France to donate 120mn vaccines to poor nations: Prez

PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron has said France will double the number of vaccine doses it donates to poorer countries to 120 million.

“The injustice is that in other continents vaccination is far behind because of us, collectively,” Macron said in a message broadcast during the Global Citizen fundraising concert in Paris.

France will also commit to helping Unicef and health systems with vaccine distribution, Macron said, noting that only 3% of Africa’s population is vaccinated.

A federal judge temporarily blocked New York City’s school system, the largest in the US, from imposing a vaccine mandate for teachers and other staff.

China reported three more infections in the northeastern city of Harbin, a new cluster, and nearby Suihua city recorded one more. Harbin raised risk levels to “mid-level” for five residential complexes and the province’s official Weibo account described the coronavirus situation as “severe and complex”.

South Korea is preparing to offer booster shots to people over 60, medical workers and other high-risk groups.

Australia’s Prime Minister called on states to open their borders. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said state premiers must not keep borders closed once the 80% of eligible Australians are vaccinated, a threshold he expects to reach by the end of the year.

“I can’t see any reason why Australians should be kept from each other,” the leader said on a Sunday television programme. “That puts a heavy, heavy responsibility on those who would seek to prevent that from happening.”