The latest:
The head of the World Health Organization has called for a two-month moratorium on administering booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines as a means of reducing global vaccine inequality and preventing the emergence of new coronavirus variants.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters Monday that he was “really disappointed” with the scope of vaccine donations worldwide. He called on countries offering third vaccine doses to forward what they would use for booster shots to other countries so they can increase their vaccination coverage.
Those whose immune system is compromised should get a booster shot, though they represent only a small percentage of the population, he added.
The United States announced last week it plans to make COVID-19 vaccine booster shots widely available starting on Sept. 20 as infections rise from the coronavirus delta variant.
Tedros said that vaccine injustice and vaccine nationalism increase the risk of more contagious variants like the delta variant emerging.
.– From The Associated Press and Reuters, last updated at 9 a.m. ET
What’s happening in Canada
![](https://thumbnails.cbc.ca/maven_legacy/thumbnails/167/54/mpx-filippone-covid-sunday.jpg?crop=1.777xh:h;*,*&downsize=510px:* 510w")
A surge in COVID-19 cases in Western Canada has some speculating if B.C. will push back its final re-opening phase, while the Canadian Armed Forces has been sent in for help in the Northwest Territories. 2:03
What’s happening around the world
As of early Monday morning, more than 211.8 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. The reported global death toll stood at more than 4.4 million.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Vietnam’s largest metropolis, Ho Chi Minh City, began a stricter lockdown on Monday in an attempt to curb its worst coronavirus outbreak, a day before U.S Vice-President Kamala Harris arrives in the country on a state visit. Since a wave of infections began at the end of April, Vietnam has reported 344,000 cases, with Ho Chi Minh City and neighbouring Binh Duong accounting for most of them.
Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam’s entire southern region have already been in lockdown since July, when the delta variant started to spread quickly.
New Zealand’s government, meanwhile, said it’s extending a strict nationwide lockdown until at least Friday as it tries to extinguish a growing coronavirus outbreak. The news came as health authorities reported 35 new local infections of the fast-spreading delta variant, the highest number of COVID-19 cases in New Zealand since April last year.
Meanwhile, in neighbouring Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says lockdowns are not a sustainable way to live. He says states must open their borders once vaccination rates reach 80 per cent of the population aged 16 years and older.
In the Americas, the U.S. gave full approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, a milestone that may help lift public confidence in the shots as the country battles the most contagious coronavirus mutant yet.
The vaccine made by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech now carries the strongest endorsement from the Food and Drug Administration, which has never before had so much evidence to judge a shot’s safety. More than 200 million Pfizer doses already have been administered in the U.S. — and hundreds of millions more worldwide — since emergency use began in December.
Today, FDA approved the first COVID-19 vaccine for the prevention of <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#COVID19</a> disease in individuals 16 years of age and older. <a href=”https://t.co/iOqsxXV1fj”>https://t.co/iOqsxXV1fj</a>
—@US_FDA
The Pentagon said Monday that it will require service members to receive the COVID-19 vaccine now that the Pfizer vaccine has received full approval. Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said guidance is being developed and a timeline will be provided in the coming days.
In a memo Aug. 9, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said he’d seek the president’s approval to make the vaccine mandatory no later than mid-September, or immediately upon FDA licensure, “whichever comes first.”
Kirby said the move is an effort to ensure the safety of service members. Concerns about the virus are especially acute in the military, where service members live and work closely together in barracks and on ships, increasing the risks of rapid spreading.
In the Middle East, hard-hit Iran was still struggling with an uptick in COVID-19 cases and deaths, reporting on Monday that 610 additional people had died over 24 hours, according to the country’s Health Ministry.
Oman, meanwhile, will allow anyone holding a vaccine certificate to travel to the country from Sept. 1, the civil aviation authority said.
In Africa, Egypt’s health minister said they detected the country’s first case of the delta variant last month.
In Europe, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said “everything points at no new nationwide shutdown will be necessary” because of the high number of people vaccinated in the country. Getting the shot in Denmark is voluntary and is available to people aged 12 years and older.
– From The Associated Press, Reuters and CBC News, last updated at 11:55 a.m. ET
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