KINGSTON, Jamaica — The novel coronavirus has infected more than 208.5 million people, leaving more than 4.3 million dead across 196 countries and territories.

The majority of those infected have recovered and many countries have rolled out vaccine campaigns as economies start to recover from the pandemic.

— Jamaica recorded 289 new COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths on Tuesday, bringing the infection total to 59,377, and virus death toll to 1,339.

— The Ministry of Health and Wellness has confirmed the presence of 22 cases of the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 in Jamaica.

— Pope Francis said getting the coronavirus vaccine was “an act of love” Wednesday, as the head of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics joined a campaign to boost confidence in COVID-19 jabs.

— US health officials Wednesday recommended all Americans get COVID-19 booster shots to shore up their protection amid the surging delta variant and evidence that the vaccines’ effectiveness is falling.

— The World Health Organization on Wednesday condemned the rush by wealthy countries to provide COVID vaccine booster shots, while millions around the world have yet to receive a single dose.

— The United States is the worst-affected country with 623,322 deaths from 37,017,859 cases followed by Brazil with 570,598 deaths from 20,416,183 cases, India with 432,519 deaths from 32,285,857 cases, Mexico with 249,529 deaths from 3,123,252 cases, and Peru with 197,539 deaths from 2,135,827 cases.

Read full stories:

Jamaica records 19 more COVID deaths, 289 new COVID cases

Jamaica confirms 22 cases of the deadly Delta variant of COVID-19

Pope urges people to get COVID-19 jabs ‘as act of love’

US health officials call for booster shots against COVID-19

WHO slams wealthy nations’ rush towards COVID vaccine boosters