AstraZeneca's vaccine not very effective for people over 65

Covid continues to devastate countries across the world, as the total global caseload crossed the grim milestone of 100 million, report agencies.

The total Covid case count reached 100,351,416 while the death toll climbed to 2,151,569 on Tuesday evening.

The US remained the world's worst-hit country, with 25,291,320 cases and 420,965 fatalities, as per the latest university data.

Coronavirus deaths and cases per day in the US dropped markedly over the past couple of weeks, but are still running at alarmingly high levels, and the effort to snuff out COVID-19 is becoming an ever more urgent race between the vaccine and the mutating virus, reports AP.

India's Covid tally rose to 10,667, 736 on Tuesday, while the death toll mounted to 153,470, the Health Ministry said.

Brazil on Monday registered 627 deaths from Covid in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 217,664, the Ministry of Health said. Tests detected 26,816 new infections, bringing the national caseload to 8,871,393, it added.

Another report adds: AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine is not very effective for people over 65, German coalition sources told tabloid Bild and Handelsblatt, a step which calls into question its suitability in mass vaccination programmes.

German officials fear that the AstraZeneca vaccine may not be approved by European Union authorities for use in those over 65, the German tabloid said in its online edition.

It marks another potential blow for AstraZeneca, which developed its shot with Oxford University. It told the EU on Friday it could not meet agreed supply targets up to the end of March.

Another report from Geneva adds: The World Health Organization (WHO) issued fresh clinical advice on Tuesday for treating COVID-19 patients, including those displaying persistent symptoms after recovery, and also said it advised using low-dose anti-coagulants to prevent blood clots.

"The other things in the guidance that are new are that COVID-19 patients at home should have the use of pulse oximetry, that's measuring the oxygen levels, so you can identify whether somewhat at home is deteriorating and would be better off having hospital care," WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told a UN briefing in Geneva.