The jab from pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson is viewed as a potentially huge boost to vaccination efforts since only a single dose is needed to provide 85% protection against serious illness. Currently used vaccines by Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Moderna need two shots several weeks apart to develop maximum protection.
An Emergency Use Authorisation was issued by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on Saturday, with the first doses set to be administered today or tomorrow. Speaking to America’s NPR broadcaster, Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky said up to 100 million doses could be delivered in the country by June.
The European Union has yet to authorise the one-dose vaccine but has placed an order for up to 400 million doses. The EU’s medicines regulator is expected to authorise the vaccine some time this month.
In other vaccine news, a new report from the UK has presented promising new data about the effectiveness of other vaccines. The data from Public Health England show the widely-used Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines can offer upto 80% protection against serious illness after only a single dose, though two doses are needed to provide maximum protection.
Sources: NPR, Johnson & Johnson, Public Health England
Poland could be set to buy doses of a Chinese-produced COVID-19 vaccine after President Andrzej Duda raised the topic in a phone call with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
According to a presidential spokesperson, President Duda brought up the possibility of using Chinese vaccines at the request of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
Further talks would now have to take place at the intergovernmental level before vaccines could be purchased.
Ukrainian border guards say they have arrested a group of diplomats caught smuggling gold, cash, and tobacco into Poland.
According to a statement released yesterday, officers of Ukraine’s Security Service detained the group of both former and current Ukrainian diplomats at the Yahodyn border post near the Polish city of Chelm.
According to the statement, thousands of dollars-worth of foreign currency – including Euros, Zlotys, and Dollars – were discovered in the back of a van fitted with diplomatic license plates. Thousands of packs of cigarettes and even 16 kilograms of gold were also found.
Posting on Facebook, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said two serving diplomats at Ukraine’s Warsaw embassy had been recalled, adding that the Foreign Ministry would work with law enforcement to investigate. Mr Kuleba also stressed the importance of dealing with corruption, calling for an end to what he described as „the policy of not taking out the trash”.
The Port of Gdansk has overtaken Russia’s Primorsk to become the third busiest port in the Baltic Sea.
Russia has historically dominated the list of the Baltic’s biggest ports, with Ust Luga and St Petersburg topping the list with Primorsk in third place. But Gdansk has now leapfrogged Primorsk to join the podium.
In January 2021, Gdansk handled 4.6 million tonnes of cargo, just behind St Petersburg on 4.7 mln and ahead of Primorsk on 4.4 mln. Ust Luga remains by far the largest, however, handling 9.4 million tonnes.
Gdansk also recently joined the list of Europe’s top-20 busiest ports after it moved 48.5 million tonnes total in 2020.
The Port of Gdansk is set to keep growing, with plans for new investment in the inner-port along the Dead Vistula and a multi-billion zloty infrastructure improvement set to finish up this year.
Weather
Clearing up as we go into the afternoon with highs of 7C, 45F. Remaining mostly clear into the evening for a chilly night with temperatures reaching freezing in the early hours of tomorrow. Looking like a bright day tomorrow with plenty of sunshine and mild temperatures but some snow flurries could be on the way later in the week.
