EU leaders warned Thursday that tight restrictions on non-essential travel must remain in place as the bloc ramps up vaccine supplies and faces the threat of new coronavirus variants.  

EU chief Charles Michel admitted Thursday that Europe's coronavirus vaccine rollout could continue to struggle for momentum in the coming weeks before picking up speed.

Britain asked the U.N. Security Council on Thursday to vote on a resolution on Covid vaccination in countries enduring conflict or poverty, diplomats said.

Israel's defense minister on Thursday called for an immediate halt in plans to ship surplus coronavirus vaccines to a group of allied nations, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of acting without oversight or transparency.

Syria's health minister on Thursday said his government procured coronavirus vaccines from a friendly country which he declined to name, adding that frontline health workers would be the first to be inoculated starting next week.

It was not clear why Hassan Ghabbash declined to name the country that provided the vaccines. He spoke at a press conference where only reporters from local media outlets were invited.

EU leaders met Thursday under the specter of Europe's sluggish vaccine drive as Pfizer said its Covid jab proved 94 percent effective, raising hopes for mass immunization campaigns to help end the pandemic.

A man in a navy suit grinned as he left an airbase in Guinea's capital Conakry on Wednesday after being vaccinated for Ebola, one of the first to receive the jab since the deadly disease re-emerged in the West African country.

Jordan has reimposed an all-day curfew on Fridays to stem the spread of coronavirus as cases rise, officials said Wednesday.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Wednesday that it has authorized 20 private companies to import Covid-19 vaccines into the country.

In a phone call with LBCI TV, a Ministry official said the local companies “have so far faced rejection from the companies that manufacture the vaccines.”

The single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine is highly effective in preventing severe Covid-19, including newer variants, according to documents released by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday.

The news came as the regulator was set to convene an independent panel Friday that will likely vote to authorize the vaccine, making it the third available in the country hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.