The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced that the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine made in two different countries is listed for emergency use, clearing the final hurdle for doses to be distributed by the COVAX program.In other developments, WHO officials said multiple factors are probably responsible for a drop in global cases, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in its latest risk assessment that countries are seeing an increase in the number and proportion of SARS-CoV-2 variants.Emergency listing clears last COVAX hurdleThe emergency listing announcement today came in the wake of last week's WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) recommendation for emergency use.