French pharmaceutical startup Valneva had big news in September: a government contract for 60 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine candidate. The buyer? The United Kingdom — not the European Union, as might be expected for a company on the banks of the Loire. “What a true waste,” bristled Christelle Morancais, president of the Pays de la Loire regional council, as she tried to wrap her head around the missed opportunity. The British, she told The Associated Press, “rolled out the red carpet for this company, helping with financing and the set-up. … And we were powerless.” The U.K. has now ordered another 40 million doses and has options for more from Valneva, which has a plant in Scotland. The EU is still in talks with the company.

Facebook recently banned an Israel anti-vaccination group with 14,000 members named, “No to the Green Passport,” following a request by Israel’s Health Ministry. The group’s leaders encouraged members to schedule appointments at vaccination centers and then not show up or cancel them at the last minute, forcing the centers to throw out unused vaccine doses, Channel 12 News reported. Israel Police are considering opening a criminal investigation against the leaders of the group, which espouses conspiracy theories on coronavirus vaccines. “We are investigating the criminal and legal implications of the matter,” a senior police official told Channel 12.

South Africa has suspended plans to inoculate its front-line health care workers with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after a small clinical trial suggested that it isn’t effective in preventing mild to moderate illness from the variant dominant in the country. South Africa received its first 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine last week and was expected to begin giving jabs to health care workers in mid-February. The disappointing early results indicate that an inoculation drive using the AstraZeneca vaccine may not be useful. Preliminary data from a small study suggested that the AstraZeneca vaccine offers only “minimal protection against mild-moderate disease” caused by the variant in South Africa.

A member of the World Health Organization expert team investigating the origins of the coronavirus in Wuhan said the Chinese side granted full access to all sites and personnel they requested — a level of openness that even he hadn’t expected. Peter Daszak told The Associated Press on Friday that team members had submitted a deeply considered list of places and people to include in their investigation and that no objections were raised. “We were asked where we wanted to go. We gave our hosts a list … and you can see from where we’ve been, we’ve been to all the key places,” Daszak said. “Every place we asked to see, everyone we wanted to meet. … So really good,” said the British-born zoologist, who is president of the NGO EcoHealth Alliance in New York City.

When it comes to fighting the coronavirus, Israel is discovering the limits of vaccines. The country famous for its high-tech prowess and spirit of innovation is home to the world’s speediest vaccination drive, fueled from the top by national pride and a deep longing to start “getting back to life,” as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put it. But experts say reopening the country will still take months, complicated by coronavirus mutations that have spread from Britain and South Africa, and wobbles in the pace of vaccinations of people under 60. While the government is expected to begin easing a third nationwide lockdown in the coming days, there are likely to be further, partial closings as the threat ebbs and flows.

Researchers at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv say that they have developed a drug that appears to cure serious coronavirus cases, Kan News reported. The drug, EXO-CD24, was administered to 30 moderately to severely ill coronavirus patients and 29 of them showed a marked improvement within two days and were released from the hospital three to five days later. The 30th patient also recovered but her recovery took several more days. The drug fights the cytokine storm – a life-threatening immune response during which the body starts to attack its own cells – which scientists believe is fueling many coronavirus deaths. Cytokines are part of the body’s normal immune response to infection but their sudden release in large quantities can cause multisystem organ failure and death.

Everyone arriving in the U.K. from countries identified as coronavirus hotspots will have to spend 10 days in hotel quarantine starting Feb. 15 in a bid to stop new virus variants reaching the country, the government said Friday. But authorities are facing criticism for delays in implementing the policy, which was first announced in late January. Under the plan, British citizens and residents returning from high-risk countries will have to quarantine in approved hotels near airports and seaports, patrolled by security guards, and will be billed for their stay. International travel is already restricted under current restrictions to curb the spread of the virus, with Britons barred from taking foreign holidays.

Iran on Thursday received its first batch of foreign-made coronavirus vaccines as the country struggles to stem the worst outbreak of the pandemic in the Middle East. The shipment consists of 500,000 doses of Russian-made Sputnik V vaccines which arrived at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport from Moscow, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. Also Iranian state TV quoted Tehran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, as saying that Iran has ordered 5 million doses from Russia. The next batches are to arrive on Feb. 18 and Feb. 28, said Jalali. However, a report on the semi-official ISNA news agency appeared to contradict Jalali’s statement and the Fars report.

In light of the still-high coronavirus infection rate and number of seriously ill patients in Israel, with almost all hospitals reporting over 120% occupancy, and the number of virus fatalities close to 5,000, HaGaon HaRav Gershon Edelstein instructed that Avinu Malkeinu be recited after Shacharis at the minyan in his home on Thursday morning. On Tuesday night, HaGaon HaRav Gershon Edelstein spoke about the coronavirus and vaccines from his home in Bnei Brak. “It’s almost a year with the pandemic and the virus is wreaking harm,” the Rosh Yeshivah said. “There are seriously ill patients, niftarim. If people are careful, they won’t contract the virus and won’t infect others. It’s mamash a sakanah if people aren’t careful. Adherence to health regulations is a very great chovah.

“Pregnant women should fear the coronavirus rather than vaccines,” Dr. Rachel Picar, a specialist in obstetrics and senior doctor in Hadassah Ein Kerem, told Kikar H’Shabbos. Dr. Picar added that as is well-known, the coronavirus vaccine is based on mRNA technology, which does not introduce a weakened form of the virus, or any virus at all into the body. Once the active ingredient in the vaccine spurs the production of antibodies, it disappears altogether from the body and therefore pregnant women should not fear being vaccinated. “We’re now seeing [due to the British variant] very serious morbidity among pregnant women, especially in the last trimester, which is accompanied by serious breathing difficulties which deteriorates very quickly to ventilation being required,” Dr.