Selasa, 02 Februari 2021

Putin critic Navalny jailed in Russia despite protests - BBC News

A Moscow court has jailed Putin critic Alexei Navalny for three-and-a-half years for violating the conditions of a suspended sentence.

He has been in detention since returning to Russia last month. He was treated in Germany for a near-fatal nerve agent attack on him in August.

There have been violent scenes in Moscow - video on social media show police beating and arresting protesters who came out to support Mr Navalny.

Thousands have rallied across Russia.

Mr Navalny's suspended sentence for embezzlement has been converted into a jail term. He has already served a year under house arrest which will be deducted from the total.

Mr Navalny greeted the news with a resigned shrug, the BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Moscow reports. In court he called President Vladimir Putin a "poisoner", blaming him for the attack.

His supporters called for an immediate protest, and hundreds gathered in central Moscow and St Petersburg despite a heavy police presence. More than 850 have been detained in Moscow alone, according to monitors.

Mr Navalny's lawyer said they would appeal against Tuesday's ruling.

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The official show of force in Moscow

Analysis box by Sarah Rainsford, Moscow correspondent

On Tuesday night, security forces "took" the centre of Moscow, arrest-squads deployed in vast numbers to all the main roads and squares.

In body armours and helmets, they formed long lines beneath the multicoloured street lights still hanging up from New Year. Protesters were massively outnumbered.

The official show of force was like a postscript to the message sent by imprisoning Alexei Navalny: the Kremlin is fully ready to crush those who challenge its authority.

But Mr Navalny's supporters refuse to be silent.

Hundreds were detained tonight, and judging by the honking car horns in central Moscow - a new phenomenon - many more people are angered by what happened on Tuesday, than those ready to risk taking to the streets in open protest.

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Strong international reaction to the sentence came quickly, with the Council of Europe - the continent's leading human rights body - saying the judgement "defied all credibility".

"With this decision, the Russian authorities not only further exacerbate human rights violations as already established by the European Court of Human Rights, they also send a signal undermining the protection of the rights of all Russian citizens," said the council's human rights commissioner, Dunja Mijatovic, in a statement.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab described the ruling as "perverse", and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the verdict was a "bitter blow to firmly established civil liberties and the rule of law".

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for Mr Navalny's immediate and unconditional release, and said he would work closely with allies to hold Russia accountable for "failing to uphold the rights of its citizens".

Russian police detain a man in Moscow. Photo: 2 February 2021
Reuters

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded by telling Western countries to focus on their own problems.

"You should not interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign state," she said on Russian TV.

Mr Navalny has been accused of breaking the terms of a 2014 suspended sentence for embezzlement that required him to report regularly to Russian police. His lawyers say the accusation is absurd as the authorities knew he was recovering in Berlin from the nerve agent attack that nearly killed him in Russia.

Addressing the court before the sentencing, Mr Navalny said the case was being used to frighten the opposition: "This is how it works: they send one to jail to intimidate millions."

On the Novichok chemical attack, he said: "Using the FSB [Federal Security Service of Russia], Putin attempted to commit murder. I'm not the only one - many know this already and many others will. And this is driving the thieving little man in the bunker crazy.

"No matter how much he tries to look like a geopolitician, he took offence at me because he will go down in history as a poisoner."

Mr Navalny's return to Russia on 17 January triggered mass protests in support of him, many of them young Russians who have only ever experienced President Putin's rule.

The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the attack on him, and rejects the conclusion by Western experts that Novichok - a Russian chemical weapon - was used.

'Putin's palace'

Mr Navalny accuses Mr Putin of running an administration riddled with corruption, and recently released a YouTube video featuring an opulent Black Sea palace which, he alleged, was a Russian billionaires' gift to the president. More than 100 million people have watched the video.

On Saturday Arkady Rotenberg, a billionaire businessman close to Mr Putin, said he owned the palace and had bought it two years ago.

But on Sunday some protesters brandished gold-coloured toilet brushes, a symbol of their anger about the palace. For a second weekend, crowds defied bitter cold and a massive deployment of riot police, and more than 5,000 were arrested, according to OVD-Info group.

OVD-Info says it is an independent Russian media project, which gets crowdfunding in Russia and its donors include the Memorial human rights group and the European Commission.

Please stand guard outside Moscow city court
EPA

Mr Navalny is already serving a 30-day sentence in connection with the embezzlement case, which he denounces as politically motivated.

In recent days police have arrested many of Mr Navalny's top aides, who assist him in his Anti-Corruption Network (FBK).

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2021-02-02 23:43:00Z
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Putin critic Navalny jailed in Russia despite protests - BBC News

A Moscow court has jailed Putin critic Alexei Navalny for three-and-a-half years for violating the conditions of a suspended sentence.

He has been in detention since returning to Russia last month. He was treated in Germany for a near-fatal nerve agent attack on him in August.

There have been violent scenes in Moscow - video on social media show police beating and arresting protesters who came out to support Mr Navalny.

Thousands have rallied across Russia.

Mr Navalny's suspended sentence for embezzlement has been converted into a jail term.

He has already served a year under house arrest which will be deducted from the total.

Mr Navalny greeted the news with a resigned shrug, the BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Moscow reports. In court he called President Vladimir Putin a "poisoner", blaming him for the attack.

His supporters called for an immediate protest, and hundreds gathered in central Moscow and St Petersburg despite a heavy police presence. More than 600 have been detained in Moscow alone, according to monitors.

His lawyer said they would appeal against the ruling.

Strong international reaction to the sentence came quickly, with the Council of Europe - the continent's leading human rights body - saying the judgement "defied all credibility".

Protester arrested in central Moscow
Reuters

"With this decision, the Russian authorities not only further exacerbate human rights violations as already established by the European Court of Human Rights, they also send a signal undermining the protection of the rights of all Russian citizens," said the council's human rights commissioner, Dunja Mijatovic, in a statement.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab described the ruling as "perverse", and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the verdict was a "bitter blow to firmly established civil liberties and the rule of law".

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for Mr Navalny's immediate and unconditional release, and said he would work closely with allies to hold Russia accountable for "failing to uphold the rights of its citizens".

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded by telling Western countries to focus on their own problems.

"You should not interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign state," she said on Russian TV.

Mr Navalny has been accused of breaking the terms of a 2014 suspended sentence for embezzlement that required him to report regularly to Russian police. His lawyers say the accusation is absurd as the authorities knew he was recovering in Berlin from the nerve agent attack that nearly killed him in Russia.

Addressing the court before the sentencing, Mr Navalny said the case was being used to frighten the opposition: "This is how it works: they send one to jail to intimidate millions."

On the Novichok chemical attack, he said: "Using the FSB [Federal Security Service of Russia], Putin attempted to commit murder. I'm not the only one - many know this already and many others will. And this is driving the thieving little man in the bunker crazy.

"No matter how much he tries to look like a geopolitician, he took offence at me because he will go down in history as a poisoner."

Mr Navalny's return to Russia on 17 January triggered mass protests in support of him, many of them young Russians who have only ever experienced President Putin's rule.

The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the attack on him, and rejects the conclusion by Western experts that Novichok - a Russian chemical weapon - was used.

'Putin's palace'

Mr Navalny accuses Mr Putin of running an administration riddled with corruption, and recently released a YouTube video featuring an opulent Black Sea palace which, he alleged, was a Russian billionaires' gift to the president.

On Saturday Arkady Rotenberg, a billionaire businessman close to Mr Putin, said he owned the palace and had bought it two years ago.

But on Sunday some protesters brandished gold-coloured toilet brushes, a symbol of their anger about the palace. For a second weekend, crowds defied bitter cold and a massive deployment of riot police, and more than 5,000 were arrested, according to OVD-Info group.

OVD-Info says it is an independent Russian media project, which gets crowdfunding in Russia and its donors include the Memorial human rights group and the European Commission.

Please stand guard outside Moscow city court
EPA

Mr Navalny is already serving a 30-day sentence in connection with the embezzlement case, which he denounces as politically motivated.

In recent days police have arrested many of Mr Navalny's top aides, who assist him in his Anti-Corruption Network (FBK).

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2021-02-02 21:18:00Z
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Oxford/AstraZeneca study supports UK decision to delay second doses - Financial Times

A single dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine is 76 per cent effective from three weeks to 12 weeks after the injection, according to an analysis of trial data that could boost confidence in the UK’s decision to delay second doses and vaccinate more people more quickly.

In a paper published on Tuesday but not yet peer-reviewed, researchers at Oxford university said the single dose had shown efficacy of 76 per cent from 22 up to 90 days post-vaccination, “with the protection showing little evidence of waning in this period”.

The researchers also found that spacing the first and second doses over a longer period yielded better long-term efficacy — a fact previously defended theoretically, but not shown empirically with large-scale evidence for coronavirus vaccines. Vaccine efficacy rose to 82.4 per cent following a second doses after 12 weeks, Oxford said.

Additionally, the vaccine may have a significant impact on transmission, Oxford said, after it reduced the number of positive coronavirus tests among those vaccinated by 67 per cent. However, a much bigger sample will be needed to reach definitive conclusions on transmission risk, researchers have said.

Chart showing that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is highly effective
			with an interval of 12 weeks or longer between first and second dose

Oxford’s Andrew Pollard, the chief investigator for the vaccine trial, said the data provided “an important verification of the interim data that was used by more than 25 regulators” in the UK and Europe to give the vaccine an emergency approval.

“It also supports the policy recommendation made by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) for a 12-week prime-boost interval, as they look for the optimal approach to rollout, and reassures us that people are protected from 22 days after a single dose of the vaccine,” he said.

The UK approved the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in December, surprising some observers after it chose to space doses for up to 12 weeks in order to stretch limited supplies, a decision that some critics said had no empirical backing.

Chart showing that a single dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine provides
			high levels of protection that climb steadily and peak after around 12 weeks

Stephen Evans, professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said the data “definitely provide some evidence to suggest that the eventual protection from two doses of this vaccine are not worsened by having a longer than 28 or 42-day period between doses and tend to confirm what had been shown before, that if anything the eventual efficacy was better”.

While these data should not be taken to say that all questions had been answered, “they certainly do not suggest that the JCVI advice on dose-spacing was in any way incorrect for this vaccine”, he said. 

The other manufacturers of coronavirus vaccines approved for use in the UK and EU, BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna, have not tested their vaccines over longer dosing schedules and continue to recommend two doses up to four weeks apart.

But Azra Ghani, chair in infectious disease epidemiology at Imperial College London, struck a cautious note. While it was “tempting to interpret these estimates as indicative of a higher efficacy with a longer dosing gap”, the study was not designed to look at different dosing gaps or at one versus two doses, he pointed out.

“This means that participants weren’t randomised and it is therefore quite possible that there are other things that are driving this apparent trend with dosing schedule,” added Prof Ghani.

Those who received a single dose “were younger, more likely to be female, more likely to be a healthcare worker, more likely to be resident in Brazil and more likely to be white than those who received two doses. In addition, those who received a single dose were followed for a significantly longer period of time,” he added.

Matt Hancock, UK health secretary, described the study as “hugely encouraging” and said it “reinforces our confidence that vaccines are capable of reducing transmission and protecting people from this awful disease”. 

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2021-02-02 19:08:00Z
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COVID-19: Oxford vaccine may reduce transmission by 67% - and protection 'remains for three-month jab interval' - Sky News

The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine may have a "substantial effect" on transmission of coronavirus, and a three-month gap between doses does not lower protection, according to a report.

Tests results by University of Oxford, published in a pre-print report with The Lancet, showed a 67% reduction in positive COVID-19 swabs among those vaccinated.

Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world

In the report, the university also said that a single standard dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is 76% effective from day 22 to day 90 after the jab.

This means protection is not reduced in the three months between the first and second dose.

The report supports the government's strategy that rolling out first doses - with a second dose after three months - is effective at reducing disease.

After the second dose, efficacy is 82.4% - if the interval between jabs is three months. This compared to 54.9% for those where the booster was given under six weeks after the first dose.

More from Covid-19

Professor Andrew Pollard, chief investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial and co-author of the paper, said: "These new data provide an important verification of the interim data that was used by more than 25 regulators including the MHRA and EMA to grant the vaccine emergency use authorisation.

"It also supports the policy recommendation made by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) for a 12-week prime-boost interval, as they look for the optimal approach to roll out, and reassures us that people are protected from 22 days after a single dose of the vaccine."

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Vaccine offered to all care homes in England

The findings suggest that what has a greater impact on the efficacy of the vaccine is the time between doses and not the dosing level.

Researchers say this is in line with previous research into other vaccines such as influenza, Ebola and malaria.

The authors are hoping to report data regarding the vaccine's impact on new COVID variants in the days to come, with the expectation that the findings will be broadly similar to those already documented by other vaccine developers.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the findings of the study were "really encouraging", adding that "vaccines are the way out of the pandemic".

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PM 'confident' of variant protection

Before these results, little was known about how effective the vaccines were at preventing transmission.

Evidence that the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab has an impact on transmission is therefore welcome and highly significant.

The vaccine is currently being rolled out across the UK, along with a jab from Pfizer/BioNTech

Latest government figures show the number of jabs given in the UK has now passed 10 million -9,646,715 first doses and 496,796 second doses.

Analysis: This latest research is immensely reassuring
By Thomas Moore, science correspondent

The evidence for delaying the second dose of the vaccine has been thin, so new research on the Oxford jab is immensely reassuring.

The scientists who developed the vaccine at the Jenner Institute have analysed more data from the UK clinical trial, including a further 201 cases of COVID.

They say it shows that one dose of the vaccine prevented 76% of infections and there was no drop in protection over the following 90 days.

That's significant because government vaccine advisers have recommended that the second dose can be delayed up to 12 weeks.

The long gap between doses also seems to boost the effectiveness of the vaccine.

If the interval was less than six weeks the vaccine was 55% effective. But that rises to 82% if the doses were spaced 12 or more weeks apart.

The third significant finding in the study - which has been submitted to The Lancet medical journal, but hasn't yet been peer reviewed - is that the vaccine is likely to reduce transmission of the virus.

PCR tests showed there was a 67% reduction in positive swabs in those who had been vaccinated. In other words there were fewer people with asymptomatic infections that could pass the virus on.

Reducing transmission is essential for there to be any chance of herd immunity against the virus that causes COVID.

But while this is hugely encouraging data for the Oxford vaccine there is no firm evidence that any of the other vaccines remain just as effective with a delayed second dose.

Nevertheless it's the kind of evidence that would have reassured independent scientists when the UK medical regulator, the MHRA, announced in December that the second dose of the vaccine would be delayed to speed up the rollout.

There had been concerns that it may leave people exposed to infection.

In normal times the scientists would have waited for copper-bottomed evidence from clinical trials before applying for a licence.

The pandemic, and the rapid spread of the Kent variant, meant the vaccine had to be rolled out before the evidence was complete.

And it seems to have paid off.

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2021-02-02 18:10:41Z
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Putin critic Navalny jailed in Russia despite protests - BBC News

Alexei Navalny at sentencing
Reuters

A Moscow court has jailed Putin critic Alexei Navalny for three-and a-half years for violating the conditions of a suspended sentence.

He has been in detention since returning to Russia last month. He had been treated in Germany for a near-fatal nerve agent attack against him in August.

Thousands of supporters have rallied across Russia in support of Mr Navalny.

His suspended sentence for embezzlement has been converted into a jail term.

He has already served a year under house arrest which will be deducted from the total.

In court he called President Vladimir Putin a "poisoner", blaming him for the attack.

The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Moscow said Mr Navalny greeted the news with a resigned shrug.

His supporters called for an immediate protest and tried to gather outside court but the whole area was overrun with riot police. More than 300 have been detained.

Strong international reaction to the sentence came quickly, with the Council of Europe saying the judgement "defied all credibility".

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab described the ruling as "perverse", and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was deeply concerned by it.

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2021-02-02 18:08:00Z
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Myanmar coup: What is happening and why? - BBC News

Military policeman in Yangon, 2 February
Reuters

Myanmar hit headlines around the world on Monday when its military seized control.

The country's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and members of her party are thought to be under house arrest.

Where is Myanmar?

Myanmar, also known as Burma, is in Southeast Asia and neighbours Thailand, Laos, Bangladesh, China and India.

It has a population of about 54 million, most of whom speak Burmese, although other languages are also spoken. The biggest city is Yangon (Rangoon) but the capital is Nay Pyi Taw.

The main religion is Buddhism. There are many ethnic groups in the country, including the Rohingya Muslims.

The ruling military changed the country's name from Burma to Myanmar in 1989, a year after thousands of people were killed in a crackdown on a popular uprising.

The country was ruled by the armed forces from 1962 until 2011, when a new government began ushering in a return to civilian rule.

Map of Myanmar

What has happened now, and why?

The military has once more taken over the country, declaring a year-long state of emergency.

It seized control following a general election which Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party won by a landslide.

The armed forces had backed the opposition, who were demanding a re-run of the vote, claiming widespread fraud.

The election commission said there was no evidence to support these claims.

The coup was staged as a new session of parliament was set to open.

Who is in charge now?

The military says that power has been handed over to commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing.

He has long wielded significant political influence, successfully maintaining the power of the Tatmadaw - Myanmar's military - even as the country transitioned towards democracy.

Min Aung Hlaing, pictured in 2018
Getty Images

He has received international condemnation and sanctions for his alleged role in the military's attacks on ethnic minorities.

The military has already replaced numerous ministers and deputies, including in finance, health, the interior and foreign affairs.

Who is Aung San Suu Kyi?

Aung San Suu Kyi became world-famous in the 1990s for campaigning to restore democracy in Myanmar.

She spent nearly 15 years in detention between 1989 and 2010 after organising rallies calling for peaceful democratic reform and free elections.

She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while under house arrest in 1991.

In 2015, she led her NLD party to victory in Myanmar's first openly contested election in 25 years.

Aung San Suu Kyi attends a meeting on September 1, 2020
Getty Images

What about the crackdown on Rohingya?

Ms Suu Kyi's international reputation has suffered greatly as a result of Myanmar's treatment of the Rohingya minority group.

Myanmar considers them illegal immigrants and denies them citizenship.

Over decades, many have fled to escape persecution.

Thousands of Rohingyas were killed and more than 700,000 fled to Bangladesh following an army crackdown in 2017.

Ms Suu Kyi appeared before the International Court of Justice in 2019, where she denied the military had committed genocide.

What has the international reaction been?

The EU, UK and United Nations are among those to have condemned the military takeover.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the "vote of the people must be respected".

US President Joe Biden has threatened to reinstate sanctions on Myanmar.

But not everyone has reacted in this way.

China, which has previously opposed international intervention in Myanmar, urged all sides in the country to "resolve differences". Its Xinhua news agency described the changes as a "cabinet reshuffle".

Other countries in the region, including Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines, have said it is an "internal matter".

What could happen now?

Ms Suu Kyi has urged her supporters to "protest against the coup", but the streets of Myanmar are quiet.

People walk next to the Sule Pagoda on an empty road in central Yangon on February 1, 2021
Getty Images

An NLD politician told the AP news agency the party was not planning street protests, but working to "settle the problem peacefully".

Medics working in government hospitals are reported as saying they will stop work this week to push for the release of Ms Suu Kyi. Pictures on social media show some wearing black ribbons in protest.

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2021-02-02 15:00:00Z
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Russia's Sputnik V vaccine has 92% efficacy in trial - BBC News

Russia's sputnik vaccine
Getty Images

Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine gives around 92% protection against Covid-19, late stage trial results published in The Lancet reveal.

It has also been deemed to be safe - and offer complete protection against hospitalisation and death.

The vaccine was initially met with some controversy after being rolled out before the final trial data had been released.

But scientists said its benefit has now been demonstrated.

It joins the ranks of proven vaccines alongside Pfizer, Oxford/AstraZeneca, Moderna and Janssen.

The Sputnik vaccine works in a similar way to the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab developed in the UK, and the Janssen vaccine developed in Belgium.

It uses a cold-type virus, engineered to be harmless, as a carrier to deliver a small fragment of the coronavirus to the body.

Safely exposing the body to part of the virus's genetic code in this way allows it to recognise the threat and learn to fight it off, without risking becoming ill.

After being vaccinated, the body starts to produce antibodies specially tailored to the coronavirus.

This means the immune system is primed to fight coronavirus when if it encounters it for real.

It can be stored at temperatures of between 2 and 8C degrees (a standard fridge is roughly 3-5C degrees) making it easier to transport and store.

Different second dose

But unlike other similar vaccines, the Sputnik jab uses two slightly different versions of the vaccine for the first and second dose - given 21 days apart.

They both target the coronavirus's distinctive "spike", but use different vectors - the neutralised virus that carries the spike to the body.

The idea is that using two different formulas boosts the immune system even more than using the same version twice - and may give longer-lasting protection.

As well as proving effective, it was also safe with no serious reactions linked to the vaccine during the trial.

Some side effects to a vaccine are expected but these are usually mild, including a sore arm, tiredness and a bit of a temperature.

And there were no deaths or serious illness in the vaccinated group linked to the jab.

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In a comment published alongside the Lancet paper, Profs Ian Jones and Polly Roy said: "The development of the Sputnik V vaccine has been criticised for unseemly haste, corner cutting, and an absence of transparency.

"But the outcome reported here is clear and the scientific principle of vaccination is demonstrated, which means another vaccine can now join the fight to reduce the incidence of Covid-19".

They pointed out the vaccine had good effect in all age groups, and reduced the seriousness of the disease after one dose.

This was "particularly encouraging" while supply of the vaccine is limited, they added.

The authors of the Lancet paper pointed out the analysis only included symptomatic cases of Covid, and more work would need to be done to understand whether it stops even asymptomatic cases, and prevents the virus from being passed on by vaccinated people.

Dr Julian Tang, a clinical virologist at the University of Leicester, said: "Despite the earlier misgivings about the way this Russian Sputnik V vaccine was rolled out more widely - ahead of sufficient Phase 3 trial data - this approach has been justified to some extent now.

"Such pandemic-related vaccine rollout compromises have, to be fair, been adopted in the UK vaccination programme also - with the extended intervals between the first and second doses.

"So we should be more careful about being overly critical about other countries' vaccine designs."

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2021-02-02 13:37:00Z
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