KINGSTON, Jamaica — The novel coronavirus has infected more than 239.5 million people, leaving more than 4.8 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 264 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday and 13 deaths, bringing the country’s total confirmed cases to 86,986 and the death toll to 2,072.

— In the United States, an expert committee on Thursday recommended a booster dose of Moderna’s anti-COVID vaccine for certain at-risk groups, a month after making a similar decision for the Pfizer shot.

— The US also announced Friday that it will allow entry to foreign travellers who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, by both land and air, starting November 8.

— Pfizer and BioNTech said Friday that they had submitted data to the EU’s medicines watchdog for the approval of their coronavirus vaccine for children aged 5 to 11, following a similar step in the United States.

— South Africa’s health minister announced Friday that the country will begin vaccinating children as young as 12 next week and also offer COVID-19 boosters against certain immune disorders.

— The US is the worst-affected country with 721,567 deaths, followed by Brazil with 602,099, India with 451,814, Mexico 283,574 and Russia 221,313.

Read the full stories:

Jamaica records 264 new COVID cases, 13 deaths

Fully vaccinated foreign visitors can enter US from Nov 8 — White House