France recommends vaccination of 5-11 year olds at risk

French health authorities recommended on Tuesday anti-Covid vaccination to 5-11 year olds at risk of developing a serious form of the disease, and are awaiting new information for a possible extension to all children.

The European regulator had approved the vaccine for every 5-11 years a few days earlier.

Partial confinement deemed legal in Germany

Environmentalist and vice-chancellor designate of Germany Robert Habeck called for more severe restrictive measures in the country hit by a record of infections, before federal and state consultations on the health situation.

Current vaccines less effective against Omicron, according to Moderna

Existing vaccines against Covid-19 will be less effective against the Omicron variant and it will take several months to develop a new vaccine, the boss of the US pharmaceutical company Moderna said in an interview published Tuesday.

Stéphane Bancel believes that there will be a "significant drop" in the effectiveness of vaccines.

"All the scientists I have spoken to (...) say + This is not going to do it +", according to him.

Omicron: cases in the Netherlands and Japan

Dutch health authorities said on Tuesday they had detected the Omicron variant in a test taken on November 19, a week earlier than previously estimated, and checks are underway to see how far it has spread.

Covid-19: AFP global report

Japan confirmed its first case of this variant in a man returning from Namibia on Tuesday, the day after the authorities announced new border restrictions.

Greece: compulsory vaccine for over 60s

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Tuesday that coronavirus vaccines would be mandatory for those over 60.

Booster dose in Norway

Norway will offer a booster dose of the anti-Covid vaccine to all adults by Easter, its Prime Minister said on Tuesday, who also presented new restrictions in the face of the rebound in infections and the threat of the Omicron variant.

General strike lifted in Polynesia

The general strike in Polynesia was lifted after the signing of a protocol for the end of the conflict between the inter-union and the Polynesian government, which endorses social advances but maintains the vaccination obligation for all people who work in contact with the public in effective December 23.

The world facing the coronavirus Simon MALFATTO AFP

The amount of the fine incurred in the event of refusal of vaccination was halved.

More than 5.2 million dead

The pandemic has killed at least 5,206,370 million people worldwide since the end of 2019, according to an assessment established by AFP from official sources, Tuesday at 11:00 GMT.

The United States is the most bereaved country, with 778,601 deaths, ahead of Brazil (614,376), India (468,980), Mexico (293,950) and Russia (275,193).

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, taking into account the excess mortality directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19, that the toll of the pandemic in the world could be two to three times higher than that calculated from official figures.

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