TOP HEADLINES

• Switzerland is to start easing out of its lockdown from March 1, the government has said, confirming preliminary plans to open shops, museums and libraries and allow outdoor gatherings of up to 15 people.

• European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has insisted that fresh problems hampering the supply of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine can be resolved, after the group admitted it could deliver only half the expected amount to the bloc in the second quarter.

• Ukraine is to begin its vaccination program today, after delays sparked anger towards the government. The health ministry has set out a five-stage jab schedule beginning with 367,000 people in priority groups.

• Greece has delayed the lifting lockdown restrictions in the wider Athens area planned for March 1, following an increase in infections. On Tuesday, authorities reported 2,147 new cases, around half of them in the Attica region around Athens, and 22 deaths.

• Italy should prepare for another month's restrictions over the threat posed by new coronavirus strains, according to Health Minister Roberto Speranza. The government is expected to extend a three-tier system of regional restrictions, currently set to expire on March 5, in the coming days.

• European Union leaders will tomorrow agree to work on vaccine certificates for citizens who have been received their COVID-19 jab. Greece and Spain are pushing for a quick adoption of an EU-wide certificate to get people traveling again. France and Germany are more reluctant.

• The number of patients in intensive care units with COVID-19 in France has reached a 12-week high of 3,435 as regional officials call for a ban on public gatherings and consider a partial weekend lockdown. 

• Ireland is to start reopening some schools next week but is extending most other COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, such as the closure of non-essential retail, bars, construction sites and gyms, plus a ban on household mixing, until April 5. 

• A growing percentage of the Polish population is opposed to getting a COVID-19 vaccine, according to survey by pollsters CBOS. Some 33 percent of Poles – up from 30 percent last month – do not want to get vaccinated, against 55 percent who said they were in favor.

• Spain is to receive four times as many vaccine doses in the second quarter than in the first, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said. Almost two million Spaniards have received at least one jab and authorities expect to have 70 percent of the population vaccinated by the end of the summer.

• Sanchez has also pledged an extra $13.3 billion to help struggling companies and the self-employed cope with the fallout of the pandemic.

• Germany has approved three COVID-19 tests for home use as part of health minister Jens Spahn's strategy for mass testing. The country's infection rate has stagnated in recent days, adding to signs that it could be difficult for the country to ease restrictions when the lockdown is due to end on March 7.

• Denmark will ease restrictions in the retail sector and allow schools in some parts of the country to reopen on March 1, the government has said. The country plans to offer everyone a vaccine by June 27, which puts it well ahead of EU-wide expectations.

• The COVAX fund, the World Health Organization's global vaccine sharing scheme for developing nations, has delivered its first COVID-19 shots. Some 600,000 doses of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine have arrived in Ghana's capital Accra, where frontline health workers and others deemed high-risk will receive priority.

• Sweden will ease restrictions on elderly residents of care homes who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, despite the introduction of stricter national restrictions after a recent surge in injections, according to the country's top epidemiologist. More than 80 percent of residents have received their first jab and 64 percent have completed a course of two shots.

• Czechia will need to tighten COVID-19 measures to prevent a "catastrophe" in hospitals in the coming weeks, Prime Minister Andrej Babis has said. "Hellish days await us," Babis added. The country reported over 15,000 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the highest daily tally since January 6.

ACROSS EUROPE

Stefan de Vries in Amsterdam

On Tuesday, the Dutch government announced a relaxation of some coronavirus measures from next week. Prime Minister Mark Rutte said it was risky, but the economic and psychological consequences are now weighed more heavily than the potential increase in infections.

Secondary schools will reopen on March 1, but practical details were not disclosed. So-called 'contact professions' such as hairdressers and masseurs can start again. Shops can reopen, too, but only for customers who made an appointment at least four hours before visiting and with a maximum of two customers per floor. All cultural venues will stay closed. The 9 p.m. curfew will remain in place until at least March 15, the first day of the general elections.

In April, the vaccination rate must reach 1.5 million shots a week. That's a lot: the current number of administered jabs is around 200,000. Health authorities say they are totally dependent on the sometimes erratic deliveries from manufacturers. 

In the past seven days, more than 29,977 people tested positive for the virus, 19 percent more than the previous week. This is mainly because many more people were tested. The proportion of positive tests fell from 11.5 percent to 9.8 percent, the lowest since September.

Nawied Jabarkhyl in London

Secondary schools in England will be asked to put on summer schools to help children catch-up with learning they've missed out on during the pandemic. The UK government has announced almost $600 million in extra funding to help schools with the plans. Most pupils have been out of classrooms since December and are due back on March 8.

Meanwhile, the government is looking into whether vaccine passports can be used to reopen parts of the economy such as pubs and theaters. It had previously ruled out such a move, calling it discriminatory.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is also hoping to build an "international consensus" on vaccine passports to allow quarantine-free travel in the coming months, according to his office.

Trent Murray in Frankfurt

The latest data from Germany's Robert Koch Institute shows there have been 8,007 new COVID-19 cases. That is an increase of 6 percent compared with this time last week, reinforcing that the rate reductions seen in recent weeks have stalled.

There is some positive news, though – Germany's current total of 115,498 active COVID-19 cases is the lowest rate since October 26, showing pressure is easing on the hospital system. Health experts will be hoping it can stay that way.

Meanwhile, Germany's first vaccination rate has risen from 3.98 percent to 4.11 percent of the population.

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Ross Cullen in Paris

The French health secretary travels to Dunkirk on Wednesday to speak to local officials as pressure for a regional lockdown there grows. The infection rate in the northern port is 900 per 100,000 people, four times the national average.

The government is said to be considering new measures to try to stop the spread of the virus and another meeting of the special 'health defense council' – composed of the president, prime minister and senior ministers – will be held at 8 p.m. GMT on Wednesday.

The local mayor wants to try to avoid another lockdown but doctors are calling for the government "to do at least what was announced in Nice, a confinement only at the weekends." Due to a dramatic rise in the COVID-19 infection rate in south-east France, regional measures have already been announced for Nice and the region around it, where the first of at least two weekend lockdowns will start on February 27.

Julia Chapman in Budapest

Hungarian doctors will begin inoculating patients with China's Sinopharm vaccine from Wednesday. It marks the first time the jab has been used in the European Union, after Hungarian officials granted it regulatory approval last month.

Some 550,000 doses arrived in Budapest last week, enough for around 55 people to be vaccinated in every GP practice across the country. The vaccine will be used on patients over the age of 60.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban says Hungary's use of China's and Russia's vaccines will allow the country to pull ahead of the EU on vaccination rates. COVID-19 cases have started to rise again in Hungary, with officials warning that the third wave of the pandemic is under way across Central Europe.

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CGTN Europe has been providing in-depth coverage of the novel coronavirus story as it has unfolded. Here you can read the essential information about the crisis.