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A person receives a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, at vaccination centre for young people and students at the Hunter Street Health Centre, amid the COVID-19 outbreak, in London, Britain, Jun 5, 2021. (File photo: REUTERS/Henry Nicholls) - 

England's health service said it will expand its COVID-19 booster vaccination programme to include 16- and 17-year-olds from Monday (Jan 17).

Until now, booster jabs have been limited to 16- and 17-year-olds most at risk from the coronavirus.

"More than four in five adults in England have already been boosted, helping to protect them from severe illness," British health minister Sajid Javid said in a statement.

"We're now extending the programme to 16- and 17-year-olds so they can top-up their immunity this winter to keep themselves and their friends safe."

Since the vaccination programme rolled out to the age group in August, more than 889,700 teenagers – or seven in 10 people aged 16 and 17 – have had their first dose and more than 600,000 have had their second//CNA

FILE PHOTO: Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly speaks during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (out of frame) at the State Department in Washington, DC on November 12 , 2021. Olivier Douliery /Pool via REUTERS - 

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly will visit Kyiv next week to reaffirm support for Ukrainian sovereignty and reinforce efforts to deter "aggressive actions" by Russia, Ottawa said on Saturday (Jan 15).

Moscow has stationed more than 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine and the United States said on Friday it feared Russia was preparing a pretext to invade if diplomacy failed to meet its objectives.

Canada, with a sizeable and politically influential population of Ukrainian ethnic descent, has taken a hard line with Moscow since the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

"The amassing of Russian troops and equipment in and around Ukraine jeopardises security in the entire region. These aggressive actions must be deterred," Joly said in a statement.

"Canada will work with its international partners to uphold the rules-based international order."

Joly will meet Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal and travel to the west of the country to speak to a 200-strong Canadian training mission that has been there since 2015.

Canadian Deputy Foreign Minister Marta Morgan and US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy R Sherman spoke on Friday and pledged continued close coordination to deter further Russian aggression against Ukraine and called for Russian de-escalation, US Department of State spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday and "emphasised that any military incursion into Ukraine would have serious consequences, including coordinated sanctions," Trudeau's office said.

Canada has imposed punitive measures on more than 440 individuals and entities over the annexation of Crimea.

Joly will also meet NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels during her week-long trip starting Sunday//CNA

FILE PHOTO: A health official checks the body temperature of worshipers during Tehran's first Friday prayer after a nearly two-year break due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Tehran, Iran October 22, 2021. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS - 

Iran's health ministry reported the country's first three deaths from the highly contagious Omicron coronavirus variant on Saturday (Jan 15).

"The number of patients with Omicron in the country has reached 1,162 and ... one death has been reported due to Omicron in each of the cities of Tabriz, Yazd and Shahrekord, and one critically ill patient is hospitalised in Ahvaz," ministry spokesman Mohammad Hashemi told state broadcaster IRIB.

Iran this week lifted restrictions on land travel to and from neighbouring countries and some European states but maintained a ban on arrivals from Britain, France and eight countries in Southern Africa over Omicron fears, Iranian media reported.

Iran, the pandemic's epicentre in the Middle East, has suffered 132,044 deaths in five waves of COVID-19 infections since February 2020. Deaths have fallen in recent months and stood at 18 on Saturday, a 22-month low, according the state television.

More than 53 million of Iran's population of about 85 million have received two doses of coronavirus vaccine, and 12.2 million have received three doses//CNA

FILE PHOTO: A healthcare worker administers a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine to a woman during an initiative to vaccinate people over 12 years old, in Lima, Peru December 6, 2021. REUTERS/Sebastian Castaneda/File Photo - 

Peru's Health Minister Hernando Cevallos has called on COVID-19 vaccine companies to extend expiration dates past the current three months to reduce the risk of losing doses.

Cevallos said in a telephone interview on Saturday (Jan 15) that the government had asked one of the laboratories that supplies vaccines to Peru to deliver them with expirations of up to six months. But he said the laboratory refused, saying that the expiration dates were pre-set.

The minister declined to specify the name of the laboratory, citing the "confidentiality" of the purchase agreements.

Peru, with one of the highest per capita COVID-19 mortality rates in the world, has signed vaccine contracts with China's Sinopharm, the US companies Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc and UK-based AstraZeneca Plc.

"The situation that the affected countries are facing must be understood, particularly in Latin America, due to the economic difficulties we're going through," Cevallos said.

Peru is facing a third wave of the virus triggered by the Omicron variant. The country has vaccinated just over 80per cent of its target population with two doses against COVID-19 and is in the middle of a its booster vaccination campaign.

The government expects to start vaccinating children between the ages of 5 and 11 next week.

"There are no penalties if there is any delay in the arrival of the vaccines. Nor is there any flexibility in expiration dates after they have entered the country," Cevallos said. "Not only do you have to consider the date it is produced, but also take into account the date when it arrives in the country."

"Some of the batches of vaccines have not arrived on time."

COVID-19 cases have totaled almost 2.5 million in Peru, causing 203,302 deaths. Peru has a population of about 33 million//CNA