Coronavirus latest: Employers pull back from plans to reduce office space post-pandemic, survey finds

The US reached another milestone in its rollout of coronavirus jabs, giving out more than 125m doses since vaccinations began late last year. The nation has administered 126.5m doses in total, an increase of about 2m from the previous day, according to data published on Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Arizona’s state-run vaccination sites will open their doors to any resident over the age of 16 on Wednesday, joining other states in taking another step towards unrestricted rollout of coronavirus shots. Anyone in that group can book appointments for sites in Maricopa county, which includes Phoenix, and Pima and Yuma counties.

Spain relaxed the rules for administering the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, allowing its use on people up to 65 years old. Previously it was banned for those over 55. The move follows the suspension last week of AstraZeneca jabs by several EU countries, including Spain, Italy, France and Germany, amid concerns over blood clots.

Jay Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, vowed to keep providing monetary support to the US economy “for as long as it takes”, saying the American recovery was “far from complete”. Powell cited recent progress, which caused officials to sharply upgrade forecasts for gross domestic product growth to 6.5 per cent this year.

Deliveroo is targeting a market capitalisation of between £7.6bn and £8.8bn in its stock market debut in what could be London’s biggest initial public offering in a decade. The food-delivery company said it would sell shares at between £3.90 and £4.60. At the midpoint, equity would be valued at £8.2bn.

David Solomon, chief executive of Goldman Sachs, has praised disgruntled junior investment banking analysts concerned about their workload and committed to easing the strain on employees. Solomon emphasised how working from home during the pandemic had increased the strain of an already stressful business.

Hungary is the first EU member country to approve two new vaccines from China and India for emergency use. The surgeon-general on Monday announced that Budapest had approved China’s CanSino Biologics jab, along with Covishield, the Indian version of the Oxford/AstraZeneca inoculation. 

Cruise operator Carnival has postponed the restart of voyages on its Italy-based Costa line because of the spread of coronavirus in Europe. Costa had planned to run one of its ships from late March and another from early May, but those two dates have been pushed back to early and mid-May respectively.