New daily Covid-19 deaths have surged past 4,000 for the first time in India in one of the world's worst outbreaks, as EU pressure mounted on Washington to end vaccine export limits and offer a concrete plan to lift patents.

The EU has concluded a deal with BioNTech/Pfizer for up to 1.8 billion extra doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Saturday.

Pope Francis offered his support Saturday for waiving coronavirus vaccine patents to boost supply to poorer countries, in a video message to the "Vax Live" concert.

The World Health Organization on Friday approved the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use -- the first Chinese jab to receive the WHO's green light.

Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan on Friday chaired a meeting for the ministry’s staff that discussed “the executive course of the national vaccination plan,” the National News Agency said.

“During the meeting, measures were approved to avoid the flaws that were recorded over the past period and to follow up on some violations at a number of vaccination centers,” NNA said.

India saw record new jumps in Covid-19 cases and deaths on Thursday, dashing tentative hopes that the catastrophic recent surge was easing.

India released $6.7 billion in cheap financing for vaccine makers, hospitals and other health firms on Wednesday, to counter the devastating coronavirus surge gripping the country.

The United States is expected to authorize the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for children age 12 and up by early next week, US media reported Monday.

India's coronavirus caseload topped 20 million on Tuesday as it struggled to contain a huge outbreak, in stark contrast to gradual reopenings in the United States and Europe.

Rapid immunisation programmes in wealthier nations have helped suppress outbreaks, and the European Union was even looking at allowing vaccinated foreign tourists into the bloc as early as next month.

The Covax global vaccine equity programme has signed an advance purchase agreement with Moderna for 500 million doses of its Covid-19 jabs, the scheme's co-leaders Gavi announced Monday.