Mexico will begin Covid-19 immunizations on Thursday, a day after the country receives its first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, Undersecretary of Health Hugo Lopez-Gatell said.

The World Health Organization in Europe said Tuesday it would convene its members to discuss how to handle a new variant of the novel coronavirus discovered in the UK.

Hans Kluge, WHO's regional director for Europe said on Twitter that the organization was closely monitoring the spread of the new variant and would "convene member states to discuss strategies for testing, reducing transmission & communicating risks."

The U.S. Justice Department sued Walmart over its role in the opioid crisis on Tuesday, alleging the giant retailer wrongly filled prescriptions and worsened a public health disaster.

The European Commission recommended Tuesday that EU member states lift the blanket bans some have imposed on arrivals from Britain to allow essential journeys and cargo transport to resume.

France will relax a temporary UK travel ban introduced after a new variant of coronavirus emerged, the prime minister's office said on Tuesday.

Anthony Fauci, the United States' top infectious disease specialist, received his Covid-19 vaccine on Monday along with other senior officials and six health workers at a live streamed event at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Iraq has signed a preliminary deal to receive 1.5 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in early 2021, the health ministry said. 

The co-founder of BioNTech said Tuesday it was "highly likely" that its vaccine against the coronavirus works against the mutated strain detected in Britain, but it could also adapt the vaccine if necessary in six weeks.

The United States surpassed 18 million reported Covid-19 cases on Monday, figures from Johns Hopkins University showed, as the virus surges nationwide.

Sydney has seen a two-day dip in coronavirus cases after Australian authorities imposed a snap lockdown and residents flocked to testing centres in record numbers, but officials have cautioned the outbreak is still "evolving".