More than 20 heads of government and global agencies on Tuesday called for an international treaty for pandemic preparedness that they say will protect future generations.

But there are few details to explain how such an agreement might actually force countries to act more cooperatively.

Germany may be battling a third wave of the pandemic but life feels almost normal in the city of Tuebingen, where anyone with a negative Covid test can enjoy a day of shopping, culture or outdoor dining.

An international expert mission to Wuhan concluded in a report seen Monday that Covid-19 likely first passed to humans from a bat through an intermediary animal, with investigators all but ruling out a laboratory leak.

Russia has agreed a deal for more than 60 million doses of its Sputnik V vaccine to be produced in China from May, the jab's developer said on Monday.

A year ago, Giordana Grego's parents spent Passover at home in Israel, alone but grateful that they had escaped the worst of the pandemic in Italy. This year, the whole family will get together to mark the Jewish feast of liberation and deliverance from the pandemic.

Israel has vaccinated over half its population of 9.3 million, and as coronavirus infections have plummeted, authorities have allowed restaurants, hotels, museums and theaters to re-open. Up to 20 people can now gather indoors.

Health officials have rolled out more than 500 million coronavirus vaccine doses around the world, according to an AFP tally on Friday, as European rows over hoarding and supply issues escalated dramatically.

US President Joe Biden on Thursday promised 200 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine would be administered in his first 100 days in office, doubling his initial goal, as he said at his first news conference that he intended to seek another term.

Covid-19 vaccines destined for poorer countries are being held up due to problems obtaining Indian export licences, the Covax facility's co-leaders Gavi said Thursday.

More than half of Israel's 9.2 million people have received both doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19, the health ministry said Thursday. 

With more than 4.6 million residents vaccinated, Israel continues its world-beating campaign that sent infection rates plummeting and allowed for some limited loosening of restrictions. 

British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca on Wednesday revised down by three percentage points the effectiveness of its Covid vaccine after American authorities raised concerns that results reported from its US trial were outdated.