(Reuters) – The European Union, which has supported a plan to extend a mechanism to monitor and potentially limit the export of COVID-19 vaccines, has decided to take up an option under a supply contract with drugmaker Moderna, the EU Commission said.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
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EUROPE
* Sweden will offer vaccine to all people aged 16 and upwards, the Health Agency said.
* Ireland remains on track to further ease restrictions in early July, the deputy prime minister said.
* The Kremlin said people who were not vaccinated or did not have immunity would be unable to work in all workplaces in Russia, which reported the most confirmed coronavirus-related deaths in a single day since February.
* The final of the Euro 2020 football tournament should not be played in London, the EU’s top lawmaker on health issues said. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on UEFA to act responsibly due to safety concerns over the spread of the coronavirus in England.
* Britain is working on easing travel restrictions for the fully vaccinated, the health secretary said. The data looks encouraging and currently suggests England’s lockdown can fully end on July 19, he added.
* Lithuania will donate 20,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Taiwan, its government said.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* India’s vaccinations over the next few weeks could fall short of the pace set on the first day of a federal campaign, experts said.
* Australia’s most populous state reported its biggest daily increase in cases in nearly a week, while New Zealand paused quarantine-free travel with the state.
* A Thai medical committee has agreed to narrow the gap between AstraZeneca doses in places where there has been outbreaks of the Delta variant, an official said.
* Kazakhstan said the Delta variant had reached its capital.
* One million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine will be transferred…