OVERVIEW: International COVID-19 developments

Factbox: Latest on worldwide spread of the coronavirus Britain saw record-high COVID-19 deaths and Spain posted its biggest one-day jump in cases since October, while the head of the World Health Organization said there was a "clear problem" of low- and middle-income countries not yet receiving vaccine supplies. Reuters Staff U.S.

(Reuters) - Britain saw record-high COVID-19 deaths and Spain posted its biggest one-day jump in cases since October, while the head of the World Health Organization said there was a “clear problem” of low- and middle-income countries not yet receiving vaccine supplies.

* The European Union said it had secured nearly half of Pfizer’s 2021 global output of vaccines, while a study found that this vaccine appears able to protect against a key mutation in the highly transmissible new variants of the coronavirus discovered in Britain and South Africa.

* Germany has secured 50 million vaccine doses from German biotech firms BioNTech and CureVac on top of EU supplies, a document showed, amid record daily deaths and concerns about a new variant.

* All Danes will have received a second shot of a vaccine by late June and Denmark will restrict travel from all countries from Jan. 9.

* Beijing closed places of worship and authorities restricted access to a highway to Shijiazhuang, which is battling a new cluster of infections.

* Indonesian clerics deemed Sinovac’s vaccine halal, or permissible under Islam....

* Ontario is considering “more extreme measures” on top of the widespread lockdowns in place, the premier said.

* Argentina issued a decree empowering provinces to restrict nighttime activities, with authorities concerned about a new wave of cases being caused by Southern Hemisphere summer vacationers.

* Iran’s Supreme Leader banned the government from importing vaccines from the U.S. and Britain, as COVID-19 spread further in the Middle East’s hardest-hit country.

* Saudi Arabia will lift a ban on international flights from March 31, the state news agency SPA said.

* South African scientists are testing whether vaccines will be less effective against a COVID-19 variant first detected locally and hope for initial results within two weeks, a professor at the national communicable disease institute said. ...