The European Union said Wednesday that it is expecting 50 million Pfizer coronavirus vaccine doses earlier than expected, as the United States said it would continue a pause in vaccinations using the Johnson & Johnson shot for at least another week so regulators can assess possible blood clot links.

People aged under 60 who have been given a first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine in Germany will receive a different jab for their second dose, federal and regional health ministers agreed Tuesday. 

Britain said late Monday it had hit a target to offer a coronavirus vaccine first dose to all over-50s by mid-April, as England's lockdown-weary population toasted a significant easing of restrictions with pints and much-needed haircuts.

India has authorised Russia's Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine, a leading local drugmaker said Tuesday, in a boost for the nation's inoculation drive as virus cases mount.

Britain was to partially lift coronavirus restrictions Monday, reopening shops, gyms, pub gardens and hairdressers, while India moved to ban exports of a virus treatment drug as a record surge of cases overwhelms its healthcare system.

Health workers across Europe have recorded more than a million deaths from the novel coronavirus, according to a tally Monday compiled by AFP from official sources, as of 1830 GMT.

In the region's 52 countries and territories, stretching as far east as Azerbaijan and Russia, the death toll stands at at least 1,000,2228 dead, the highest of any global region.

Russia announced Monday it is suspending air links with Turkey and Tanzania for six weeks as they experience a surge in Covid-19 cases.

Venezuela hopes to produce two million doses per month of a Cuban coronavirus vaccine, President Nicolas Maduro said Sunday.

The number of Covid-19 infections in Germany has crossed the three million mark, according to figures published Monday by the Robert Koch Institute disease control centre.

India on Sunday banned the export of remdesivir as infections soared to a new daily high and hospitals grappled with increasing demand for the coronavirus treatment drug.