France tightens vaccine restrictions on the elderly

French President Emmanuel Macron called for citizens to get a coronavirus vaccine booster shot during an address on Tuesday.

Macron said people aged 65 and older will need to receive a booster shot by mid-December in order to have a valid health pass, known as the Pass Sanitaire. 

The health pass, which is in the form of a QR code, is used to gain entry into public venues such as restaurants and clubs. 

"We are not finished with the pandemic," Macron said in the televised speech. He said recent studies show that immunity from the vaccine decreases after six months.

"Each of us must play our part" to prevent a "fifth wave" of the pandemic, the French president said.

France has one of the highest vaccination rates in Europe, with almost 75% of the adult population being fully vaccinated. Despite this figure, coronavirus infections have shot up by 40% over the last week.

Here's a look at the latest coronavirus-related news from other parts of the world:

Europe

Germany has registered a record-high seven-day incidence rate for the third day running. The number of new infections per 100,000 people over the last week stands at 232.1. On Monday the rate passed 200 for the first time since the pandemic began. The Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases recorded a total of 39,676 new infections over the past 24 hours, also a new record.

Meanwhile, German authorities issued threats of a new lockdown, while a top virologist called for immediate action in the face of overburdened hospitals. 

"We have a real emergency situation right now,'' said Christian Drosten, the head of virology at Berlin's Charite Hospital. "We have to do something right now.''

Several hospitals have said in recent days that they are again working at their limits and have ICUs so full of COVID-19 patients that they cannot admit new patients at the moment. Charite said Tuesday it had to cancel planned surgeries due to the number of staff members caring for people with COVID-19. Authorities have said most of latest patients are unvaccinated.

"We're in a bad situation: we have 15 million people who could have been vaccinated and should have been vaccinated,'' said Drosten.

Czech authorities have recorded 14,539 new infections, the highest daily tally since March, the daily Denik N said.

Denmark has greenlit a plan to reintroduce coronavirus-related restrictions amid rising cases. 

Starting Friday, people in Denmark will need to show a COVID-19 health pass to enter restaurants, clubs and large public events. The pass indicates whether a person is vaccinated, recovered or has tested negative for the virus.

Denmark had previously lifted all coronavirus-related rules in September. Over 86% of those eligible for the shot are fully vaccinated (ages 12 and up), with the country having one of the highest vaccination rates in Europe.

Russia reported record deaths from COVID-19 for the second day in a row, with 1,239 fatalities in the past 24 hours. This comes as many regions across the country emerge from a week-long lockdown.

Asia

Indonesia and Malaysia have agreed to introduce a travel corridor on a gradual basis, starting with key areas like capital cities and the holiday island of Bali, the two countries' leaders have said. Malaysia is also set to grant an amnesty to Indonesian migrants working in the country on expired permits.

Vietnam has approved India's Covaxin vaccine for emergency use, the ninth to be endorsed in the country, the country's health ministry has said. The government announced in July it was seeking to procure 15 million doses.

The country will have sufficient vaccines to cover its population by the end of this month, a deputy prime minister said on Wednesday.

"The fight against the pandemic, however, will continue," Vu Duc Dam told the national assembly, adding people must maintain health protocols.

South Korea urged its citizens to take COVID-19 booster shots as more elderly people fell sick and reported vaccine breakthrough infections. 

US pharma giant Pfizer Inc. has asked Japan's health ministry to authorize its coronavirus vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, according to a statement released by the company on Wednesday. The vaccine was jointly produced with German firm BioNTech.

Around 74% of the Japanese population is fully vaccinated against the virus.

In China, the southwestern city of Chengdu said Wednesday it carried out 30,000 coronavirus tests at a massive entertainment center. The mass screening came after the city recently found several cases of the virus.

All of the tests reportedly came back negative.

Africa

Guinea will begin vaccinating 12- to 17-year-old children against COVID-19, after it received a consignment of BioNTech-Pfizer and Moderna vaccines on Wednesday, the country's health ministry said.

The West African nation received a quantity of the two vaccines in late October and early November, the National Agency for Health Security said in a statement.

Most African countries have been reliant on the COVAX vaccine sharing initiative for doses, and have been able to vaccinate only a small fraction of their populations.

Morocco will end a night curfew starting from Wednesday. The restriction was introduced in March 2020 to slow the spread of COVID-19. The lifting of the curfew comes after a fall in cases from the peak during the summer.

The north African kingdom has administered more coronavirus vaccine doses than any other country on the continent and has imposed a vaccine pass for travel and access to public places.

Oceania

Stores and malls in Auckland, New Zealand's biggest city, reopened for the first time in three months on Wednesday. The city is the hotspot of the country's coronavirus outbreak.

Although large stores are reopening, businesses in the hospitality sector will remain closed for now. The sector will reopen once the city has met a certain vaccination target, according to New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Catch up on DW content

Germany's Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) said on Wednesday that only the BioNTech-Pfizer coronavirus vaccine should be given to people under the age of 30. Read the full report here.

In the eastern city German city of Bautzen the long COVID winter has already begun. Everyone wants to see an end to the pandemic. But residents remain bitterly divided about how to get there. Read our full report here.

Coronavirus case numbers and hospitalizations are on the rise again. Many countries are going through their fourth wave, but a select few are bucking the negative trend. A look at who is doing better and why. Read the full story here.

Israel was the first country to vaccinate, one of the first to reopen, and the first to widely administer booster shots. Then came its worst COVID-19 wave yet. Now life has returned to "almost normal." So what can other countries learn from Israel? Watch the full report below.

wd/rt (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)