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| - These are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls for a global plan to vaccinate against Covid-19, warning that inequities in initial efforts risk both the world's health and economy. Opening a special Security Council session on vaccines, he says 10 nations have administered three quarters of the doses so far -- and 130 countries have had no vaccinations at all. The United States will pay more than $200 million to the World Health Organization by the end of the month after reversing Donald Trump's plan to withdraw, Secretary of State Antony Blinken says. "It reflects our renewed commitment to ensuring the WHO has the support it needs to lead the global response to the pandemic," Blinken tells a virtual UN Security Council session on Covid-19. The European Union has bought up to 300 million extra Covid-19 vaccine doses from US firm Moderna, as the bloc seeks to meet a target of fully vaccinating 70 percent of its adults by mid-September. Five months ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, Japan kicks off its vaccination drive at a Tokyo hospital, with a plan to initially give Pfizer-BioNTech shots to 40,000 healthcare workers. South Africa launches its vaccination programme using a Johnson & Johnson vaccine, after a delayed start caused by concerns about the ability of the Oxford-AstraZeneca formula to shield against a widespread variant of the virus. Switzerland charts a path out of its coronavirus restrictions, starting with the reopening of shops from March 1, followed by reopening phases at monthly intervals, as long as new variants of the virus remain under control. At least 186.49 million doses of anti-Covid vaccines have been injected in 102 countries and territories around the world, according to an AFP tally based on official sources on Wednesday at 1700 GMT. The virus has caused at least 2,419,730 deaths since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP on Wednesday. The United States is the worst-affected country with 488,081 deaths followed by Brazil with 240,940, Mexico with 175,986, India with 155,913 and Britain with 118,195. New York state sues Amazon, claiming the e-commerce giant failed to adequately protect its warehouse workers during the Covid-19 pandemic and then punished them if they complained. burs-eab-jmy/lc
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