An Israeli woman shows her "green pass" (proof of being fully vaccinated against the coronavirus) before entering the Green Pass concert for vaccinated seniors, organised by the municipality of Tel Aviv, on February 24, 2021. (Photo: AFP)

The total number of deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide has increased to 2,494,705 with the global confirmed cases reaching 112,506,114 as of 9:30 am BJT on Thursday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Current status (data as of 9:30 am BJT, February 25):

Ghana became the first country to receive vaccines from the global Covax scheme on Wednesday, paving the way for poorer nations to catch up with inoculation drives in wealthier parts of the world to stamp out the coronavirus pandemic.

Clinics across Hungary began using China's Sinopharm vaccine on Wednesday, making it the first European Union country to provide the jab.

Chile expects to have 80 percent of its population vaccinated against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) by midyear, achieving so-called "herd immunity," Health Minister Enrique Paris said Wednesday.

A real-world test of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine in more than half a million people confirms that it’s very effective at preventing serious illness or death, even after one dose. In results published on Wednesday from a mass vaccination campaign in Israel, the vaccine was 92% effective at preventing severe disease after two shots and 62% after one.

Switzerland announced Wednesday that shops, museums and zoos can reopen from March 1 -- the first steps out of Covid-19 restrictions and into the "gradual normalisation of social and economic life".