Russia said Thursday it will be able to provide its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine for 50 million Europeans from June if it is approved by the European Medicines Agency. 

Germany will soon authorise the AstraZeneca/Oxford Covid-19 vaccine for people over the age of 65, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday, the same day Belgium authorised its rollout to seniors.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday unveiled plans to gradually ease coronavirus curbs in Europe's top economy, while President Joe Biden slammed "Neanderthal" decisions to drop mask-wearing mandates in some US states.

Millions of coronavirus shots from the global Covax scheme have arrived in Nigeria, Angola and Kenya, as African countries ramp up their vaccine rollouts.

U.S. President Joe Biden plans to announce a "historic" deal Tuesday for pharma giant Merck to produce rival Johnson & Johnson's single-dose Covid-19 vaccine to boost supply nationwide, the White House said.

Biden "will announce an unprecedented historic step" later Tuesday afternoon, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, as part of the administration efforts to contain a virus that has claimed more than 500,000 U.S. lives.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to allow more socialising between households from next week as part of plans to gradually loosen virus curbs in the Covid-weary nation, a draft text showed Tuesday.

The plane laden with vaccines had just rolled to a stop at Santiago's airport in late January, and Chile's president, Sebastián Piñera, was beaming. "Today," he said, "is a day of joy, emotion and hope."

The source of that hope: China – a country that Chile and dozens of other nations are depending on to help rescue them from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Iraq on Tuesday received 50,000 Sinopharm vaccines donated by China, the health ministry announced, launching a long-awaited vaccination campaign.

Spain suffered its second-worst month for coronavirus deaths in February with 10,528 fatalities, the worst figure since April last year, government figures showed on Monday. 

A scientific committee formed by caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan on Monday granted emergency use authorization (EUA) to the Chinese anti-Covid vaccine Sinopharm.

The committee has been tasked with discussing the registration of vaccines submitted by the private sector.