{"id":560859,"date":"2021-03-16T04:24:45","date_gmt":"2021-03-16T04:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/03\/16\/what-were-tracking-on-16-march-2021\/"},"modified":"2021-03-16T04:24:45","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T04:24:45","slug":"what-were-tracking-on-16-march-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/03\/16\/what-were-tracking-on-16-march-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"What we\u2019re tracking on 16 March 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, nice people, and welcome to a policy- and legislation-heavy issue <\/strong>after the run of M&A that has dominated headlines for the past week and a half.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re also feeling very green this morning. <\/strong>Not because it\u2019s nearly St. Patrick\u2019s Day, but because we\u2019re launching our new green economy vertical. And in the news well this morning, we have coverage of the FRA\u2019s drive to push non-bank financial services players to put all things green at the center of their business models.<\/p>\n

<\/a> THE BIG STORY INTERNATIONALLY:<\/strong> The list of countries pausing the rollout of AstraZeneca\u2019s vaccine grows bigger: France<\/a>, Italy<\/a>, Spain<\/a> and Germany<\/a> are temporarily suspending the use of the vaccine, pending further investigation after a handful of cases in which people reported developing blood clots after taking the jab. Austria, Norway, Ireland, the Netherlands and Denmark have also<\/a> pressed pause in recent days.<\/p>\n

But the WHO insists there is \u201cno evidence\u201d of a direct link between the jab and<\/strong> blood clotting incidents<\/strong>, saying in a statement picked up by Euronews<\/a> yesterday it is reviewing the reports and adverse effects. The organization urged governments to press ahead with vaccine rollouts to \u201csave lives and stem severe disease from the virus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uh, can we talk statistics for a moment? <\/strong>The European Medicines Agency is a voice of reason here, with the New York Times<\/a> quoting it as saying, \u201cthe numbers of such problems reported in vaccinated people did not seem higher than those usually seen in the general population.\u201d As one top British regulator put it: \u201cWe are closely reviewing reports but the evidence available does not suggest the vaccine is the cause.\u201d<\/p>\n

So would we take AstraZeneca this morning, if offered the chance? <\/strong>Yep. 100%.<\/p>\n

The AstraZeneca vaccine \u2014 one of Egypt\u2019s jabs of choice \u2014 is still being administered in<\/strong> Canada, Belgium, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine.<\/strong> Thailand is also set to begin rolling out the jab today, after safety concerns led to a \u201cbrief delay,\u201d BBC<\/a> notes.<\/p>\n

Egypt is set to receive some 40 mn doses of the vaccine this year<\/strong>, with the first batch of 6 mn doses set to arrive by the end of the month<\/a> as part of an 8.6 mn dose order placed through the Gavi \/ Covax program.<\/p>\n

<\/a> *** CATCH UP QUICK<\/strong> from Monday's edition of EnterprisePM:<\/p>\n