In Brief: Fourth virus wave likely to hit France

PARIS • France is likely to have a fourth wave of Covid-19 infections, due to a resurgence in cases caused by the Delta variant first found in India, said the French government's leading scientific adviser Jean-Francois Delfraissy. He added yesterday that the roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines would help mitigate the effect of the latest wave, which many medical experts think could hit France by September or October.

REUTERS

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Over 3 billion vaccine doses given

PARIS • More than three billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been given across the world, according to an Agence France-Presse tally on Tuesday from official sources.

While it took 20 weeks to give the first billion doses, it took only four to give the last billion.

About four in 10 jabs have been given in China (1.2 billion), with India (329 million) and the United States (324 million) also in the top three.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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Moderna jabs protect against variants

CAMBRIDGE (Massachusetts) • Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine produced neutralising antibodies against emerging variants, including the Delta variant, the drugmaker said.

A study was conducted on blood serum from eight participants obtained one week after they received the second dose.

Vaccination produced antibodies against all variants, including additional versions of the Beta variant first identified in South Africa and three lineage variants first identified in India.

REUTERS