FACTBOX-Latest on worldwide spread of the coronavirus

Pfizer Inc and BioNTech could secure emergency U.S. and European authorization for their COVID-19 vaccine next month after final trial results showed it had a 95% success rate and no serious side-effects, the drugmakers said on Wednesday. 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.

Pfizer Inc and BioNTech could secure emergency U.S. and European authorization for their COVID-19 vaccine next month after final trial results showed it had a 95% success rate and no serious side-effects, the drugmakers said on Wednesday.

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

* German police unleashed water cannon and pepper spray in an effort to scatter thousands of protesters angry about a new legal framework for enforcing coronavirus restrictions passed by parliament. * British Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended his government's handling of the procurement of protective equipment during the pandemic, after a spending watchdog said suppliers with political links had been fast-tracked.

* Ukraine faces a "very severe" period of COVID-19 cases but will not tighten lockdown restrictions because measures taken last week should stabilise the situation, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov told Reuters. * Portugal has set up a taskforce to come up with a COVID-19 vaccination strategy and hopes to be prepared to start distributing shots as early as January.

AMERICAS * The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 approached 250,000, as New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the country's largest school district will halt in-person learning in the latest major restriction to curb soaring COVID-19 infections.

* Pressure for a fresh COVID-19 relief bill mounted on Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress, as a top Wall Street figure lambasted lawmakers as "childish" for not moving forward with assistance. * Vaccinating 20% of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean against COVID-19 will cost more than $2 billion, but low-income countries will be helped by the COVAX Facility led by the World Health Organization, its regional branch said.

* Canada, which has reserved enough doses to vaccinate residents against COVID-19 several times over, is in talks with other governments about a plan to donate shots to lower-income countries, according to three sources familiar with the matter. ASIA-PACIFIC

* Daily coronavirus cases in Tokyo and South Korea hit fresh highs, as pollution-cloaked New Delhi struggled with rising cases and Australia reported a highly contagious virus strain which forced a state-wide lockdown. * Taiwan will from next month require almost all visitors to have negative tests before arriving.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA * Total coronavirus cases in Africa surpassed the 2 million mark despite the slow addition of reported infections compared to other regions around the world.

* Iran registered 13,421 new infections in the past 24 hours, a new daily record. * Turkey's government urged "tight discipline" as the country prepared for new weekend curfews, online schooling and limits on restaurants and cafes that are to begin Friday evening and last until the end of the year.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS * Sinovac Biotech's experimental vaccine triggered a quick immune response but the level of antibodies produced was lower than in people who had recovered from the disease, preliminary trial results showed.

* Governments and officials are voicing hopes that COVID-19 vaccines could bring "herd immunity", but some experts say such expectations are misplaced. ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Global shares hit a record for a third straight day while the dollar moved off earlier lows as further positive COVID-19 vaccine news helped temper concerns about rising infections and related economic damage. * Global debt is expected to soar to a record $277 trillion by the end of the year as governments and companies continue to spend in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Compiled by Aditya Soni, Anita Kobylinska and Linda Pasquini; Editing by Gareth Jones, Alex Richardson and Arun Koyyur)