AstraZeneca Plc and the University of Oxford have started looking at how to re-engineer their coronavirus vaccine to defeat new mutations, saying a tweaked injection could be ready by autumn.

GlaxoSmithKline Plc agreed to work with CureVac NV to help boost production of its experimental vaccine and improve the shot to help protect against multiple variants.

A World Health Organization team visited the Wuhan laboratory that’s been at the center of months of speculation over how the disease jumped to humans. U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the 2011 movie “Contagion,” depicting the breakdown of society during a pandemic, influenced his planning for the vaccines rollout.

Key Developments:

• Global Tracker: Cases top 103.9 million; deaths surpass 2.25 million
• Vaccine Tracker: More than 104 million shots given worldwide
• QuickTake: Why the mutated coronavirus variants are so worrisome
• Biden’s Covid czar could define early months of his presidency
• Olympics planners lay down Covid-era rules for Tokyo Games
• QuickTake: Why delaying the second covid vaccine shot is messy

Subscribe to a daily update on the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis team here. Click CVID on the terminal for global data on cases and deaths.

NYC Health Commissioner Tests Positive (10:19 a.m. NY)

New York City’s health commissioner, Dave Chokshi, has tested positive for Covid-19, he said in a statement Wednesday.

“I now have mild symptoms, but they are manageable.,” Chokshi said. “I have been in touch with New York City’s Test and Trace Corps to ensure that anyone who was potentially exposed is offered services and care. This is a reminder – if we ever needed one – that Covid is still with us and we all must continue to wear masks, wash our hands, socially distance and stay home if feeling ill.”

Bristol Myers Joins Covid Antibody Race (10:10 a.m. NY)

Bristol Myers Squibb Co. has clinched a deal with the Rockefeller University for the rights to a Covid-19 therapy that combines two antibodies, the drugmaker said Wednesday.

Rockefeller launched the experimental treatment into human trials in mid-January. The agreement grants Bristol Myers an exclusive license to develop, manufacture and commercialize the therapy globally.

U.S. Companies Add More Jobs Than Expected (8:16 a.m. NY)

U.S. companies added more jobs than forecast in January, a sign that the labor market may be gradually improving as Covid-19 infections begin to ebb.

Company payrolls increased by 174,000 during the month, according to ADP Research Institute data released Wednesday. The median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for an increase of 70,000.

Chile Expands Vaccination Program (7:44 a.m. NY)

Chile, the Latin American country that has procured the most vaccines per capita, expanded its inoculation program Wednesday to include the elderly.

People lined up at state-run health centers and private clinics to receive the first dose of the Sinovac vaccine. The government is putting into practice a program that begin with people aged 90-years old and higher and essential workers. In coming days, the age limit will fall progressively.

Serbia Appeals for More of Chinese Vaccine (7:16 a.m. NY)

Serbia has appealed for more Chinese vaccine doses after being the first in Europe to import shots from Sinopharm last month, the office of President Aleksandar Vucic said. The initial shipment of 1 million doses put the Balkan country ahead of the rest of continental Europe in inoculation.

Hong Kong to Double In-School Teaching Capacity (6:45 a.m. NY)

Hong Kong to allow up to one-third of a school’s student capacity to return to classes on a half-day basis after the February’s Lunar New Year holiday, double the current capacity. School campuses have been closed as the city battles an extended wave of the coronavirus, which has led authorities to enact some of its strictest restrictions since the start of the pandemic.

Astra, Oxford to Work on Re-Engineered Shot (6:43 a.m. NY)

AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford are planning to have a re-engineered shot that protects against new mutations available by the fall in time for the next round of immunizations that may be required before winter.

Andrew Pollard, chief investigator of the Oxford trials, said switching out the genome sequence, manufacturing and completing new studies for a vaccine against variants should be fairly quick.

Moderna Offers South Africa Vaccines in First for Continent (6:23 a.m. NY)

Moderna offered to supply its coronavirus vaccine to South Africa, in what would be its first deal to sell shots to an African nation, a person familiar with the talks said.

Discussions have started, though no deal has been concluded, the person said. Business Day newspaper earlier reported that Moderna offered to sell South Africa 20 million doses, with the first arriving in May, citing a health activist from a group called the C19 People’s Coalition.

Germany Calls in Troops (6:16 p.m. HK)

Germany has boosted the number of Army troops helping in the fight against the pandemic by 5,000 to 25,000 and will call up more reservists as well, as Chancellor Angela Merkel is under increasing pressure to speed up a lagging vaccination program.

From guarding vaccine shipments to helping with mobile medical units, soldiers are being deployed throughout the country. On Wednesday, a team of 26 health workers equipped with 150 beds, 50 ventilators and other supplies set off for Portugal to help fight the spike of cases there.

Israel Widens Vaccination Drive to Young Adults (5:26 p.m. HK)

Israel’s Health Ministry has instructed the country’s health-service providers to prepare to extend their vaccination drive to all people over the age of 16 starting Thursday. The country is trying to reinvigorate the pace of vaccination, which has slowed this week to about half of the government’s target of 200,000 shots a day.

Antibodies Remain Six Months After Infection, Study Shows (5 p.m. HK)

The vast majority of people who contract Covid-19 still have antibodies at least six months after infection, a new study involving more than 20,000 people showed.

Some 88% of participants who tested positive for a previous infection retained antibodies for six months, according to the report by UK Biobank, a major biomedical database. The number was 99% at three months.

The results follow other, smaller studies that indicate a level of immunity following a natural infection for at least 6 months. Health officials have said it’s still unclear how long protection through vaccines could last.

‘Contagion’ Movie Shaped U.K.’s Vaccine Rollout (4:55 p.m. HK)

U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the 2011 movie “Contagion” influenced his planning for the rollout of coronavirus vaccines.

“In the film, it shows the moment of highest stress around the vaccine program is not in fact before it’s rolled out,” Hancock told LBC radio on Wednesday. “It’s afterwards, when there is a huge row about the order of priority.” The British government asked for “very early” clinical advice on who should get the shots first and laid it out to the public, he said.

France Blasts Hungary for Vaccine Approach (4:16 p.m. HK)

France’s junior minister for EU affairs, Clement Beaune, condemned Hungary for a go-it-alone approval of Russian and Chinese vaccines outside the European Union process. Instead, he suggested that Russia should submit its Sputnik V vaccine to European regulators to ensure it’s vetted according to the same criteria as others.

“The Russians haven’t submitted their vaccine to European authorities and we would invite them to do so,” he said Wednesday on LCI television.

Singapore Authorizes Moderna Vaccine (4:10 p.m. HK)

Singapore approved Moderna’s vaccine for use in the country with an interim clearance. A review of the clinical data found that benefits of the vaccine outweigh any known risks, according to Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority.

Denmark to Offer Digital Corona Passport to Business Travelers (3:52 p.m. HK)

Business travelers in Denmark will be offered a digital coronavirus passport at the end of the month, in a move designed to facilitate exporters affected by international restrictions, the government said Wednesday. The electronic document will contain information about an individual’s Covid-19 and vaccination history.

China Ready to Provide Vaccine Doses to Covax (3:42 p.m. HK)

China said it’s ready to supply 10 million coronavirus vaccine doses to the Covax effort, primarily for emergency use in developing countries, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a briefing in Beijing.

Sinopharm, Zhifei Vaccines Work Against Covid Variant (3:31 p.m. HK)

The vaccines developed by Sinopharm and Zhifei Biological work against the variant found in South Africa but with slightly weaker protection, Jiemian.com reported, citing an article by authors including George Gao Fu, head of China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Glaxo, CureVac Team Up to Develop Next-Generation Shots (3:25 p.m. HK)

GlaxoSmithKline and CureVac will work together to create next-generation messenger RNA vaccines. The companies aim to have a candidate approved by 2022 as part of a 150 million euro ($180 million) deal, they said in a statement.

Glaxo will also manufacture as much as 100 million doses of CureVac’s current mRNA vaccine, which is in late-stage trials. Drugmakers are looking to accelerate the development of shots as new variants emerge, sparking fears some vaccines could become less effective.

Myanmar Vaccine Effort Continues Amid Protest (2:40 p.m. HK)

Myanmar’s vaccine roll-out is set to continue uninterrupted even though a section of medical workers and doctors are halting work to protest the coup, according to Khin Khin Gyi, director of emerging infectious disease at the Ministry of Health and Sports.

The country inoculated more than 80,000 health workers, volunteers and officials in the first week of the vaccination drive and is set to receive 2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines produced by the Serum Institute of India on Feb. 11. Another batch of 4.2 million shots from the global Covax effort is scheduled before the end of the month.

WHO Team Visits Wuhan Virology Lab (12:35 p.m. HK)

A WHO scientific team in China to investigate the origins of the coronavirus visited the Wuhan laboratory that’s been at the center of months of speculation over how the disease jumped to humans. The scientists arrived at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, home to a high-tech laboratory that studies some of the world’s most infectious diseases, on Wednesday morning.

In the past week, the experts have also visited the Huanan seafood market where the first infections emerged, two major Wuhan hospitals that treated patients when it was unknown what they were afflicted with, and an animal disease center.

Yellen Speaks With World Officials on Covid (11:45 a.m. HK)

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has been speaking with numerous global officials about Covid-19, including World Bank President David Malpass and the International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. Mexico’s Finance Minister Arturo Herrera said he spoke with her on vaccine strategy.

Yellen said in a statement that Monday’s Congressional Budget Office forecast underscores that “we desperately need Congress to act on a rescue package.” The growth projected by the CBO means “it will be years before the country reaches full employment again,” she said.

Mexico Approves Sputnik Vaccine (10:08 a.m. HK)

Mexico’s health agency approved Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine for emergency use, Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said at a press conference.

Mexico is betting on close to 55 million vaccine doses by the end of April as the nation, which had been the first to start vaccinating in Latin America, fell behind others in the region after a delay in Pfizer Inc. shipments. The country has secured 1.4 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine through March.

New Zealand Approves Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine (9:40 a.m. HK)

New Zealand’s medicines regulator has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for domestic use. The country plans a mass vaccination program starting in the third quarter, with the government anticipating having some doses earlier in order to immunize border workers and other front-line staff.

“We expect the first Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines will arrive in New Zealand by the end of the first quarter, but we are making sure everything is in place in case there is an earlier arrival, “ Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins said in a statement.

The government has faced criticism for a delay in accessing vaccines. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said it is understandable that countries facing a rising death toll should get the vaccines first. However, she has expressed concern that the European Union may restrict vaccine exports.

Thai Resort Island Draws Up Vaccine Plans (7:40 a.m. HK)

A Thai resort island popular for its beaches is drawing up plans to fully reopen to vaccinated visitors by October to revive its tourism industry.

More than a dozen business groups are planning to pool funds to vaccinate 70% of the island’s adult population without waiting for a government rollout. The plan, which will need government approval, also seeks to waive a mandatory 14-day quarantine requirement, a major hurdle for many potential travelers.

Singapore Approves Using Tracing Data in Some Criminal Probes (7:35 a.m. HK)

Singapore passed legislation late Tuesday that will allow the government to use Covid-19 tracing data in certain criminal investigations, formalizing legal powers that had sparked controversy.

The new law allows access to contact-tracing data under seven categories of serious crime including murder, rape and drug trafficking. Members of parliament who supported the bill said it was wrong to deny police another tool to solve serious crimes. Critics said Singapore’s decision could signal the privacy risks of participating in contact-tracing programs, discouraging people from using technology.

U.S. Looks to Prevent Supply Shortages (6:40 a.m. HK)

U.S. President Joe Biden will order a government-wide review of critical supply chains in an effort to reduce U.S. reliance on countries such as China for essential medical supplies and minerals, according to people familiar with the matter.

The administration’s goal is to protect government and private-sector supply chains to prevent future shortages and limit other countries’ ability to exert leverage over the U.S., according to an administration official.

— With assistance by Mark Schoifet, Jim Wyss, Joao Lima, Dan Reichl, Tim Smith, Thomas Kutty Abraham, Karen Leigh, Melissa Cheok, Corinne Gretler, Tara Patel, Kitty Donaldson, Alisa Odenheimer, Suzi Ring, and Naomi Kresge