TOP HEADLINES

• Moderna's mRNA vaccine appears to be more effective than the Pfizer-BioNTech one against the Delta variant, according to two reports yet to be peer reviewed. In a study of more than 50,000 patients, the efficacy of the Moderna jab against infection when the Delta variant was predominant dropped by around 10 percent compared with the Pfizer shot, which fell by more than 30 percent. 

• In France, the number of coronavirus patients in intensive care units (ICUs) increased by 111 on Monday – the first time since early April that the tally was over 100. While significantly lower than the numbers recorded at the peak of France's third wave, when more than 6,000 patients were in ICUs, the rise mirrors a sharp increase in new daily infections, which are back to a weekly average of more than 22,000. 

• Seven residents of a Belgian nursing home have died after being infected with a variant of the coronavirus first detected in Colombia despite being fully vaccinated. The virology team said the residents had been infected with the B.1.621 variant of COVID-19, which has recently been detected in the U.S. but cases in Europe have been rare.

• Germany wants to end free coronavirus tests in October, Germany's RND group of newspapers has reported, citing a draft proposal set to be discussed by Chancellor Angela Merkel and leaders of the country's states. The tests were made free in March but with 55 percent of the population fully vaccinated, there are questions about subsidizing a scheme that mainly benefits those not yet vaccinated.

• Switzerland has approved a second vaccine, that made by Moderna, for youngsters aged between 12 and 17 years old, after approving the Pfizer jab for adolescents in June.

• Fans attending English Premier League soccer games are set to face random spot checks of their coronavirus status – either proof of full vaccination or a negative lateral flow test result – at some stadiums in the opening weeks of the new soccer season. 

• BioNTech says that offering a third dose of its established two-shot vaccine was a better strategy than tailoring the product it developed with Pfizer to new variants amid concerns over waning protection against the Delta variant. 

• Nine coronavirus patients died in a Russian hospital in the southern city of Vladikavkaz after an oxygen pipe burst underground, cutting off supply to an intensive care ward. Russia's federal health watchdog, Roszdravnadzor, is set to investigate the case. 

• Italian police have shut down another fake health pass scheme on the mobile messaging app Telegram where users could buy a counterfeit "Green Pass," needed in Italy to access an array of services and leisure activities. The police have now closed 32 similar Telegram groups offering fake passes for up to 500 euros ($588).

• Britain will ease some travel restrictions to allow delegates to attend the COP26 U.N. climate conference in Scotland this year. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pushed for the conference to be in-person, but with cases increasing in many countries, there are concerns the arrival of thousands of international delegates could see the November summit become a super-spreader event.

READ MORE

What you need to know about the IPCC's climate report

French cafes start checking COVID-19 health passes

Depression linked to social media twice as high in girls: UCL research

AROUND EUROPE

Nawied Jabarkhyl in London

Students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are receiving their A-level exam results on Tuesday. However, because of the pandemic, they didn't actually sit exams: teachers gave them grades instead. 

That has led to worries about results being inflated, with almost half of pupils set to get the top two grades (an A* or A). Two years ago – before the pandemic – about a quarter of grades were in those brackets.

In higher education, the UK's education secretary says universities that don't offer face-to-face teaching in the coming academic year should not charge full fees. The government has given the green light for physical classes to return but many institutions have chosen to keep some online learning. 

Penelope Liersch in Budapest 

More than 3.6 million people in Poland have registered for the National Vaccination Program Lottery since it opened at the beginning of July. The lottery is an incentive to encourage people to get vaccinated, with all adults who get fully jabbed and register by the end of September eligible for prizes. So far, more than $990,000 worth of prizes have been given away, with another weekly draw due on Wednesday.  

Ryan Thompson in Frankfurt

Chancellor Angela Merkel and Germany's 16 state premieres will hold a coronavirus committee meeting today after a months-long hiatus. The leaders are expected to discuss how to tackle the virus in the winter months, the addition of booster shots, winding down free testing and the obligation of vaccinations. 

However, these meetings had become somewhat of a joke among Germans after they routinely failed to come to a consensus during the second and third wave of the pandemic. In its daily editorial, newspaper Der Spiegel commented: "Today the committee that produced so much junk in the past and that really nobody has missed recently, is meeting again."

At one point in the winter, Merkel reversed course on a policy announcement just days after announcing it — and in April, the meetings were scrapped altogether. 

Ross Cullen in Paris

French hospitals are treating around 9,000 coronavirus patients, the first time the number of those hospitalized has risen above 9,000 since June. As new case numbers grow, the U.S. has changed its travel advice for all of France, advising against traveling there.

The French Caribbean island of Martinique has moved from lockdown-lite to full lockdown as intensive care bed occupancy hit 200 percent of normal capacity. Non-essential shops are to close for three weeks and a government form, or attestation, is once again required for travel more than 1km from one's house on the island. 

All tourists there are being urged to leave and hotels will close. The minister responsible for overseas territories will travel to Martinique and 240 health workers will leave mainland France today for the French Caribbean to assist overburdened hospitals.

Toni Waterman in Brussels 

Brussels' largest vaccination center has shut its doors as the region's mass-immunization drive starts to wind down. During the height of the program, the Brussels Expo had the capacity to administer up to 5,000 jabs a day. But now, there is simply not the demand to justify keeping it open. 

Belgium has some of the highest vaccination rates in the EU, with nearly 80 percent of the adult population fully vaccinated. The numbers are a bit lower in Brussels, where 64 percent are double-jabbed. Flanders is the front runner, with an impressive 96 percent of adults fully vaccinated. In the coming weeks, Brussels plans to start slowly closing another nine vaccination centers.

FROM OUR GLOBAL COLLEAGUES

CGTN Europe: Did social media help us during lockdown? - The Agenda explainer

CGTN China: Chinese mainland reports 143 new confirmed COVID-19 cases

CGTN America: The Heat: Coronavirus Pandemic and Politics

CGTN Africa: Somalia receives 108,000 more doses of COVID-19 vaccines

Sign up here to get the COVID-19 Europe bulletin sent directly to your inbox.

CGTN Europe has been providing in-depth coverage of the novel coronavirus story as it has unfolded.