Namibia has discontinued the use of Russia's Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine following concerns raised by neighboring South Africa, the health ministry said on Saturday.

Israeli leaders on Thursday recommended reopening the country to fully vaccinated tourists beginning on Nov. 1, a year and a half after closing its borders to most foreign visitors due to the global coronavirus pandemic.

The decision, which still requires formal government approval, comes as Israel emerges from a fourth wave of coronavirus infections. Israel in July began an aggressive booster shot campaign, offering a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to virtually anyone over the age of 16. That campaign appears to have brought the outbreak under control.

What is the "delta plus" variant?

It's a relative of the delta variant, identified by British scientists last month.

China's capital Beijing has begun offering booster shots against COVID-19, four months before the city and surrounding regions are to host the Winter Olympics.

Anyone 18 or older who have received two-dose Chinese vaccines and belong to at-risk groups, including those participating, organizing or working on games facilities, would be eligible for the additional shot, state media reported Friday.

The number of workers taking sick days has surged in Italy since the introduction last week of mandatory coronavirus certificates for all employees, official data showed Thursday.

Authorities in China canceled hundreds of flights, closed schools and ramped up mass testing on Thursday to try and stamp out a new Covid-19 outbreak linked to a group of tourists.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered a nationwide week-long paid holiday starting on October 30 to curb Covid infections amid record virus deaths and again urged Russians to vaccinate themselves.  

Russia reported Wednesday a record 1,028 Covid deaths in a single day, with President Vladimir Putin expected to introduce new nationwide restrictions in Europe's worst affected country.

Israel has confirmed a case of a subvariant of the Delta strain of COVID-19 previously reported in some European countries, the health ministry said.

“The variant AY 4.2. that has been discovered in a number of countries in Europe has been identified in Israel,” a ministry statement said late Tuesday.

FIFA and Qatari organizers of next year's World Cup teamed up with the World Health Organization on Monday to use soccer's marquee event for promoting public health.

The move follows years of scrutiny on Qatar and criticism of conditions for hundreds of thousands of migrant workers needed for massive projects tied to the tournament.