Paris (AFP)

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

- First vaccinations in the EU -

Three countries, Germany, Hungary and Slovakia, had anticipated the appeal on Saturday.

- AstraZeneca says it has "the winning formula" -

The British pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca, whose vaccine developed with the University of Oxford could be approved in the coming days in the United Kingdom, claims to have found "the winning formula" to be as effective as its competitors Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

Clinical trials had shown an average efficacy of 70% in November, against around 95% for the other two vaccines.

But one of the protocols, tested by mistake by the British laboratory on a small group of volunteers, showed an effectiveness of 90%, pushing the company to carry out an "additional study".

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is eagerly awaited because it is relatively inexpensive and easier to store, which facilitates large-scale vaccination.

- Third confinement in Israel -

Israel introduced a third quasi-general containment of at least two weeks from 5:00 p.m. (3:00 p.m. GMT) on Sunday, a period which could be extended to one month if the number of daily contaminations remained above 1,000.

Israelis cannot move more than a kilometer from their homes and most businesses are closed except for deliveries.

However, it is possible to get out and get vaccinated in this country which has launched a blitz campaign to immunize a quarter of its population in a month.

- Shows in Switzerland: towards compulsory vaccination?

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Swiss concert organizers said on Sunday that they were considering the possibility of making the Covid-19 vaccination compulsory for spectators, a measure that would allow festivals and performances to resume.

- Curfew in Gibraltar -

Faced with the surge in Covid-19 cases, Gibraltar, a British enclave in the far south of Spain, announced new restrictions on Sunday, including the closure of non-essential businesses and a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

- France: new confinement not excluded -

In France, a third confinement is not excluded if the epidemic situation "were to worsen", warned the Minister of Health Olivier Véran in the Journal du Dimanche.

The authorities fear the arrival of a third wave after the end of year holidays.

The situation is already worrying in the "Grand Est, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (center-east) and the Alpes-Maritimes department (south-east), starting with Nice".

- 80 million contaminations -

The pandemic has killed more than 1.75 million people worldwide since the end of December, out of more than 80 million confirmed contaminations, according to a report established by AFP on Sunday.

The United States is the country with the most deaths (331,916) and cases (18.99 million) since the start of the pandemic, ahead of Brazil (190,795 deaths for 7.47 million cases) and India (147,622 deaths for 10.19 million cases).

But in proportion to their population (respectively 100, 90 and 11 dead per 100,000 inhabitants), these three countries are less bereaved than Belgium (165), Italy (118), Peru (113), Spain (107 ) or the United Kingdom (104).

burx-jah-frd / ber / bds

© 2020 AFP