Paris (AFP)

New measures, new reports and highlights: an update on the latest developments in the Covid-19 pandemic around the world.

- USA: starting signal for vaccination

The United States, the country most affected by the Covid-19 with nearly 300,000 dead, began a vast vaccination campaign on Monday.

Nearly three million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are expected to be made available by Wednesday, with the goal of vaccinating some 20 million Americans by the end of the year, 100 million by the end of March.

In Canada, Quebec also begins its first phase of vaccination on Monday, with residents and health staff of a retirement home in the city of the same name.

The Emirati capital Abu Dhabi also began vaccinating the public on Monday, five days after the UAE approved the vaccine from Chinese group Sinopharm.

- Controversy in Brazil

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was the subject of sharp criticism Sunday after the presentation of the government vaccination plan, an absence of a plan according to his opponents.

The Supreme Court of the second most bereaved country by the pandemic has ordered the government to present a plan and vaccinate the 14 million Brazilians at most risk.

The plan contains serious omissions, including the start date of operations or details of the means implemented.

- Final trial for a German vaccine

German pharmaceutical company Curevac announced Monday the launch of the third and final phase of large-scale clinical trials for the authorization of its vaccine.

- Netherlands: restrictions expected

The Netherlands are to announce on Monday a tightening of measures to fight Covid-19, according to local media, while the number of contaminations is sharply increasing and the number of deaths has exceeded the 10,000 mark.

- France: massive screening

France is embarking this week on a massive screening strategy targeted on a few agglomerations, starting Monday with Le Havre (north-west) and Charleville-Mézières (north-east), on the eve of the second deconfinement.

Two other territories are due to engage in January, among those where the virus circulates the fastest: Roubaix (north) and Saint-Etienne (center-east).

The French economy will take a little longer than expected to erase the effects of the crisis, according to the Banque de France, with a gradual recovery in activity in 2021.

- Nigeria: 26 positive generals

At least 26 Nigerian generals have tested positive, and one of them died, after attending a conference in Abuja, according to the military.

- More than 1.6 million deaths

The pandemic has killed at least 1,612,297 people worldwide since December 2019, according to a report established by AFP from official sources on Monday at 11:00 GMT.

More than 72 million cases have been officially diagnosed.

The United States is the country most affected, with 299,191 deaths.

Brazil follows with 181,402 dead, India (143,355), Mexico (113,953), Italy (64,520).

- Japan: word of the year

"Mitsu", a character (kanji) that has become in Japan a slogan summarizing what to avoid in the face of the coronavirus pandemic - promiscuity - was elected Monday word of the year 2020 in a vote of the general public.

© 2020 AFP