The Latest: Spain to offer AstraZeneca shot to adults 18-65

A nurse prepares a dose of COVID-19 vaccination at the Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center during COVID-19 vaccinations in Eagan, Minn., on Friday, March 5, 2021. Approximately 13,400 doses of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be administered at the Minnesota Vikings practice facility to health care workers and adults 65 years of age or older over the next few days. (John Autey/Pioneer Press via AP, Pool)

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice speaks during the State of the State Address in the House Chambers of the West Virginia State Capitol Building in Charleston, W.Va., on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. Justice has agreed to live in the seat of state government in Charleston, ending a long-running challenge over his residency. A Kanawha County judge signed an order Monday, March 1, 2021, dismissing a 2018 lawsuit filed by a former state lawmaker. (AP Photo/Chris Jackson, file)

A man wearing a face mask to protect against coronavirus argues with police officers during protest against anti-virus measures in the capital Sarajevo, Bosnia, Thursday, March 11, 2021. Several hundred owners of small businesses have briefly blocked traffic in Bosnia's capital Sarajevo in protest of anti-virus measures for the upcoming weekend. Bosnian authorities have announced that all non-essential shops and businesses, including bars and restaurants in Sarajevo will shut down on Friday as the country faces a surge in coronavirus infections. (AP Photo/Kemal Softic)

In this Friday, Feb. 19, 2021 file photo, a pharmacist prepares a syringe from a vial of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine during preparations at the Vaccine Village in Antwerp, Belgium. At least a dozen countries including Germany, France, Italy and Spain have now temporarily suspended their use of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine after reports last week that some people in Denmark and Norway who got a dose developed blood clots, even though there's no evidence that the shot was responsible. The European Medicines Agency and the World Health Organization say the data available don't suggest the vaccine caused the clots and that people should continue to be immunized. Here's a look at what we know — and what we don't.(AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)

Rapid tests for the coronavirus lay on a desk in a class room at the Lyonel Feininger Gymnasium in Halle, Germany, Monday, March 22, 2021. For the first time, rapid tests are used by the pupils at the school on the initiative of the headmaster. (Holger John/dpa via AP)

People observe a minute of silence as thousands of crosses are painted at the Old Town Square, to commemorate the 1-year anniversary of the death of first Czech COVID-19 patient, in Prague, Czech Republic, Monday, March 22, 2021. Bells were tolling all across the Czech Republic at Monday noon to honor those who have died of COVID-19 in one of the hardest-hit European Union countries. A 95-year-old man was the first to pass away on March 22, 2020 at Prague's Bulovka hospital. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

In this Sunday, March 21, 2021 file photo a vial and syringes of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, at the Guru Nanak Gurdwara Sikh temple, on the day the first Vaisakhi Vaccine Clinic is launched, in Luton, England. AstraZeneca said Monday March 22, 2021 that advanced trial data from a U.S. study on its COVID vaccine shows it is 79% effective. The U.S. study comprised 30,000 volunteers, 20,000 of whom were given the vaccine while the rest got dummy shots. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)

Polish commuters stand in a line and wait for a coronavirus test at the Stadtbruecke border crossing between Germany and Poland in Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany, Monday, March, 22, 2021. Poland is being classified as a 'high risk' COVID-19 area by German authorities and people anyone crossing into Germany from Poland must provide a negative coronavirus test. (Patrick Pleul/dpa via AP)

A man comes out after receiving COVID- 19 vaccine at a government hospital, in New Delhi, India, Monday, March 22, 2021. India has reported its highest number of coronavirus cases in four months, amid a worrying surge that has prompted multiple states to return to some form of restrictions on public gathering. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

In this Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021 file photo, a woman walks past the entrance of the vaccination center in Frankfurt, Germany. Europe recorded 1 million new COVID-19 cases last week, an increase of 9% from the previous week and ending a six-week decline, WHO said Thursday, March 4, 2021. The so-called UK variant is of greatest concern in the 53 countries monitored by WHO in Europe. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)

In this Tuesday, March 2, 2021 file photo, a German help worker tests for COVID-19 a French national going to Germany at the German-French border near Saarbrucken. Europe recorded 1 million new COVID-19 cases last week, an increase of 9% from the previous week and ending a six-week decline, WHO said Thursday, March 4, 2021. The so-called UK variant is of greatest concern in the 53 countries monitored by WHO in Europe. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias, File)

A policeman wearing protective gears inspects a driver at a checkpoint as the government implements stricter measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Cavite province, Philippines on Monday, March 22, 2021. The Department of Health reported over 8,000 new COVID-19 cases Monday, the highest number since the pandemic hit the country last year as it struggles to contain an alarming surge in coronavirus infections. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A woman walks at the Old Town Square in Prague, Czech Republic, Monday, March 22, 2021. A group of activists painted the crosses to criticize the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

The first visitors wearing face masks to protect against the spread of coronavirus, walk atop of Acropolis hill, as the Parthenon temple is seen in the background in Athens, Monday, March 22, 2021. Greece's government reopened the Acropolis and other ancient sites nationwide after four months as it prepares to restart the tourism season in mid-May. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Employees at a hair salon wearing face masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus, work on customers in Athens, Monday, March 22, 2021. Greece's government reopened a limited number of barbershops and hair salons on Monday. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

In this photo released by Central Epidemic Command Center, Taiwan's Health Minister Chen Shih-chung receives a shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine at National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan, Monday, March 22, 2021. Health care workers received the first shots in Taiwan's COVID-19 vaccination drive Monday, beginning a campaign that won't use supplies from China amid uneven distribution of the vaccines globally. (Central Epidemic Command Center via AP)

Polish commuters stands in front of a tent and waits for a coronavirus test at the Stadtbruecke border crossing between Germany and Poland in Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany, Monday, March, 22, 2021. Poland is being classified as a 'high risk' COVID-19 area by German authorities and people crossing into Germany from Poland must provide a negative coronavirus test. (Patrick Pleul/dpa via AP)

MADRID — Spain’s health minister said the country will resume use of the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 by extending it to adults up to 65 years of age and that authorities will consider vaccinating older people with the shot after new studies revealed Monday that it provides strong protection to all.

AstraZeneca said Monday in a long-anticipated study that its vaccine was 79% effective overall at preventing symptomatic cases of COVID-19, including in older people, and that none of the more than 30,000 volunteers in the study were hospitalized or developed severe disease.

Health Minister Carolina Darias said that officials needed time to analyze the study before broadening use of the vaccine, which several regions and doctors had for weeks demanded.

Spain, like many European countries, halted administration of the AstraZeneca shot last week, but European drug regulators later declared the vaccine safe and with no obvious links to a few dozen cases of rare blood clots.

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THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

— AstraZeneca: US data shows vaccine effective for all ages

— Analysis finds faster is not necessarily better in US COVID-19 vaccine rollout

— Germany looks set to extend lockdown measures again

— Taiwan gives health workers island’s first AstraZeneca doses

— Teachers lament ‘chaotic’ virus rules in German schools

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Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

PHOENIX — Arizona is opening coronavirus vaccine appointments to everyone 16 and older.

Gov. Doug Ducey said Monday that appointments will be available at state-run mass vaccination sites in Phoenix, Tucson and Yuma starting 8 a.m. on Wednesday. Ducey said the decision was made based on an anticipated increase in vaccine supply.

Arizona is among the first states to allow anyone to sign up for vaccine appointments. President Joe Biden has said he wants states to take that step by May 1 and seek to vaccinate everyone who wants a shot by the end of May.

State officials say about 2.9 million vaccine doses have been given to about 1.1 million people so far in Arizona.

The change applies only to state-run vaccination sites, which have distributed the bulk of the vaccines.

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GENEVA — A top U.N. health expert says the weekly global count of COVID-19 deaths is rising again, calling it a “worrying sign” after about six weeks of declines.

Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead on COVID-19 at the World Health Organization, says cases are rising in four of the WHO’s five regions worldwide.

Cases in Europe have increased by 12 percent in the last week, Van Kerkhove told a press conference. The rise was driven by the spread of a variant that first emerged in Britain and has spread to many other places including eastern Europe.

Southeast Asia tallied a 49 percent jump over the last week, and WHO’s Western Pacific region tallied a 29 percent rise, she said.

Meantime, the Americas and Africa registered declines.

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NEW YORK — Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that the state is expanding eligibility for the coronavirus vaccine to everyone ages 50 and above.

The governor said newly eligible people can start signing up for vaccines on 8 a.m. Tuesday.

Previously, everyone ages 60 and older could get vaccinated, as well as certain essential workers and people with select health conditions.

Cuomo said the state can expand eligibility because of promises from the federal government that vaccine supplies will continue increasing. It’s unclear how many people are now eligible for vaccines in New York.

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MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota health officials reported no new deaths due to COVID-19 for the first time in nearly a year.

The Minnesota Department of Health also reported 1,152 new cases, putting the state at 506,376 cases and 6,782 deaths since the start of the pandemic a year ago. The Star Tribune reported that while Mondays tend to feature fewer deaths reported than average, the figure is the first time the state has reported no new deaths in a daily situation update since April 13.

Despite the good news on deaths, health officials have said in recent weeks they’re worried about the spread of coronavirus mutations — called variants — in different parts of Minnesota, which they say could derail the state’s progress in fighting the pandemic.

Officials said the state is in a race against the spread of the variants and reaching Democratic Gov. Tim Walz’s goal of 80% of the state’s population being fully vaccinated.

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GENEVA — The World Health Organization has a message for any countries that have stocks of AstraZeneca vaccines against COVID but are hesitant about using it: Give it to us, we have a lot of would-be takers.

Dr. Bruce Aylward, a special adviser to the WHO director-general, acknowledged the U.N. health agency received “a lot of questions” from AstraZeneca’s vaccine amid early concerns whether it might be linked to cases of a severe, rare blood clotting in some patients who received it.

Aylward told reporters that countries pressing ahead with a rollout of the AstraZeneca are “very keen” to receive it, including participants in the U.N.-backed COVAX program that aims to get vaccines to countries where they are most needed, whether rich or poor.

“The problem is not a lack of demand. It’s quite the contrary,” he said. “If there are any countries that do have concerns or are not fully utilizing a vaccine ... make it available to the COVAX facility because we have a long list of countries that are very, very keen to use the AstraZeneca vaccine.”

“We simply cannot get enough of it,” he said. Positive results from clinical trials of the vaccine in the United States, Chile and Peru have “really given a new confidence and demand for that vaccine.”

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MADISON, Wis. — The governor of Wisconsin has signed a bill that allows dentists to administer COVID-19 vaccinations. The bill was signed the same day more than 2 million more people became eligible for shots.

The Republican-authored bill allows dentists who complete eight hours of training on vaccine protocols and record keeping to administer shots. Dentists in neighboring Minnesota and Illinois are already permitted to give the vaccine. About 3,500 dentists in Wisconsin could be enlisted to help vaccinate.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ administration announced earlier this month that people age 16 and up with certain pre-existing conditions would be eligible on Monday, a week earlier than previously announced.

State Department of Health Services Secretary Karen Timberlake urged people to be patient as they try to book vaccination appointments, warning some vaccinators may have waiting lists.

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PRAGUE — The Czech Republic is expanding its program of mandatory mass testing of employees to include the smallest companies.

Industry and Trade Minister Karel Havlicek says the firms with less than 10 people have to start to test them on a weekly basis. The non-governmental organizations will also have to do so as well self-employed people who are in personal contacts with their customers.

The minister says that with the inclusion of the new categories, a total of 500,000 tests of employees will be conducted daily.

The government has also decided to ask the Parliament to approve its plan to extend a state of emergency by another 30 days. The current state of emergency will expire on March 28. It would enable the government to keep in place a strict lockdown till at least April 5, the last day of Easter.

The nation of 10.7 million has almost 1.5 million confirmed cases with 24,810 deaths.

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SKOPJE, North Macedonia — Authorities in North Macedonia are extending a nationwide curfew for another two weeks. The 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew was first imposed March 10.

The Balkan country of 2.1 million recorded last week a 50% increase in infections over the previous two weeks. Hospitals are filling and most new patients have the U.K. virus variant.

Inoculations started among medical workers in mid-February from a batch of 4,680 doses of Pfizer vaccines donated by neighboring Serbia.

So far North Macedonia has recorded nearly 120,000 confirmed infections and more than 3,400 deaths.

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The governor of West Virginia announced the state will immediately open coronavirus vaccine eligibility to all residents aged 16 and older.

Republican Gov. Jim Justice said the state will continue prioritizing doses for residents 65 and over.

The state becomes one of the few in the nation to lift virtually all eligibility requirements way ahead of President Joe Biden’s goal of allowing all adults to get shots starting on May 1.

There are about 1.43 million people 18 and older in the state, according to census data.

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LISBON, Portugal — Portugal resumed administering AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, a week after temporarily halting its use.

Portugal was one of the European countries which last week suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine after a few dozen people in other countries who had the jab developed blood clots. The European Union’s drug regulatory agency concluded after a review it couldn’t rule out a direct link in those cases but said the benefits of using the vaccine outweigh the possible risks.

Authorities say Portugal’s vaccination program is running late due to a shortage of supply, but officials hope to speed up jabs in coming weeks by opening vaccination centers in large buildings, such as stadiums.

Portugal, a country of 10.3 million people, had administered almost 1.35 million jabs by Sunday. The health ministry does not publish a breakdown of which vaccines it is administering.

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PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo’s outgoing health minister sent a letter of complaint to the international community for delaying delivery of the vaccine to the tiny Western Balkan country.

Minister Armend Zemaj said that “Unfortunately, despite our maximum commitment, we are the only country in Europe that has not received a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine.”

Kosovo’s only shots were made last weekend for a group of 500 medical personnel in neighboring Albania. Kosovar doctors and nurses traveled to Albania’s northeastern city of Kukes to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Vaccination has yet to start in Kosovo, which is expecting the first batch of vaccines from the Covax facility later this month. The government has ordered an overnight curfew and banned public gatherings of over 50 people.

Kosovo has reported 83,012 total confirmed cases and 1,776 confirmed deaths as of Monday.

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WARSAW, Poland — Officials are saying that Poland is sending 20 medics and 3,500 AstraZeneca vaccines to Brussels on Thursday to inoculate NATO leaders and employees at the pact’s headquarters there.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he was “grateful” to Poland and said its readiness to provide the anti-COVID-19 inoculation demonstrated that Poland is a “highly valued ally” ready to support NATO efforts in many ways.

In Warsaw, government official in charge of the national vaccination program, Michal Dworczyk, said as an ally, Poland was prepared “not only to take but also to give.” He argued the vaccination will help ensure health safety at the pact’s June summit.

Dworczyk said the project will not deplete from the government’s efforts to fight the coronavirus in Poland, because the 3,500 doses will be less than 1% of shipments that Poland is to receive this week, while the medical personnel will not be coming from COVID-19-treating hospitals.

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SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Several hundred people have protested against the tightening of anti-virus measures in the Serb-run part of Bosnia where soaring infections have burdened the health system.

Shouting “Down with measures,” the protesters gathered in the northern town of Banja Luka demanding that the state help owners of bars, restaurants and other businesses affected by the situation.

Authorities in the Serb entity in Bosnia have shut down ski resorts and food and drink spots to curb the surge as doctors warned the situation is alarming and hospitals are running out of beds.

Entire Bosnia in the past two weeks has faced a spike in infections and deaths. On Monday, authorities said 73 people have died in the past 24 hours in the country of 3.3 million.

Also on Monday, a group of public figures from the half of Bosnia run by the country’s Bosniaks and Croats, said they have sued the top government officials over their failure to acquire vaccines in time.

Bosnia is yet to start mass vaccination of its citizens. Bosnian Serbs have received a batch of Sputnik V vaccines from Russia and crossed over to neighboring Serbia for jabs, but the Federation entity has relied on 5,000 Astra-Zeneca jabs donated by Serbia while still awaiting own shipments.

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REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft will begin bringing workers back to its suburban Seattle global headquarters on March 29 as the tech giant starts to reopen more facilities it largely shuttered during the coronavirus pandemic.

In a post on the company’s corporate blog, Executive Vice President Kurt DelBene said Microsoft has been monitoring local health data and decided it can bring more employees back to its Redmond, Washington, campus.

DelBene said workers will have the choice to return to headquarters, continue working remotely or do a combination of both. More than 50,000 people work at the company’s headquarters campus in Redmond, 15 miles east of Seattle.

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LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he is “reassured” that the European Union won’t block exports of coronavirus vaccines to the U.K. as part of a simmering feud over supplies.

“We’re all facing the same pandemic. We all have the same problems,” he said.

EU leaders have accused Britain of preventing Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca from exporting vaccines, and have said the company could face export bans to Britain and other countries if it didn’t quickly deliver the promised amount of vaccines to the 27-nation bloc.

Britain denies having an export ban and says the EU must not prevent pharmaceutical companies from honoring contracts they have signed.

The British government says it is confident it will have enough doses to meet its target of giving all adults a vaccine shot by the end of July. So far more than half of adults in Britain have received at least one dose.

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This story was corrected by changing Gov. Tony Evers’ political party in the Madison, Wisconsin item.