(Reuters) – Pfizer Inc has told India there was no concern over the safety of its COVID-19 vaccine, as the country insists on small local trials for foreign shots despite a record surge in infections and shortage of doses.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS * Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals here for a case tracker and summary of news

EUROPE

* Denmark became the first country to exclude Johnson & Johnson’s shots from its vaccination programme over a potential link to a rare but serious form of blood clot.

* Novavax has told the European Union it plans to begin delivering its COVID-19 vaccine to the bloc towards the end of this year, new guidance that could lead to a formal contract being signed as early as this week, an EU official told Reuters.

* Germans who are fully vaccinated should be exempt from quarantine on re-entering Germany, Health Minister Jens Spahn said after the government cabinet discussed plans to lift restrictions for people who have had their shots.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* India pulled trainee doctors from exams to fight the world’s biggest COVID-19 surge, as its vaccinations plummeted from an all-time high reached early last month.

* Pfizer is in discussions with India seeking an “expedited approval pathway” for its vaccine, CEO Albert Bourla said on LinkedIn, announcing a donation of medicines worth more than $70 million.

* Taiwan became the latest place to ban arrivals from India, as it moves to prevent new infections, with more nations reporting cases of a variant first identified in the subcontinent.

AMERICAS

* U.S. President Joe Biden is imposing new travel restrictions on India starting on Tuesday, and barring most non-U.S. citizens from entering the United States.

* New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will lift most of their coronavirus capacity restrictions on businesses beginning on May 19.

* As Canada’s vaccination campaign ramps up, people at higher risk of transmitting COVID-19 often lack the resources to navigate labyrinthine booking systems or the documentation that would ease their path to inoculation.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Kuwaiti citizens who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 will not be able to travel abroad from May 22, the information ministry said.

* Tanzania announced new anti-coronavirus measures, saying it wanted to prevent the importation of new variants.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Venezuela this month will begin clinical trials of the Cuban coronavirus vaccine candidate Abdala, and plans to produce enough doses locally to vaccinate 4 million people.

* Novavax said it had expanded the late-stage study testing its COVID-19 vaccine candidate to include up to 3,000 adolescents aged 12 to 17.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* A gauge of global equity markets was not far from a record on Monday as investors remain bullish about the economic recovery ahead of more corporate results and U.S. data that is expected to underline the strength of the rebound.

* U.S. manufacturing activity grew at a slower pace in April, restrained by shortages of inputs as rising vaccinations and massive fiscal stimulus unleashed pent-up demand.

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