Oxford University

Europe's medicines regulator expects drugmaker AstraZeneca to apply for approval of its Covid-19 vaccine next week, it said on Friday.

The Astrazeneca shot, which was developed with Oxford University, was given a green light by authorities in Britain on Dec. 30.

India will begin exporting locally-made coronavirus vaccines within weeks of their launch, a foreign ministry official has confirmed.

The official dismissed reports that India would ban exports of vaccines it is producing to meet local demand.

India makes about 60% of vaccines globally and many countries are eagerly waiting for it to begin shipping doses.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Jan. 4 a new national lockdown for England until at least mid-February to combat a fast-spreading new variant of the coronavirus, even as Britain ramped up its vaccination program by becoming the first nation to start using the shot developed by Oxford University and drugmaker AstraZeneca.

India authorized two COVID-19 vaccines on Jan. 3, paving the way for a huge inoculation program to stem the coronavirus pandemic in the world's second most populous country.

India's drugs regulator gave an emergency authorization for the vaccines developed by Oxford University and U.K.-based drugmaker AstraZeneca and another developed by the Indian company Bharat Biotech.

Britain on Wednesday became the first country to approve AstraZeneca and Oxford University's home-grown UK Covid-19 vaccine, adding an easy-to-manage shot to the arsenal of a nation desperate for pandemic relief.

The United Kingdom has approved another coronavirus vaccine for use, weeks after the country became the first in the world to start inoculating its citizens.

Talks are underway to increase the amount of COVID-19 vaccines to be delivered to Turkey, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said, adding that the country is also looking at alternatives to secure injections.

Turkey has already signed a deal to buy at least 50 million doses of an experimental vaccine being developed by China's Sinovac.

Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca says it is buying U.S. drug developer Alexion in a deal worth $39 billion.

Cambridge, England-based AstraZeneca PLC, which is involved in one of the efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, said on Dec. 12 it's using a combination of cash and shares for the acquisition of Boston-based Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Britain on Dec. 8 became the first Western country to start mass coronavirus vaccinations, as Joe Biden pledged his administration would inoculate 100 million people in the United States over the first 100 days of his presidency.

Shipments of the coronavirus vaccine developed by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech were delivered on Dec. 6 in the U.K. in super-cold containers, two days before it goes public in an immunization program that is being closely watched around the world.