Chinese mRNA vaccine approved by Indonesia

A Chinese COVID-19 vaccine based on mRNA technology has received government approval for the first time — but not in China.

The shot, developed by Walvax Biotechnology, Suzhou Abogen Biosciences and the Chinese military, was cleared this week by Indonesia for emergency use, handing China a long-sought victory in the development of a homegrown vaccine using mRNA at a politically sensitive moment for the ruling Communist Party.

First developed and approved in the West, mRNA vaccines have been embraced by countries all over the world, including Indonesia, and are considered among the most effective vaccines that the world has to offer. But more than two years into the pandemic, they are not yet available in China, which has relied on an increasingly draconian “zero COVID” approach to keep cases and deaths from the virus low.

A two-dose regimen of the Chinese mRNA vaccine had an efficacy rate of 71.17% against infection from the omicron variant, according to Indonesia’s food and drug agency. Walvax has not published details of the efficacy of its mRNA shot from its latest late-stage trial.

— The New York Times

Montenegro bans entry to 28 foreigners

A day after it expelled six Russian diplomats, NATO member Montenegro on Friday revoked residence permits and banned entry to 28 foreign citizens it accused of spreading “malign influence” in the interest of unidentified foreign services. The move was part of “continued and coordinated” activities, the Interior Ministry said in a statement, offering no further detail. Media and officials said the group included a former ambassador to Montenegro of neighboring Serbia.

The six Russian diplomats were asked to leave the country over “breaches of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” the Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement on Twitter on Thursday. Russia in response closed down its consular services in Montenegro. Also on Thursday police raided multiple locations as part of a spy ring investigation that the government said was prepared and coordinated with Montenegro’s international partners and aimed at protecting national security. A member of NATO and a candidate country for membership in the European Union, Montenegro has joined Western sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine.

Dispensaries begin selling recreational pot

Vermont dispensaries are set to begin selling marijuana for recreational use, though only three will be ready to do so on opening weekend. Flora Cannabis in Middlebury, Mountain Girl Cannabis in Rutland and CeresMed in Burlington will all open today.

A fourth business has been licensed to sell recreational pot but isn’t ready to do so yet. As happened with the rollout of recreational marijuana sales in other states and in Canada, Vermont’s inaugural weekend will be “more of a soft opening,” as more product manufacturers and testing facilities come online and as more people harvest the plant, said James Pepper, chair of the state Cannabis Control Board.

— The Associated Press