schema:articleBody
| - Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis: More than half a billion people across the world have had Covid-19 vaccine jabs, according to an AFP tally from official sources. Over 512.91 million doses have been given in 167 countries and territories as vaccinations campaigns begin to accelerate. The World Health Organization calls for the donation of 10 million vaccine doses to ensure that every country can start immunising within the first 100 days of 2021. The German Constitutional Court stops Europe's biggest economy from ratifying an enormous 750-billion-euro ($885 billion) EU coronavirus recovery fund, after a last-minute legal challenge is filed against the move. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) gives the green light to the Dutch Halix factory to produce AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine, which has been at the heart of a bitter dispute over supplies between the EU and Britain. Vials of Pfizer/BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine can be kept at normal freezer temperatures for short periods instead of in ultra-cold storage, EMA says, saying it would help the "rapid roll-out" of vaccines across Europe. Germany classifies France as a high-risk zone for the virus in a move that means travellers need to show a negative Covid-19 test and quarantine upon arrival. Kenya places Nairobi and nearby counties under partial lockdown and closes schools and bars there to curb the highest rates of coronavirus infection seen in Kenya since the pandemic began a year ago. Ireland begins enforcing a mandatory hotel quarantine for travellers arriving from 33 "high risk" countries. Sao Paulo's Butantan biomedical institute says it is developing a "100 percent Brazilian" vaccine against Covid-19 and expects to start using it in July. Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina rows back on his hard line stance against coronavirus vaccination, accepting mass inoculation but standing by a herbal infusion he has touted as a "cure. Norway extends its suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine until April 15, with health officials saying they need more time to investigate a potential link to severe blood clotting. At least 2,756,395 people have died of Covid-19 around the world since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally from official sources. The US is the worst-affected country with 546,822 deaths, followed by Brazil with 303,462, Mexico with 200,211, India with 160,949 and Britain with 126,445. burs-eab-jmy/har/bp
|