FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

* Britain on Wednesday became the first country in the world to allow volunteers to be exposed to the COVID-19 virus to advance medical research into the pandemic. * Sources said the EU is in talks with Moderna on buying more vaccines, while Australia's medical regulator granted provisional approval for the AstraZeneca vaccine.

As Pfizer and BioNTech said they would supply an additional 200 million vaccine doses to the European Union, biotechnology group Biophytis said it had got regulatory approval in France and Belgium to recruit more patients for a study of Sarconeos as a potential treatment for breathing problems associated with COVID-19.

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

EUROPE * British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is considering a staged exit from lockdown that would see the United Kingdom's battered economy fully returning to work in July, the Daily Mail reported, citing government plans.

* Sweden's government proposed expanding its legal powers to close businesses and shut parts of society should a third wave of the novel coronavirus hit the country, though it said it saw no need to impose the curbs as yet. * Croatia is discussing with Moscow the possibility of importing Russia's vaccine, and the government has asked the drugs regulator to consider approving the shot without waiting for the European Union, Health Minister Vili Beros said.

* Europe's drugs regulator could issue an opinion by mid-March on whether to approve Johnson & Johnson's vaccine under a speedy review. * Sources said the EU is adding clauses to contracts with vaccine makers to allow the bloc to gain access to possible upgraded shots.

AMERICAS * The White House is increasing the supply of vaccines sent each week to states to 13.5 million doses, and is also doubling the amount shipped to pharmacies to 2 million doses this week.

* Moderna said the release of some of its vaccine doses to the U.S. government have lagged recently because of "short-term delays" in the final stages of production at its contractor Catalent. ASIA-PACIFIC

* Nearly 4,000 Indonesian companies, many of them textile companies, have signed up to take part in a proposed scheme that would allow the private sector to purchase vaccines procured by the government and inoculate their staff. * India will increase the number of its vaccination sites by up to five times after administering nearly 9 million shots in a month.

* Japan launched its inoculation drive on Wednesday. MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* South Africa will administer its first vaccine as it inoculates health workers with the Johnson & Johnson shot as part of a research study. * Gaza will receive its first shipment of vaccines on Wednesday after Israel approved the transfer via its territory, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.

* Zimbabwe will begin vaccinating on Thursday, starting with health workers and other essential service personnel. MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Nigerian students have built a machine they hope can one day help hospitals remotely treat COVID-19 patients, taking temperatures, transporting medicine and allowing medical workers to communicate with patients with a webcam and screen. * Britain on Wednesday became the first country in the world to allow volunteers to be exposed to the COVID-19 virus to advance medical research into the pandemic.

* Sources said the EU is in talks with Moderna on buying more vaccines, while Australia's medical regulator granted provisional approval for the AstraZeneca vaccine. ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Germans' nominal earnings fell for the first time in over a decade, the statistics office said, releasing data that showed the pandemic having a more severe impact on earnings than the 2007/08 financial crisis. * Spain's public debt ended 2020 at 117.1% of gross domestic product as the pandemic led to a deep economic contraction, the Bank of Spain said.

(Compiled by Veronica Snoj and Devika Syamnath; editing by Giles Elgood, Sriraj Kalluvila, Larry King)