Canada will begin a roll-out of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on Monday, just days after becoming one of the first countries to approve the treatment.

The first shipment of the vaccine arrived in the country on Sunday night, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hailing the "good news."

The United States prepared to start its Covid-19 vaccination program on Monday as the nation's death toll edged towards 300,000, while Germany announced a partial lockdown over the holidays due to an explosion of cases.

Trucks on Sunday began shipping millions of doses of Covid-19 vaccine in the United States, part of an enormous logistics operation that should see some vulnerable people being vaccinated as early as Monday in the nation worst hit by the coronavirus.

The US green lighted the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine late Friday, paving the way for millions of vulnerable people to receive their shots in the world's hardest-hit country.

President Donald Trump immediately released a video on Twitter, where he hailed the news as a "medical miracle" and said the first immunizations would take place "in less than 24 hours."

South Korea on Saturday reported its highest daily number of coronavirus cases so far, with a surge centred on the capital region sparking fears the country could lose control of the spread.

Peru has temporarily suspended clinical trials of a Covid vaccine made by Chinese drug giant Sinopharm after detecting neurological problems in one of its test volunteers.

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca's Russian branch said Friday it would use part of Russia's homemade Sputnik V vaccine in further clinical trials. 

Germany's trend of new infections has taken a worrying turn, the head of its disease control agency said Thursday, as the death toll to date crossed the grim milestone of 20,000.

Can I stop wearing a mask after getting a COVID-19 vaccine?

The Czech government extended a state of emergency until December 23 on Thursday as the number of Covid-19 infections in the EU member started to surge again.