Paris (AFP)

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

- Vaccine: record sales at Pfizer -

The American laboratory Pfizer plans to sell this year for 33.5 billion dollars of vaccines against Covid-19 developed in partnership with the German BioNTech, thanks to orders for 2.1 billion doses worldwide.

- Covax: 250 million doses expected -

The Covax system expects to receive 250 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine provided by donors over the next six to eight weeks to help poorer countries, the World Organization said on Wednesday. Health (WHO).

Covax, which is supposed to allow those states or territories to receive vaccines funded by more prosperous nations free of charge, has so far distributed 152 million doses to 137 of them.

- France: new anti-Covid measures -

State of health emergency in Guadeloupe, Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélémy, new protocol at school, and generalization of the health pass on August 9: the French government took its measures on Wednesday to contain the spread of the coronavirus, against which more than 50% of French people are now vaccinated.

- Norway postpones its full reopening -

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Norway announced Wednesday to postpone again the almost total lifting of its health restrictions, scheduled for early August, because of the evolution of the Delta variant which has become dominant on its soil.

- New record of cases in Tokyo -

The number of daily Covid-19 cases in Tokyo topped 3,000 for the first time, and several neighboring departments are considering restrictions to deal with a sharp rise in infections.

The Japanese capital, currently under a state of health emergency after hosting the Olympic Games since last Friday, reported 3,117 cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, a very strong acceleration compared to last week.

- GB: no quarantine for vaccinated travelers in the EU and the USA -

Travelers fully vaccinated against Covid-19 in the European Union and the United States will be from Monday exempted from quarantine in England and Scotland, a measure eagerly awaited by expatriates which does not apply to arrivals from France, due to the presence of the Beta variant.

- Moderna vaccine approved in France for 12-17 year olds -

The French High Authority for Health gave the green light on Wednesday for the use of the Moderna vaccine for 12-17 year olds, which thus becomes the second vaccine to be administered in this age group.

On the other hand, she considered that the rapid saliva screening tests for Covid-19 "present too heterogeneous performance" and are therefore not reliable enough.

- Half of Germans vaccinated -

More than half of the population living in Germany, or 41.8 million people, is now fully vaccinated against Covid-19, the Minister of Health announced on Wednesday, as the country worries about a rise in infection curves.

- More than 4.17 million dead

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The pandemic has killed more than 4.17 million people worldwide since the end of December 2019, according to a report established by AFP on Wednesday at 10:00 GMT.

The United States is the country with the most deaths (611,288), ahead of Brazil (551,835) and India (422,022).

The WHO estimates, taking into account the excess mortality directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19, that the toll of the pandemic could be two to three times higher than that which is officially established.

burx-jba-fm / ber / thm

© 2021 AFP