‘Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna making combined profits of $65,000 a minute from vaccines’

The coronavirus has killed at least 5,107,391 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1800 GMT Tuesday.
The US has suffered the most Covid-related deaths with 764,608, followed by Brazil with 611,346, India with 463,852, Mexico with 291,204 and Russia with 257,837.

The countries with the most new deaths are Russia with 1,240, followed by Ukraine with 838 and Hungary with 304.
Taking into account excess mortality linked to Covid-19, the WHO estimates the overall death toll could be two to three times higher.

• $65,000 profit a minute –
  Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna are making combined profits of $65,000 a minute from their vaccines while the world´s poorest countries remain largely unvaccinated, a study by the People´s Vaccine Alliance says.
• Pfizer promises cheaper treatment –
  Pfizer announces a deal to make its oral antiviral Covid medication available more cheaply in poorer countries if it passes trials and gets regulatory approval.
• $40 if you get jabbed –
  Ukrainians are to be offered around 35 euros ($40) to get double-vaccinated as deaths spiral there.
• Greek restaurant protest –
  Thousands of Greek restaurant shut their doors in a one-day protest against tougher fines for those who fail to check on customers´ vaccination status.
• Call for compulsory jabs for stars –
  A top German politician says vaccination should be compulsory for top footballers as the country struggles with a fourth wave of Covid-19.
• Munich cancels Christmas market –
  Munich becomes the first major German city to cancel its Christmas market, which usually draws three million visitors, blaming a “dramatic” virus spike.
• Lockdown on unjabbed ´working´ –
  Austria´s lockdown on unvaccinated people is already working with more people getting jabbed, the prime minister says, only hours after pushing through the “difficult” restriction, the first of its kind in Europe.
• China Corgi horror –
  Footage of Chinese health workers killing a pet Corgi dog with a crowbar after its owners were sent into quarantine has sparked outrage, with social media users voicing concern about the extremes of Beijing´s zero-case strategy.
• One rule for bankers –
  Hong Kong´s leader Carrie Lam defends allowing the head of JP Morgan Chase to skip a three-week quarantine imposed on most other visitors by saying he worked for “a very big bank”.
• Cyprus booster –
  Health officials on the eastern Mediterranean island say they will start offering booster shots to anyone over 18 after a spike in hospitalisations.