KINGSTON, Jamaica — The novel coronavirus has infected more than 262.2 million people, leaving more than 5.2 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 reported 23 new cases of COVID-19 and four additional deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 91,272 and the death toll to 2,396.

— Pfizer announced Tuesday it was seeking US authorisation for COVID booster shots among adolescents aged 16 and 17, as concerns grow about the impact of the new Omicron variant.

— The WHO said Tuesday that while blanket travel bans would not stop the spread of the Omicron variant, COVID-vulnerable people, including the over-60s, should postpone plans to travel abroad.

— The COVID-19 pandemic will likely cost the global tourism sector a trillion US dollars in lost revenue in 2021, the UN’s tourism body said, calling the sector’s recovery “fragile” and “slow.”

— UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Tuesday that only a “global vaccination plan” could end the COVID-19 pandemic and called the uneven roll-out of vaccines around the world “immoral”.

— The US has suffered the most COVID-related deaths with 780,233, followed by Brazil with 614,681, India with 469,247, Mexico with 294,246 and Russia with 276,419.

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