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| - Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis: German firm BioNTech, which developed the Pfizer vaccine, say there is no evidence it needs to be adapted to counter variants of the virus. Chinese giant Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical signs a $200 million deal with BioNTech to make up to a billion jabs a year. The joint venture comes as BioNTech also says it is building its own Southeast Asia manufacturing site in Singapore to produce hundreds of millions of its mRNA-based vaccines. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to announce a major easing of Britain's restrictions including fully reopening pubs and restaurants and allowing hugs from May 17. An expert government committee says Norway should drop AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines over the risks of rare but serious side effects. But they say people can still have them on a voluntary basis. International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach has been forced to postpone a visit to Japan as virus cases surge less than three months before the Tokyo Games. An emergency legal challenge to Australia's contentious ban on citizens returning from India -- where the virus is rampant -- fails, dashing stranded travellers' hopes of an immediate return. Spain's government calls for "responsibility" after weekend images show people celebrating the state of emergency's end without masks or social distancing. Cricket's suspended Indian Premier League cannot be completed in India amid the raging pandemic and the world's richest Twenty20 tournament could struggle to find a slot elsewhere, says India's cricket chief. Domestic travel restrictions are lifted and a phased reopening of non-essential retailers begins in Ireland, in its most significant loosening of pandemic curbs so far this year. Germany opens access to Johnson & Johnson's vaccines to all adults, lifting a priority system determining who gets the jabs first. Surrounded by security guards, Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro leads hundreds of motorcyclists for a one-hour trip around the centre of the capital Brasilia to mark Mother's Day, amid harsh criticism over his management of the pandemic. A 23-year-old Italian woman is under observation in a hospital in Tuscany after receiving six doses of the Pfizer vaccine when a nurse mistakenly injected the entire vial instead of just one dose. The pandemic has killed at least 3,294,812 people worldwide since the virus first emerged in late 2019, according to an AFP compilation of official data. The US is the worst-affected country with 581,755 deaths, followed by Brazil with 422,340, India 246,116, Mexico 218,985 and Britain 127,605. burs-eab/fg/wdb/kjl
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