Factbox – Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

(Reuters) – The World Health Organization said low-income countries were ready to run effective COVID-19 vaccination campaigns and it was now down to manufacturers and rich countries to deliver the pledged doses to ease global health inequalities.

FILE PHOTO: A worker peers out of a door in front of COVID-19 vaccination booths at the Arena Treptow vaccination centre in Berlin, Germany, August 9, 2021. John Macdougall/Pool via REUTERS

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

* Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals here for a case tracker and summary of news

EUROPE

* Ireland will give COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to elderly people who were fully vaccinated at least six months ago, the health ministry said.

* Germany is extending its COVID-19 emergency aid for struggling companies by three months until the end of this year, the finance and economy ministries said.

* People will need to show a COVID-status certificate to enter bars, restaurants and fitness centres in Switzerland from Monday, the government ordered, in a move to relieve pressure on hospitals that are struggling to cope with a fourth wave of infections.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* Japan’s government is firming up its intentions to extend the state of emergency in most areas where it is currently in effect, including the capital Tokyo, until Sept. 30, NHK reported.

* Three-quarters of people over the age of 16 in Australia’s New South Wales have now had at least their first vaccination dose.

AMERICAS

* Countries in the Americas should prioritize pregnant and lactating women in distribution of COVID-19 shots, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said, hailing the ability of the vaccines to protect women and their babies.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* South Africa has set a Nov. 1 date for municipal elections, after a court last week rejected a request to delay them until early next year to allow more time for COVID-19 vaccinations.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* The global programme providing COVID-19 vaccines to poor countries is on course to fall nearly 30% short of its previous goal of 2 billion shots this year, the international organisations running it said on Wednesday.

* Europe’s medicines regulator has added an extremely rare nerve-damaging disorder, Guillain-Barré syndrome, as a possible side-effect of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, regular safety updates from the watchdog showed.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Wall Street sank and European stocks suffered their worst one-day rout in three weeks on Wednesday on uncertainty over the pace of economic recovery, as investors’ move away from riskier assets lifted the dollar to one-week highs. [MKTS/GLOB]

* The U.S. economy “downshifted slightly” in August as the renewed surge of the coronavirus hit dining, travel and tourism, the Federal Reserve reported, but the economy overall remained in the throes of a post-pandemic rush of rising prices, labor shortages and stilted hiring.

* U.S. job openings raced to a new record high in July while layoffs rose moderately, suggesting last month’s sharp slowdown in hiring was due to employers being unable to find workers rather than weak demand for labor.

* Bank of England policymakers split evenly last month between those who felt the minimum conditions for considering an interest rate hike had been met and those who thought the recovery was not strong enough, BoE Governor Andrew Bailey said.

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