Latest on worldwide spread of the coronavirus

The COVAX facility to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to poorer countries faces a "serious challenge" to meet demand, while experts examining the origins of the coronavirus first identified in China will follow up on an initial report released this week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS EUROPE * The European Union has asked India to allow it to buy 10 million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine from Serum Institute of India, a government official told Reuters. * Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the COVID-19 situation in France was very sad and experience had shown that the disease usually hit the United Kingdom a few weeks after it hurt France. * French President Emmanuel Macron's order for a third COVID-19 lockdown, having insisted for weeks on keeping the country open against the advice of scientists, has exposed him to criticism from rivals with an eye on next year's election. * Turkey recorded 40,806 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, health ministry data showed on Thursday, the highest level since the beginning of the pandemic. * Europe's rollout of vaccinations is "unacceptably slow," the World Health Organization's European head said, raising concern that delays in innoculating the public could prolong the pandemic as cases of variants spread. * Britain's opposition Labour leader has expressed scepticism about the use of so-called vaccine passports to allow people to access hospitality and entertainment venues, saying the "British instinct" could be against such documents.