Delta Variant Puts Brakes On Return To Post-Covid Normality

The rapid spread of the Delta variant across Asia, Africa and Latin America is exposing crucial vaccine supply shortages for some of the world's most poorest and most vulnerable populations.

Nations across the globe hit new pandemic highs and reimposed Covid-19 restrictions on Saturday as G20 finance ministers meeting in Venice warned the economic recovery was threatened by variants and uneven vaccination campaigns. The highly transmissible Delta variant, first detected in India, is sweeping the world as countries race to inoculate their populations to ward off fresh outbreaks and allow for economies and daily life to resume. "The recovery is characterised by great divergences across and within countries and remains exposed to downside risks, in particular the spread of new variants of the Covid-19 virus and different paces of vaccination," the G20 finance ministers said in a final statement. The European Union -- lambasted early on in the pandemic response for a botched vaccine acquisition programme -- said on Saturday it has delivered enough shots to cover 70 percent of the bloc's population.