schema:articleBody
| - These are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis: Ghana receives the first shipment of vaccines from Covax, a global scheme led by the World Health Organization and the Gavi vaccine alliance among others to procure and distribute jabs for free to poorer countries. The pharmaceutical giant says its EU supply chains would be able to deliver only half of an expected supply of vaccines to the bloc in the second quarter -- but that it would look to make up the shortfall from elsewhere. After a previous angry stand-off with the company, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen insists these new problems dogging the vaccine supply can be resolved "amicably". Israel says it is sending a "limited quantity" of unused vaccines to several countries, including two -- Honduras and the Czech Republic -- that have announced plans to boost their diplomatic presence in Jerusalem. It is also sending excess stock to the Palestinians, following up on a previous, limited distribution. Israel will impose a night-time curfew starting at 8:30 pm for three nights from Thursday evening to curb the spread of the virus during the Jewish holiday of Purim. Ireland's third lockdown will be extended by a month, Prime Minister Micheal Martin announces, blaming a virus variant first identified in the UK for the move. A growing number of Poles are opposed to getting a vaccine, according to a new opinion poll -- 33 percent saying they do not want a jab against 55 percent who say they do -- despite government warnings about a rising "third wave". Spain's AENA, the world's biggest airport operator by passenger numbers, says it plunged into the red last year as the pandemic decimated travel. And London's Heathrow airport dived into a pre-tax loss of £2.0 billion in 2020. French hotel giant Accor meanwhile says it too went into the red as the pandemic devastated the hotel and hospitality business. The crunch game between France and Scotland that could decide the Six Nations tournament is to go ahead Sunday despite 14 members of the French camp testing positive, with star scrum-half Antoine Dupont among those ruled out. The virus has caused at least 2,486,116 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 502,681 deaths, followed by Brazil with 248,529, Mexico with 181,809, India with 156,567 and Britain with 121,305. burs-eab/fg/gd
|