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Russia’s vaccine diplomacy suffered a setback on Thursday when Slovakia, one of the few countries in Europe to order its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, said that the doses it purchased differed from a version reviewed favorably by a respected British medical journal. A statement by Slovakia’s drug regulator questioning the Russian vaccine suggested potentially serious quality-control problems in the manufacture of Sputnik V and threatened recent progress made by Russia in winning acceptance for its product. (Higgins, 4/8)

Russia asked Slovakia on Thursday to return its Sputnik V vaccines it has received “due to multiple contract violations.” The official Twitter account of the Sputnik V vaccine said Slovakia’s drug regulator “in violation of existing contract and in an act of sabotage” tested Sputnik V “in a laboratory which is not part of the EU’s Official Medicines Control Laboratory network.” (Janicek, 4/8)

Germany’s health minister said Thursday that the European Union doesn’t plan to order Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine but his country will hold talks with Russia on whether an individual order makes sense. The EU’s executive Commission said Wednesday it won’t place orders for Sputnik V on member countries’ behalf, as it did with other manufacturers, Health Minister Jens Spahn told WDR public radio. (Moulson, 4/8)

Looking at the day-by-day chart tracking Italy's relentless coronavirus death toll, it would be impossible to tell that the country has been armed since late December with vaccines. At a point when the pandemic has become a race between those vaccines and a more lethal variant, most Western European nations have managed to push down their death rate through a combination of lockdowns and vaccinations. Italy’s death rate, though, is much the same as it was 3 1/2 months ago, despite receiving the same proportion of doses as other European Union members. On Wednesday, the country reported another 627 victims of the virus, the highest daily figure since early January. The question of what’s gone wrong in Italy is now perplexing a hard-hit nation that had thought it was over the worst. (Harlan and Noack, 4/8)

Japan is set to strengthen anti-virus measures in Tokyo on Friday to curb the rapid spread of a more contagious coronavirus variant just three months before the Olympics begin in the capital where most people are not yet vaccinated. Experts on a government panel gave preliminary approval to the emergency measures that would include binding orders in Tokyo, in Kyoto in western Japan and in the southern island prefecture of Okinawa. The measures expected to be announced later Friday by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga would start Monday and last until early May. (Yamaguchi, 4/9)

In the United States, the good vaccine news keeps coming. For much of the world, things look bleak. As of Thursday, just short of 20 percent of the U.S. population was fully vaccinated, giving some 66 million people a strong measure of protection against a disease that has already killed more than 500,000 Americans. By contrast, Covax — a World Health Organization-backed push for equitable distribution — aims to secure enough doses to cover up to 20 percent of the people in participating countries by the end of 2021, but it may not meet that relatively modest goal, experts warn. (Rauhala, 4/8)

You've got your COVID vaccine, and the CDC says it's OK to travel this summer, even internationally. But you're likely to find that your overseas options are limited by border restrictions in many countries. If you don't do your homework before traveling, you could wind up stranded in a foreign airport or quarantined in your hotel room for two weeks. (Muller, 4/9)

A Brazilian Supreme Court judge suspended extensions for pharmaceutical patents in the country, and although the decision is only temporary, the move still holds the potential for opening the door to numerous lower-cost generic medicines. The decision came in a closely watched case that has pitted the pharmaceutical industry against consumer advocates over patent rights and the extent to which many prescription drugs are affordable. At issue is the constitutionality of a provision in the country’s intellectual property law allowing lengthy extensions on patents. (Silverman, 4/8)