Moderna’s vaccine was highly effective in younger teens in a large study, putting it on track to become the second shot authorised in the US for adolescents. A White House official said that half of US adults would be fully vaccinated as of Tuesday.

The impact of inoculations is causing a reversal of fortunes in Bloomberg’s Covid Resilience Ranking, with last month’s leader — Singapore — falling, along with other Asian economies that had been lauded for thwarting the virus.

France is weighing whether to impose additional restrictions at its border with Britain to fend off the variant first identified in India. The British government warned people to avoid travelling to hotspots in England where the variant is spreading. Malaysia must prepare for the worst, Health Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah warned, as the country overtakes India in per capita daily cases.

Key developments

• Global Tracker: Cases top 167.4 million; deaths exceed 3.47 million
• Vaccine Tracker: More than 1.71 billion doses have been given
• You do realise Covid-19 might come back in the fall?: Justin Fox
• Cuba readies homegrown vaccines in big bet as cases surge
• ‘Cascade of calamities’ plagues Tokyo’s Olympics ambitions
• Covid long-haulers baffle doctors with symptoms going on and on

Harvard students returning to classroom

Harvard students will return to the classroom full-time for the fall semester and campus housing will go back to its usual density after more than a year of remote learning.

The university, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is expecting the largest entering class in its history, Harvard said on Tuesday in a statement on its website. All enrolled students, who must be vaccinated to attend, can expect full campus access, which includes libraries, archives, museums and research facilities.

Hong Kong may donate excess vaccines

Hong Kong may donate Covid-19 vaccines to countries more in need of them via channels such as the World Health Organization’s Covax initiative as local demand for Pfizer-BioNTech shots “has gradually become sluggish recently,” according to a government statement late on Tuesday.

Of the about two million BioNTech doses which have been delivered to Hong Kong, the city has 840,000 unused doses in storage that will expire in mid-August; it has procured 7.5 million doses in total.

Far east region steps up Russia’s vaccine drive

As Russia struggles to get its population to take the coronavirus vaccines heralded by President Vladimir Putin, the far east region of Yakutia is passing the strictest inoculation requirements yet.

All companies, both public-sector and private, are required to organise shots for their workers, according to a decree by the region’s chief medical authority. Employers that fail to do so may face fines, Yakutia President Aisen Nikolaev’s press service said separately.

The target is to cover at least 70% of all adults by July.

New York City bringing mobile vaccine units to beaches

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city will bring mobile vaccination units to beaches and parks starting during the Memorial Day weekend and lasting through the summer, including the Rockaways, Coney Island, Central Park and Governors Island.

De Blasio said that starting on Tuesday there will be a vaccination site in front of Madison Square Garden, which will offer people getting the shot a chance to win tickets to the next New York Knicks playoff game.

CDC reports 10,000 breakthrough cases

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that as of 30 April there were 10,262 cases of vaccinated people who were later infected with Covid-19 out of about 101 million people who are fully inoculated.

A small number of so-called breakthrough infections after full vaccination are to be expected because no vaccines are 100% effective. The CDC notes the reported cases are likely a substantial undercount since many people, especially those who are asymptomatic or have only mild illness, might not seek testing.

In May, health officials shifted to investigating only cases in which patients were hospitalised or died, drawing concern from some scientists who say that may mean missing needed data.

UK says avoid hotspots; France mulls curbs

The British government warned people to avoid travelling to hotspots in England where the variant first identified in India is spreading, as officials in France consider further curbs on passengers arriving from the UK.

The guidance applies to eight areas, including Hounslow in west London, the central England city of Leicester and the northwest towns of Blackburn and Bolton. People there should not meet up indoors or travel outside their districts, the government said.

Ireland to lift UK travel curbs

Ireland is set to announce this week that it will remove the requirement for travellers arriving from the UK to self-quarantine for 14 days, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported, even amid increasing concern about the spread of the variant first identified in India.

Authorities are watching the variant’s spread in the UK “very carefully”, Prime Minister Micheál Martin told reporters in Brussels.

Moderna shot effective in teens

Moderna’s vaccine was highly effective in 12- to 17-year-olds in a large study, paving the way for regulatory submissions around the world by early June.

In a news release, the company said its vaccine was between 93% and 100% effective in preventing symptomatic Covid in teenagers, depending on whether very mild cases are included in the count. The study met its primary goal of showing that immune responses to the vaccine were as good as those produced in adults, and no significant safety concerns were observed, according to the company.

Vietnam says some factories can reopen

Some factories in Vietnam’s virus-hit northern province of Bac Giang, where suppliers for Apple and Samsung Electronics operate, will be allowed to reopen as early as 28 May, according to a statement from the provincial government.

Plants that meet required anti-virus procedures will be permitted to restart operations.

Antibiotics for Covid worsen India’s plight

Excessive use of the world’s most potent antibiotics has stoked drug-resistant infections in India for years. Now the country’s Covid crisis has put the calamity into hyperdrive.

A first look at the number of patients hospitalised during India’s first coronavirus wave who also developed bacterial and fungal infections found that a small but alarming proportion harbour germs that resist multiple drugs.

Doctors battling to save lives amid a dearth of effective treatments are turning to the drugs they have on hand — and a lot of those are antibiotics that other countries wouldn’t use for Covid-19. What’s more, the chaos of overrun hospitals means staff can’t always take precautions to ensure infections don’t spread from one patient to the next.

France weighs UK border restrictions

France will probably decide on Wednesday whether additional restrictions are needed at its border with the UK to fend off a variant first identified in India.

The UK is trying to make a case to France that extra curbs aren’t necessary, citing the large share of its vaccinated population, a person familiar with the discussions said. About 70% of adults in Britain have received at least one vaccine dose, and 40% both doses, but a new and potentially more contagious strain is spreading fast.

Asia drops in Resilience Ranking as US/Europe rise

The impact of vaccination is causing a reversal of fortunes in Bloomberg’s Covid Resilience Ranking, a monthly snapshot of the best and worst places to be in the coronavirus era.

Last month’s No 1 — Singapore — fell in May along with other Asian economies. Taiwan and Japan dropped out of the top 10 amid sluggish inoculation drives and resurgent cases, while some of the world’s fiercest outbreaks held down places in Southeast and South Asia.

New Zealand regained the top position, but its vaccine roll-out has barely started, leaving it potentially vulnerable.

In contrast, the US and parts of Europe have been steadily climbing up the ranking as outbreaks slowly wane. With vaccine protection growing, they’re restarting travel, scrapping mask mandates and looking to leave Covid-19 behind: The UK jumped seven spots to 11th and the US is No 13. France, the Czech Republic and Poland saw double-digit increases in their positions.

India records lowest case surge since April

India recorded 196,427 new infections on Tuesday, the lowest one-day surge since April 14, bolstering data modelling estimates that suggest the nation’s deadly second wave peaked earlier this month. Covid-related casualties rose by 3,511 in the past 24 hours. The virus has sickened almost 27 million people and killed more than 307,200, according to latest data from the health ministry.

Hong Kong expands vaccine eligibility

Hong Kong expanded eligibility for vaccines to Chinese residents who will stay in the city for a period of time with specific entry permits, according to a government statement. The authority is also preparing vaccinations for some refugees in Hong Kong.

Fear grips global carmakers in India’s Detroit

Automakers with plants in Tamil Nadu, the industry’s hub in India, are suspending operations and reducing shifts as employees threaten to go on strike due to health concerns about Covid-19 in the southern state.

Renault Nissan Automotive India is caught in a legal dispute with workers at its factory near Chennai, nicknamed the Detroit of India, who say their safety shouldn’t be compromised to meet production targets. The workers have also challenged the state’s decision to exempt the auto industry from local lockdown rules.

London’s West End shows signs of life

Life is returning to the shops and restaurants of London’s West End, according to one of the district’s largest landlords.

Shaftesbury’s vacancy rate peaked at 11.9% at the end of March, more than double that of a year earlier. That’s since edged lower as demand for empty stores and eateries ramps up, the company said in an earnings statement on Tuesday.

Melbourne cluster sparks restrictions

Gathering restrictions are being imposed in Melbourne as authorities race to clamp down on a cluster of cases that’s grown to at least nine.

Private gatherings in homes in Australia’s second-most populous city will be limited to five visitors per day, while public gatherings will be restricted to 30, Acting Premier James Merlino told reporters. Masks will be mandatory when indoors in public spaces for people ages 12 and older, including in workplaces.

Thai king approves Covid borrowing plan

King Maha Vajiralongkorn approved the government’s planned additional borrowing to fund measures to counter Thailand’s worst wave of coronavirus infections.

The Thai government may borrow or issue bonds totalling no more than 500 billion baht ($13-billion) until 30 September 2022 to support an economy impacted by the pandemic, according to a Royal Gazette announcement.

Malaysia faces ‘vertical surge’

Malaysia’s daily case count has followed an exponential trend since 1 April, the country’s health director-general said on Twitter.

The southeast Asian country is imposing stricter movement restrictions after daily infections and deaths surged to all-time highs this week. New Covid cases reached 216 per million on 23 May, higher than the 175 in India, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and the United Nations. However, there’s a statistical caveat that India’s numbers may undercount cases, especially in the villages, and the country’s death rate is higher.

New Zealand halts Victoria travel bubble

New Zealand is pausing travel with the Australian state of Victoria for 72 hours, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said in an emailed statement.

The suspension will be in effect while the source of infection of five cases announced in Melbourne in the past two days is being investigated. DM

— With assistance by Reed Stevenson, Cindy Wang, Natalie Lung, Mai Ngoc Chau, Peter Flanagan, Elaine Chen, Shelly Banjo, and Yuliya Fedorinova.