zealand to start quarantine-free travel

Australian and New Zealand residents will be able to travel between the two nations without having to quarantine from 19 April. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the move…

France: Paris police probe ‘secret luxury dinner parties’

French police have launched an investigation into alleged clandestine fine dining and parties in Paris, revealed in an undercover TV report. French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin ordered the probe, saying…

UK: Covid Passport Trials to begin for return of England mass events

The UK government is to trial a series of measures in England, including Covid passports, to allow the safe return of sports matches, events and nightclubs. Passes would show if…