Here is what is happening around the world.
■ MEXICO CITY — Mexico posted its second straight day of more than 20,000 coronavirus cases Saturday, suggesting a surge in a country already struggling in many areas with overflowing hospitals. There were 20,523 newly confirmed cases Saturday after 21,366 infections were reported Friday. The country also recorded 1219 more deaths, a near-record. The country has now seen almost 1.63 million total infections and has registered over 140,000 deaths so far.
■ HONOLULU — Health officials in Hawaii have partnered with local pharmacies to offer drivethru and in-home coronavirus vaccinations for residents. The
Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports the Department of Health started scheduling licensed care homes in Oahu for vaccinations this week. Neighbouring islands have already started drive-thru clinics, county hubs and other mobile services. Officials say more than 56,000 people have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Health officials reported 150 newly confirmed coronavirus cases and no new deaths on Friday. The state has more than 24,000 confirmed cases and more than 300 deaths.
■ BERLIN — Germany has carried out more than a million vaccinations as new infections and deaths remain high and officials mull whether to increase lockdown measures. Figures released by the national disease control centre, the Robert Koch Institute, on Saturday showed nearly 1.05 million vaccinations have been recorded — 79,759 more than a day earlier — in the nation of 83 million people. Chancellor Angela Merkel and the country’s 16 state governors will consult on Tuesday on how to proceed with lockdown measures, which are currently due to expire on January 31. On Saturday, Germany recorded 18,678 confirmed cases in the previous 24 hours and another 980 deaths.
■ RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil hasn’t approved a vaccine yet, and independent health experts who participated in its immunisation program say the plan is still incomplete. Members of the expert committee and former health officials interviewed by The Associated Press condemned the government’s unjustifiable delay in formulating a vaccination effort, in seeking syringe suppliers and months spent rejecting all but one possible vaccine manufacturer. They also say President Jair Bolsonaro undermined the ministry’s effectiveness, pointing to the removal of highly trained professionals from leadership positions, replaced by military appointees with little or no public health care experience.
■ BEIJING — China on Sunday reported 109 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, two-thirds of them in a northern province that abuts Beijing, and no deaths. There were 72 new cases in Hebei province, where the government is building isolation hospitals with a total of 9500 rooms to combat an upsurge in infections, according to the National Health Commission. China had largely contained the virus that first was detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019 but has reported hundreds of new infections since December. The Health Commission on Saturday blamed them on travellers and imported goods it said brought the virus from abroad. China’s death toll stands at 4653 out of 88,227 total cases.