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The British government reported no new coronavirus deaths Tuesday for the first time since July 2020, an announcement that comes with some qualifications but is much welcome nonetheless. There's concern about the increasing cases in the U.K. of the coronavirus variant first identified in India, and uncertainty about whether authorities will press ahead with the final stages of easing social restrictions later this month. Reported death numbers are typically lower on weekends, and this past one was extended by Monday's Spring Bank Holiday, raising some questions about Tuesday's tally. In addition, the official count only considers fatalities within 28 days of testing positive for the virus. (Bacon and Ortiz, 6/1)

The World Health Organization (WHO) has approved a Covid-19 vaccine made by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac for emergency use. The decision will allow CoronaVac to be used in WHO's vaccine-sharing program, COVAX, which seeks to provide equitable global access to immunizations. It is the second Chinese vaccine given WHO approval after Sinopharm was approved in early May. (Regan and Langmaid, 6/2)

China is rolling out a world-leading 20 million Covid-19 vaccine doses a day, and more than 40% of the nation’s vast population has had at least one, homegrown shot. But as other countries move to reopen to the world, it seems to be in no hurry to turn the page on the pandemic. After a lackluster start dogged by hesitancy and some supply shortages, China has now administered more than 660 million vaccine doses, putting the country’s 1.4 billion people on track for herd immunity territory in just a few months. In its capital Beijing, more than 80% of people have had at least one dose, according to data from the municipal health authority reported by local media. (6/1)

It may be too little, too late.That’s the realization sinking in as Japan scrambles to catch up on a frustratingly slow vaccination drive less than two months before the Summer Olympics, delayed by a year because of the coronavirus pandemic, are scheduled to start. The Olympics risk becoming an incubator for “a Tokyo variant,” as 15,000 foreign athletes and tens of thousands officials, sponsors and journalists from about 200 countries descend on — and potentially mix with — a largely unvaccinated Japanese population, said Dr. Naoto Ueyama, a physician, head of the Japan Doctors Union. (Yamaguchi, 6/1)