Covid-19 has infected more than 245M people and killed over 4.9M globally. Here are the coronavirus-related developments for October 27:
US, Indonesia call for new G20 forum to prepare for next pandemic
The world's biggest economies should create a forum to facilitate global coordination for the next pandemic, as well as a new financing facility to keep up with emerging threats, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati have said.
In a letter to their G20 colleagues, the two finance ministers said the forum would allow health and finance ministers to better cooperate and coordinate prevention, detection, information-sharing, and any needed response.
A copy of the letter, dated on Monday, was posted on Tuesday by the Treasury Department.
Yellen and Indrawati said the pandemic, which has killed nearly 5.2 million people around the world, had revealed a lack of readiness at the country level and a lack of coordination among G20 countries.
"While we are making progress in fighting Covid, we also face a stark reality: this will not be the last pandemic," they wrote ahead of Friday's joint meeting of G20 health and finance ministers.
"We must not lose this opportunity to demonstrate leadership with a decisive commitment to act."
China marks 100 days to Winter Olympics amid Covid
With 100 days until the start of the Winter Olympics, Beijing is promising a "simple and safe" 2022 Games –– although preparations are anything but simple as China readies to host thousands of athletes and personnel as it battles Covid-19 flare-ups.
Beijing will be the first city to stage both the Summer and Winter Games, but the 2022 event is shadowed by the coronavirus pandemic and calls from human rights groups for a boycott over China's alleged crimes in Tibet, the Uighur region, and Hong Kong.
The Games will run from February 4 to 20, with all participants subject to daily tests and no international spectators. Unlike this year's Tokyo Summer Games local spectators will be allowed at events in and around the Chinese capital.
Athletes and other Games-related personnel will be enveloped in a "closed loop" including three clusters of venues - one in downtown Beijing, one in the outskirts near the Great Wall, and one to the northwest of the city, in Hebei province.
Australia approves vaccine booster shots for adults
Australia has authorised booster shots of Covid-19 vaccines for over-18s, with the third dose expected to be offered to the entire population from next month.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration regulatory authority said it had granted provisional approval for one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to be given as a booster shot to adults.
"The provisional approval means that individuals aged 18 years and older may receive a booster (third dose), at least six months after the completion of a Covid-19 vaccine primary series," the agency said.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said a population-wide booster program would begin no later than November 8, subject to approval from the nation's immunisation advisory body.
"We will commence with aged care and disability as a priority," he told reporters.
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(With input from news agency language)
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