In this photo Moderna vials sit on a table before they are loaded into syringes at a mobile COVID-19 vaccination clinic, run by Hartford Healthcare at Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic Church's McGivney community center, in Bridgeport, Connecticut on April 20, 2021. (PHOTO / AFP)

NEW YORK / SAO PAULO / LONDON / MADRID / MEXICO CITY / WASHINGTON / SANTIAGO / RIGA / BRUSSELS / RABAT / ADDIS ABABA / BUENOS AIRES / NICOSIA / MILAN / WINDHOEK / HAVANA / BERLIN / MOSCOW / PARIS / ATHENS - Moderna Inc said on Thursday its COVID-19 shot was about 93 percent effective four to six months after the second dose, showing hardly any change from the 94 percent efficacy reported in its original clinical trial.

That compares favorably to data released by rivals Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE last week in which they suggested their vaccine’s efficacy waned around 6 percent every two months, declining to around 84 percent six months after the second shot. Both the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology.

“We are very pleased that our COVID-19 vaccine efficacy is stable at 93 percent from four to six months,” Moderna Chief Executive Stephane Bancel said in a statement. “This strong duration will benefit the hundreds of millions of people who have been dosed to date with Moderna vaccines.”

Moderna’s vaccine was authorized for emergency use in adults in the United States in December and has since been cleared for emergency or conditional use in adults in more than 50 countries.

The company started the process of filing for full approval with the US Food and Drug Administration in June and expects to finish its submission in August.

Global tally

Global COVID-19 cases surpassed 200 million on Wednesday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, as the more-infectious Delta variant threatens areas with low vaccination rates and strains healthcare systems.

The global tally stood at 200,014,602 while the global toll hit 4,252,873 as of 3:21 pm local time (1921 GMT), according to the data.

The global surge in cases is highlighting the widening gap in inoculation rates between wealthy and poor nations. Cases are rising in about one-third of the world's countries, many of which have not even given half their population a first dose.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday called for a moratorium on COVID-19 vaccine boosters until at least 10 percent of the population in every country was vaccinated.

READ MORE: WHO calls for moratorium on COVID-19 booster doses

The Delta variant is upending all assumptions about the virus and roiling economies, with disease experts scrambling to find whether the latest version of coronavirus is making people, especially unvaccinated individuals, sicker than before.

At least 2.6 percent of the world's population has been infected since the pandemic started, with the true figure likely higher due to limited testing in many places. If the number of infected people were a country, it would be eighth most populous in the world, behind Nigeria, according to a Reuters analysis.

The countries reporting the most cases on a seven-day average - the United States, Brazil, Indonesia, India and Iran - represent about 38 percent of all global cases reported each day.

The global caseload reached the grim milestone of 100 million on Jan 26, and doubled in more than half a year.

Americas

The Delta variant of the coronavirus is "highly worrisome" as the mutation has spread to nearly two dozen countries across the Americas, officials with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the WHO's regional arm, told reporters on Wednesday.

Delta's growing spread in the United States, as well as most of Latin America and the Caribbean, should cause governments to prioritize prevention efforts like masking and especially a faster pace of vaccinations, according to PAHO Director Carissa Etienne.

The PAHO chief also highlighted growth in new infections in Guatemala, Brazil and Cuba.

Etienne added that to date barely 18 percent of people in Latin America and the Caribbean have been fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, health officials are keeping close tabs on another variant know as Lambda, but note uneven detection across the region has yet to cause a major impact.

Even as other variants like Alfa and Gamma are still more common across the Americas, the Lambda variant has recently been detected in hard-hit South American countries, including Argentina and Peru, as well as Chile and Ecuador, according to PAHO COVID-19 Incident Manager Sylvain Aldighieri.

Africa

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa reached 6,815,341 as of Wednesday afternoon, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

The death toll stood at 172,836 while the number of recoveries reached 5,969,490, the Africa CDC said.

READ MORE: Fears voiced for N. Africa, Middle East jabs pace

A health worker gives a resident a COVID-19 test on the first day of a three-day vaccination campaign for people over age 35 in the Complexo da Maré favela of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 29, 2021. Some recipients will be monitored to study the rate of protection the vaccines provide and the extent to which virus variants are circulating. (BRUNA PRADO / AP)

Brazil

Brazil reported 40,716 new cases of COVID-19, raising its total caseload to 20,026,533, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

The national pandemic death toll rose to 559,6071 after 175 more deaths were recorded.

Brazil currently has the world's second-highest pandemic death toll after the United States, and the third-largest caseload after the United States and India.

Football fans in Sao Paulo, Brazil's most populous state, will be free to return to stadiums from Nov 1 for the first time in almost 20 months, officials said on Wednesday.

Only those who are fully vaccinated will be allowed to attend matches and they must obey strict health protocols, including the use of a mask.

"The capacity [available] needs to be calculated because there can be no agglomeration, and people need to keep a distance from one another," Patricia Ellen, Sao Paulo's economic development secretary, said at a news conference.

UK

The United Kingdom said Wednesday that fully-vaccinated travelers returning to England from France will no longer have to quarantine, scrapping an extra rule imposed on its closest neighbor last month, as it also opened up to seven more countries.

The UK also eased rules for arrivals from India, Bahrain, and travel hubs the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Those countries will move from the UK’s highest-risk “red” list to its medium-risk “amber” list, meaning arrivals will no longer need to quarantine in a government-approved hotel.

Six other European nations, including Germany, were added to the lowest-risk “green” list, meaning all visitors can avoid quarantine whether or not they are fully vaccinated. All changes will come into effect from 4 am on Aug 8.

Spain and all its islands - key summer holiday destinations for British tourists - will remain on the amber list, but travelers are advised to get take a lab-processed PCR test before departing to the UK.

A man holds a sign as he greets his brother arriving on a flight at Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport in London, Britain, Aug 2, 2021, the day Britain eased quarantine rules for fully vaccinated travelers from the US and much of Europe. (MATT DUNHAM / AP)

In another development, the UK will offer all 16- and 17-year-olds their first dose of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, its vaccine advisers said on the same day, a move that will give more children protection against the disease before schools return in September.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said he accepted the advice by Britain's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, and expected the program to begin by the end of August.

The JCVI maintained previous advice that children aged 12 to 15 with specific underlying health conditions should also get vaccines but left the door open to further adjustments in the future.

The UK on Wednesday reported 29,312 new cases and another 119 deaths, bringing the tally to 5,952,756 and the toll to 130,000.

WHO

Coronavirus related deaths in Africa reached record peak in the week that ended on Aug 1, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.

Over 6,400 deaths were recorded, a 2 percent rise compared with the previous week, with South Africa and Tunisia accounting for over 55 percent of the fatalities, the WHO said in a statement, adding that death trends are on the rise in 15 countries.

US

The Delta variant accounts for an estimated 93.4 percent of all new COVID-19 cases in the United States during the last two weeks of July, according to data published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday.

This figure is even higher in certain parts of the country, according to the data for the week ending July 31. In the Midwest including Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, Delta variant accounts for more than 98 percent of all cases.

US COVID-19 cases driven by the Delta variant may double to 200,000 a day in the fall, warned Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

ALSO READ: Delta's spread seen pushing herd immunity threshold above 80%

Fauci said he was concerned the high number of unvaccinated people could lead to a stronger variant emerging that could combat the vaccines that have been given out.

The US is considering a plan to require all foreign visitors to be vaccinated for the coronavirus, according to a White House official.

The potential move comes amid a surge in COVID-19 cases causes by the highly infectious delta variant; officials expect infections to continue to rise among the unvaccinated population in the coming weeks.

Interagency working groups have been developing a plan for international travel, which they intend to roll out once borders have been reopened. The plan would include a phased approach that will mean, with a few exceptions, foreigners traveling to the US would have to be fully vaccinated, the official added.

Meanwhile, the White House said on Wednesday it was prepared to provide COVID-19 booster shots, if needed, suggesting it would not heed a call by the WHO to delay providing additional vaccinations.A man closes his eyes as he receives the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in Miami Beach, Florida, on Aug 4, 2021. (MARTA LAVANDIER / AP)

Italy

Italy reported 21 coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday against 27 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 6,596 from 4,845.

In total, Italy has registered 128,136 deaths linked to COVID-19 and 4.37 million cases to date.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 2,309 on Wednesday, up from 2,196 a day earlier.

There were 14 new admissions to intensive care units, down from 26 on Tuesday. The total number of intensive care patients increased to 260 from a previous 258.

Canada

Almost 9,000 Canadian border staff will begin "work-to-rule" strike action starting on Friday, the union announced on Wednesday, days before Canada begins allowing fully vaccinated US visitors in the country for the first time in 16 months.

Talks between two unions representing Canadian border guards and staff - the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Customs and Immigration Union (CIU) - and the federal government reached an impasse in December 2020, and the unions served the federal government on July 27 with a strike notice.

Both sides came back to the table after the strike notice, but the unions said on Wednesday they had been unable to reach an agreement, and their members would begin working to rule as of Friday.

The action means staff will "perform their duties to the letter of the law," according to a statement from the unions. This will include not answering questions from travelers about border regulations or collecting duties and taxes.

Greece

Greece imposed a night time curfew and banned music on two popular tourist islands on Thursday to contain the spread of COVID-19, its civil protection deputy minister said.

The Mediterranean country, which is trying to rebuild a tourist sector hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic, is also battling a wave of wildfires during a protracted heatwave.

Restrictions will come into effect from Friday and run until Aug. 13 after a recommendation by the committee of infectious disease experts advising the Greek government.

The areas affected are the island of Zakynthos in western Greece, where the epidemiological load worsened by 69 percent from a week earlier, and the city of Chania in Crete where it rose 54 percent.

Spain

Fans will be allowed back into football grounds when the new La Liga season kicks off on the weekend of Aug 14, Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias said on Wednesday.

Football grounds would be able to operate at 40 percent capacity if they were not roofed, while closed stadiums would have a maximum capacity of 30 percent, Darias said at a press conference.

Supporters attending matches will have to wear face masks at all times and will not be allowed to smoke, eat or drink anything other than water, said the minister, adding that they should maintain a social distance of 1.5 meters.

The number of COVID-19 cases across the country is "stabilizing", but the Delta variant has accounted for around 75 percent of new cases, said the minister.

"In very few days, 70 percent of the population will have received at least one dose (of COVID-19 vaccine)," said Darias, noting the pace of vaccination was "tremendously high" and "needs to be maintained".  

EU

Full vaccination is key to protecting against the most serious effects of COVID-19, including those caused by the Delta variant, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said on Wednesday.

With the increasing circulation of the Delta variant in the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) countries, the two agencies strongly encouraged those who are eligible but have not yet been vaccinated to get immunized "in a timely manner".

The EMA and ECDC emphasized that full vaccination with any of the approved vaccines "offers a high level of protection against severe disease and death caused by SARS-CoV-2, including variants, such as Delta."

ALSO READ: Tougher terms: Why the EU is paying more for new virus shots

Chile

Chile has fully vaccinated over 80 percent of its target population against COVID-19, President Sebastian Pinera said on Wednesday.

So far, 24,823,976 vaccine doses have been administered with a total of 12,167,623 people fully immunized, representing 80 percent of the government's target population of 15.2 million.

The milestone came on the same day the country reported 674 new cases, the third day that the daily tally was under 1,000. In total, the country has reported 1,619,183 cases.

The health ministry said 31 more deaths were recorded, taking the toll to 35,671.

Namibia

Schools in Namibia resumed face-to-face teaching and learning on Wednesday following a decline in COVID-19 cases in the southern African nation.

The reopening of schools for pre-primary to secondary students had been postponed from July 26 due to an increasing COVID-19 cases amid the third wave.

Ayesha Wentworth, director of programmes and quality assurance in the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, said the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted the school environment.

"Learners are missing out a lot on personal development such as peer-to-peer interaction, support from friends, team building, and they are not able to engage on that daily due to the pandemic," she said.

The ministry has instructed school principals to consistently enforce safety measures such as social distancing, sanitization, and masks.

Students wearing masks assemble practicing social distancing at a school in the Namibian coastal town of Walvis Bay on Aug 4, 2021. (NDALIMPINGA IITA / XINHUA)

Morocco

Morocco on Wednesday reported 10,603 new COVID-19 cases, the highest daily tally so far, taking its caseload to 653,286.

The death toll went up by 66 to 10,015 while the number of recoveries rose by 7,774 to 582,692, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

A total of 14,581,754 people have received their first COVID-19 shot while 10,574,472 have gotten two doses.

The ministry said that Morocco was "in a progressive phase of the epidemiological curve which could reach the peak in the very next days".

Mexico

Mexico's health ministry on Wednesday reported 20,685 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country, the highest daily jump since late January, and 611 fatalities.

The country has recorded a total of 2,901,094 infections and 242,547 deaths.

Latvia

A vast majority of Latvians who were hospitalized with COVID-19 in June were not vaccinated against the disease, the Latvian Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) said on Wednesday.

Citing data from the Latvian National Health Service, the CDC said that of the COVID-19 patients who were treated in hospital in June, 99.1 percent, or 729 people, were unvaccinated or had only received their first shot. Just six hospitalized patients, or 0.9 percent, were fully vaccinated.

In July, the number of COVID-19 cases in Latvia dropped to 1,434. Among those infections, 1,293 - or 90 percent - involved unvaccinated individuals or people who had not received both injections. Fully-vaccinated persons who tested positive for COVID-19 made up 10 percent of all cases recorded in July.

So far, around 36 percent of the Latvian population has been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Argentina

Argentina reported 13,736 new COVID-19 cases and 300 more deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing its caseload to 4,975,616 with 106,747 fatalities, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

Health Minister Carla Vizzotti said the country will speed up the vaccination process, adding that for the second dose, priority will be given to people who have been waiting the longest since receiving the first dose, those over 50 years old and those with underlying health conditions.

So far, 25.64 million people have been vaccinated with at least one dose and 7.68 million with two doses, according to the ministry.A girl fist bumps a health worker as she arrives to receive a shot of the Moderna vaccine against COVID-19 in Quilmes, Argentina, Aug 3, 2021. (GUSTAVO GARELLO / AP)

Cyprus

Cyprus is preparing to provide its population with a booster COVID-19 vaccine jab, in a drive to prevent another spike in infections, Health Minister Michalis Hadjipantelas said on Wednesday.

However, he added that this will only be done when the European Union (EU) approves the booster dose vaccination.

Hadjipantelas said 74 percent of the population has received the first dose of an EU-approved vaccine, and 66 percent have completed their vaccination.

"Based on the current rate of vaccination, I expect that the target of having 82 percent of people vaccinated will be achieved by the end of August," he added.

Cuba

Cuba registered a new daily record of COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday with 98 fatalities, taking the toll to 3,091.

The Ministry of Public Health also reported 9,363 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, bringing the tally to 422,614.

Havana recorded 1,445 infections in the last day, followed by the provinces of Ciego de Avila (1,192), Cienfuegos (1,032) and Matanzas (758).

The country has administered over 10.2 million doses of domestically-produced vaccines against COVID-19 as part of its national vaccination campaign.

France

French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday it was likely that the elderly and vulnerable would need a third COVID-19 vaccine shot, and that France was working on rolling these out from September onwards, disregarding an appeal by the WHO to hold off until more people are vaccinated across the globe.

"A third dose will likely be necessary, not for everyone straightaway, but in any case for the most vulnerable and the most elderly," Macron said on his Instagram account.

Macron's government is trying to step up France's vaccination program as the country faces a fourth wave of the virus and street demonstrations in protest against the government's COVID-19 policies.

France has so far given at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to 64.5 percent of its population, with 49 percent of the French fully vaccinated.

Separately, France's constitutional court will rule on Thursday whether a new law requiring the public to hold a health pass to eat in restaurants and health workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by mid-September complies with the republic's founding charter.

Macron announced the proposed legislation in July as the Delta variant fuelled a fourth wave of infections, delivering a plain message: get vaccinated.

Opponents of the measures accuse Macron of trampling on freedoms and discriminating against the unvaccinated. Some 200,000 people marched through towns and cities across France in a third weekend of protests on Saturday and more are planned.

The Constitutional Council will deliver its ruling later on Thursday. It can either approve the legislation, strike it down or approve it but with any element deemed unconstitutional removed.

Germany

Germany plans to give vulnerable people a COVID-19 vaccine booster in September, the health ministry said on Thursday, ignoring a WHO appeal to refrain from giving third doses while poor countries remain unvaccinated.

"The possibility of a booster vaccine in September is intended to ensure that those who are particularly at risk are adequately protected," the ministry said.

Risk groups include immunocompromised patients, the very elderly and nursing home residents, it added.

Germany has so far given at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to 62 percent of its population, with almost 54 percent fully-vaccinated.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 3,539 to 3,780,985, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Thursday. 

The reported death toll rose by 26 to 91,730, the tally showed.

Germany would only consider restrictions for non-vaccinated people if there was a dramatic rise in COVID-19 infections, according to Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht.

Russia

Russia reported 23,120 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, including 3,227 in Moscow, taking the official national tally since the pandemic began to 6,379,904.

The government coronavirus task force said 794 people had died of coronavirus-linked causes in the past 24 hours, pushing the death toll to 162,509.

Russia has administered COVID-19 vaccines to 37 million people, Interfax news agency quoted Deputy Health Minister Oleg Gridnev as saying on Thursday.

Meanwhile, delays in international deliveries of the second dose of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine will be fully resolved this month, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), responsible for the shot's marketing abroad, said in a statement on Wednesday.

RDIF has struck manufacturing partnerships abroad with producers in 14 countries, according to the statement, and will further increase its capacity next month due to a partnership with India's Serum Institute.

Initial small-scale trials of a vaccine shot mixing a dose of Sputnik V with a dose of a shot produced by AstraZeneca are ongoing and recently reported good results, RDIF said.