Paris (AFP)

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

- The African Union calls for increased aid

President of the Democratic Republic of Congo Félix Tshisekedi, current boss of the African Union, on Tuesday called on developed countries at the UN to step up their aid to Africa to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

- ... Biden promises a new effort -

US President Joe Biden has pledged from the UN rostrum to increase US international efforts to fight both the pandemic and climate change.

US President Joe Biden addresses the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 21, 2021 in New York EDUARDO MUNOZ POOL / AFP

Washington will "announce additional commitments" to boost vaccination in the least developed countries on Wednesday, during a virtual summit it is organizing, said Joe Biden to the UN General Assembly.

- Bolsonaro: for vaccination but against a health passport -

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said from the forum of the United Nations General Assembly that he was in favor of vaccination against the coronavirus, but opposed to the principle of the health passport.

- Amnesty accuses laboratories of neglecting poor countries -

The NGO Amnesty International on Wednesday accused the pharmaceutical groups that produce the Covid-19 vaccines of fueling an "unprecedented human rights crisis", demanding the granting of two billion doses to poor countries.

Syringes used to administer the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine against the coronavirus and vials of vaccine in a Clalit health services trash can in the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina, east Jerusalem, August 29, 2021 AHMAD GHARABLI AFP / Archives

In a report titled "A Double Dose of Inequality: Pharmaceutical Companies and the Covid-19 Vaccine Crisis," the NGO says most of them are not prioritizing the poorest countries.

- Johnson & Johnson: evidence for a booster dose -

A booster dose increases the effectiveness of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine against Covid-19, according to new data from the company.

J & J's remedy was originally designed as a single-dose vaccine.

But with a second dose injected about two months (56 days) after the first, the antibody levels observed are multiplied "by four to six", according to a statement from this American pharmaceutical company.

- Finland adopts vaccination passport -

The Finnish Parliament approved the creation of a "corona pass", although its actual implementation in Finland remains uncertain due to the improvement in the health situation.

Scheduled to be implemented in early October, the project could be stillborn, with the Finnish executive hoping to lift restrictions in mid-October, when it hopes that 80% of the population over 12 will be vaccinated, up from 66 , 6% today.

- Venezuela: arrival of a million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine -

Venezuela has received a delivery of one million second doses of the Covid Sputnik V vaccine that it has been waiting for weeks, like many other Latin American countries having to wait due to the shortage of second doses of the Russian vaccine.

- Iran plans to buy two million doses of Pfizer vaccine -

Iran is considering purchasing two million doses of the US-German Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, said a senior health official in the country where the number of daily cases of contamination and deaths is relatively declining.

A caregiver inoculates a man against the coronavirus in a vaccination center installed inside a shopping center in the capital Tehran, August 14, 2021 ATTA KENARE AFP / Archives

"A contract is being established with the Iranian Foreign Exchange Office for the import within one to two months of two million doses of Pfizer vaccine produced in Belgium," said the chief executive of food and medicine.

- More than 4.69 million dead -

The pandemic caused by the new coronavirus has killed at least 4,696,559 people around the world since the end of December 2019, according to a report established by AFP from official sources on Tuesday in the middle of the day.

The world facing the coronavirus Simon MALFATTO AFP

The United States is the country with the most deaths (678,353), ahead of Brazil (591,440), India (445,385), Mexico (271,765) and Russia (199,808).

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

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© 2021 AFP