Over 1.5 million coronavirus deaths have been recorded worldwide from nearly 65 million cases, according to an AFP tally on Thursday at 1845 GMT based on official statistics.

Greece said Thursday it will extend a coronavirus lockdown by a week to December 14, citing persistently high infection rates.

"The epidemiological burden remains high," government spokesman Stelios Petsas told reporters as he announced the extension.

Iran on Thursday surpassed one million confirmed cases of Covid-19 infection, the health ministry said in the Middle East country hardest hit by the pandemic.

Italy on Thursday announced national travel restrictions for the Christmas holidays designed to limit the spread of Covid-19 in the European country first hit by the pandemic.

The new rules, together with an existing curfew and other regulations already in place, seek to curb circulation throughout the country during the festive period by limiting the number of gatherings.

Localised coronavirus outbreaks in parts of South Africa have raised fears that the country could see a resurgence in cases compounded by gatherings during the upcoming festive season.

Pfizer and BioNTech say they've won permission Wednesday for emergency use of their COVID-19 vaccine in Britain, the world's first coronavirus shot that's backed by rigorous science -- and a major step toward eventually ending the pandemic.

Japan will give free coronavirus vaccines to all of its residents under a bill passed Wednesday, as the nation battles record numbers of daily cases.

France is aiming to launch a widespread Covid-19 vaccination campaign between April and June next year, President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday.

Mohammed Mostafa al-Mohammed started studying medicine in rebel-held northern Syria to help the victims of war, but instead he has graduated into a world battling the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The World Tourism Organization called Monday for the standardization of traveler health checks and the establishment of air corridors to ease international travel during the pandemic.