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| - These are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis: Brazil approves the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as the country races to secure enough doses to contain the world's second most deadly outbreak. Israel, which tops the vaccine table with more than half its population having had one shot, says it will give a "limited quantity" of unused vaccines to Palestinians. In other developments, Ukraine -- one of the last European countries to begin a vaccine drive -- finally receives its first doses and says it will start giving shots straight away. Afghanistan also launches its vaccination campaign, and the World Health Organization says Syria's rebel-held northwest will receive its first shipment of jabs by the end of next month. Meanwhile, India's Serum Institute, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, despatches its first batch of shots for the Covax programme to help poorer countries. The Czech Republic is reaching capacity in intensive care wards as infections keep soaring in the EU's worst-hit country, its health ministry says. The country tops the world's per capita infection table over the last 14 days and is second after neighbouring Slovakia for deaths, according to an AFP tally. EasyJet shares rally on rocketing flight bookings -- soaring 337 percent compared with a week earlier -- as the British airline is given a boost by Prime Minister Boris Johnson's pledge to begin easing England's virus lockdown shortly. Scotland will look to begin a "substantial" easing of restrictions from April 26, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says. Spain extends its ban on arrivals from Britain, Brazil and South Africa until March 16 to guard against the spread of new strains from these countries. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte says that the controversial overnight curfew imposed by the Netherlands to slow the spread of the coronavirus will be extended until March 15. The virus has caused at least 2,474,437 deaths around the world since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources. The US is the worst-affected country with 500,313 deaths, followed by Brazil with 247,143, Mexico with 180,536, India with 156,463 and Britain with 120,757. burs-eab-jmy/fg/spm
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