Latest on worldwide spread of the coronavirus

(Reuters) - Healthcare workers and others recommended for the first COVID-19 inoculations could start getting shots within 24 hours after the vaccine receives regulatory authorization, the chief adviser for the U.S. government's Operation Warp Speed program said.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

- For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread of COVID-19, open https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/ in an external browser.

- Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals https://apac1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1592404098 for a case tracker and summary of news.

EUROPE

- France said the number of people hospitalised for COVID-19 infections fell by more than 600 to go below the 28,000 threshold for the first time since Nov 4.

- Turkey's daily COVID-19 death toll hit a record high, as Turks braced for new restrictive measures.

- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged lawmakers to support his new system of regional coronavirus restrictions.

- Russia is trying to import foreign-made drugs to fight the pandemic due to a shortage of products at home.

AMERICAS

- The Trump administration has invited vaccine manufacturers, drug distributors and government officials to a COVID-19 Vaccine Summit next week at the White House, Stat News reported.

- The U.S. Transportation Department said it has made preparations to enable the "immediate mass shipment" of vaccines.

ASIA-PACIFIC

- Pakistan has approved $150 million in funding to buy vaccines, initially to cover the most vulnerable 5% of the population.

- India may not need to vaccinate all of its 1.3 billion people if it manages to inoculate a critical mass and break the transmission of the coronavirus, government officials said.

- Vietnam reported two more coronavirus cases linked to a rare domestic infection in its commercial hub Ho Chi Minh City.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

- Hamas's Gaza leader, Yehya Al-Sinwar, has tested positive for COVID-19, a spokesman for the Islamist militant group, which runs the Palestinian territory, said.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

- Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech are in a tight race to launch their COVID-19 vaccines in Europe after both applied for emergency European Union approval.

- Europe's health regulator said it had started a real-time review of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

- Stock markets rose and safe havens such as U.S. Treasury bonds dipped as better-than-expected factory data and signs that the first coronavirus vaccinations could be administered by the end of the year helped prolong a worldwide rally in risk assets.

- U.S. manufacturing activity slowed in November, as a resurgence in COVID-19 cases kept workers at home and factories temporarily shut down to sanitize facilities.

- U.S. airlines would receive $17 billion for four months of payroll support under a new $908 billion bipartisan Senate COVID-19 relief proposal, a spokeswoman for Senator Mark Warner said.

(Compiled by Linda Pasquini and Amy Caren Daniel; Edited by Jonathan Oatis and Sriraj Kalluvila)