Factbox: Latest on worldwide spread of the coronavirus
(Reuters) - Countries worldwide are developing vaccination programmes as two new coronavirus variants spread, prompting stringent restrictions across Europe, including lockdowns.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
EUROPE
* Everyone in Switzerland who wants to be vaccinated against COVID-19 should be able to get a shot by the summer, a Swiss health official said.
* Denmark's health minister said a new COVID-19 variant is likely to be the dominating variant in the country by mid-February.
* Ireland is confident it has enough resources in its 2021 budget to deal with the current COVID-19 surge, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said.
* Britain offered a 4.6 billion pound ($6.2 billion) support package for struggling businesses, as the country began its third COVID-19 lockdown.
* France is widening its COVID-19 vaccination rollout to more health workers after making a slow start to its inoculatin campaign.
* The Netherlands was caught off guard by the approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine by EU regulators in December and has been unable to start vaccinating due to logistical problems, Prime Minister Mark Rutte told parliament.
AMERICAS
* Brazil's government will requisition surplus stocks from the country's syringe and needle manufacturers as it prepares to start a national vaccination campaign.
* More than two-thirds of the 15 million coronavirus vaccines shipped within the United States have so far gone unused, as the governors of New York and Florida vowed to penalise hospitals that fail to dispense shots quickly enough.
* Mexico has approved the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca.
* Major U.S. airlines backed a proposal by public health officials to implement a global testing programme requiring negative tests before most international air passengers return to the United States.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Indian health authorities are ready to roll out a vaccination programme by next week, the top health official said.
* Vietnam suspended inbound flights from countries with new COVID-19 variants, initially Britain and South Africa.
* Japan will decide later this week whether to impose a state of emergency in the Tokyo area, a move citizens derided as too little, too late in a nation set to host the Olympics.
* As a team from the World Health Organization prepares to visit China to investigate the origins of COVID-19, Beijing has stepped up efforts to prevent new outbreaks and shape the narrative about when and where the pandemic began.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Iran and Oman have registered their first two cases of a highly contagious coronavirus variant that emerged in Britain.
* Israel authorised a COVID-19 vaccine developed by U.S. drugmaker Moderna, marking the vaccine's third regulatory authorisation and the first outside North America.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech said they would end a public spat and focus on rolling out COVID-19 shots after executives of both Indian vaccine makers clashed over the approval of their rival shots.
* The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the idea of changing the authorized dosing or schedules of COVID-19 vaccines was premature and not supported by available data.
* A COVID-19 vaccine candidate from Chinese firm Stemirna Therapeutics obtained approval to conduct human testing from China's medical products regulator.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* World shares struggled on Tuesday amid new lockdowns in Europe and Senate runoff races in Georgia that will affect incoming U.S. President Joe Biden's ability to pursue his preferred economic policies.
* The number of people registering as jobless in Spain rose in 2020 after dropping for seven consecutive years, as the pandemic and business restrictions hit the labour market.
(Compiled by Veronica Snoj, Linda Pasquini, and Ramakrishnan M.; Edited by Shounak Dasgupta and Sriraj Kalluvila)
