Covid-19: Latest global developments

Here are the latest developments in the Covid-19 crisis:

‘Pandemic of unvaccinated’

Germany is struggling with a “massive” pandemic of the unvaccinated, says Health Minister Jens Spahn, with a third of the population not fully covered or reluctant to get jabbed.

With the worst case figures since May, he called for tougher measures to stop the health system being overloaded.

Pfizer cash in on Covid-19 vaccine

Pfizer says its profit and revenue outlook is even higher than it thought, predicting vaccine sales of $36 billion (31 billion euros) this year, more than twice its initial estimate.

Halloween curse

Peru’s interior minister Luis Barranzuela resigns after reports of a Halloween party at his home in violation of Covid rules.

The South American country has been hit hard by the pandemic, with over 200,000 dead — the world’s highest death rate per capita.

Cops face the sack

More than a quarter of police staff in Los Angeles — the largest sheriff’s department in the US — could lose their jobs for refusing to comply with vaccine mandates, the sheriff says.

Just half of Los Angeles County Sheriff employees are fully vaccinated a month after local rules came into force.

Philippines airlift

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte orders an airlift of vaccines into the provinces to bypass “gridlocks” in jab distribution that he blamed on local governments.

Green light for US kids

American children aged five to 11 are now allowed to get the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, a move hailed by President Joe Biden as a “turning point” in the fight against the pandemic.

Hibs floored by Covid-19

Scottish Premiership club Hibernian have postponed their next two games after an outbreak left the Edinburgh football club unable to field a team.

Over five million dead

Covid-19 killed at least 5,012,784 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP on Wednesday. 

The US has suffered the most Covid-related deaths with 748,621, followed by Brazil with 608,071, India with 459,191, Mexico with 288,733 and Russia with 242,060.

The countries with the newest deaths were the US with 1,201, closely followed by Russia with 1,189 and Ukraine with 720.

Taking into account excess mortality directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19, the World Health Organization estimates the overall death toll could be two to three times higher.

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