The Latest: Canada OKs J&J, Getting 4th Vaccine for Nation

Canada is getting a fourth vaccine to prevent COVID-19, approving the Johnson & Johnson shot that works with just one dose.

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BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TORONTO — Canada is getting a fourth vaccine to prevent COVID-19, approving the Johnson & Johnson shot that works with just one dose.

Health experts are eager for a one-and-done option to help speed vaccination. Canada has also approved vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca. Health Canada is the first major regulator to approve four difference vaccines.

Canada doesn’t have domestic production and has struggled with a shortage of vaccines. The U.S. isn’t exporting locally made vaccines, so neighbors Canada and Mexico must get vaccines from Europe and Asia.

Canada has pre-purchased 10 million Johnson & Johnson doses, with options to buy another 28 million.

The U.S. approved the Johnson & Johnson vaccine last month. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says one dose was 85% protective against the most severe COVID-19 illness in a massive study that spanned three continents.

THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

— AP-NORC poll: Americans largely back Biden’s virus response

— Senate takes up $1.9T relief bill, looks for passage next week

— France backs Italy in blocking export of vaccines from the European Union

— Pope arrives in Iraq to rally Christians despite pandemic

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

BERLIN — The head of Germany’s disease control agency is urging people to get vaccinated for the coronavirus when given the opportunity, no matter which vaccine is offered.

The comments Friday from Robert Koch Institute President Lothar Wieler come amid reports some have declined the AstraZeneca shot.

Germany’s independent vaccine committee on Thursday approved AstraZeneca for people 65 and over. Several countries, including Germany, initially restricted it to people under 65, or in some cases under 55, citing a lack of data on its effectiveness in older people.

Germany is also administering the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

“If you are offered a vaccine, please get yourself vaccinated. They are safe and effective,” Wieler says, adding that vaccinating large numbers of people is “the way out of the pandemic.”

WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s government plans to open temporary hospitals and impose partial localized lockdowns.

Health Minister Adam Niedzielski says the government will open more temporary hospitals on Wednesday because of a rise in infections. Niedzielski says it’s partly because of the British variant.

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With nearly 16,000 new cases recorded Friday, Niedzielski says that level could rise to 18,000 new daily cases or more next week.

ISLAMABAD — A Pakistani official says authorities are hoping to start receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine in the middle of this month under the WHO’s COVAX Facility.

Sajjad Hussain Shah, a spokesman at ministry of health services, says Pakistan will receive 17 million doses coronavirus vaccines under the COVAX program from March to June. It will be in addition to 500,000 doses of Chinese Sinopharm vaccine which Pakistan will get from Beijing next week.

China had promised to donate 1 million doses of vaccine to Pakistan. Last month, Pakistan received 500,000 doses.

Pakistan is currently using Chinese vaccines for health workers and elderly people amid a steady increase in deaths and cases from COVID-19. Pakistan allocated $250 million to buy vaccines, and authorities say they were still in talks with manufacturers of vaccines.

Also, Pakistan had allowed its private sector to import vaccines, but so far no private laboratory has started vaccinations for unexplained reasons.

Pakistan has reported 13,128 confirmed deaths among 587,014 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic.