FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

A laboratory study suggests that the South African variant of the coronavirus may reduce antibody protection from the Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE vaccine by two-thirds, and it is not clear if the shot will be effective against the mutation, the companies said on Wednesday.

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 * England's third national lockdown is helping to reduce infections, a study found, but the prevalence of cases remains high as PM Boris Johnson eyes a cautious route to re-opening the economy.

* Hungary has raised the prospect that citizens who have already had the coronavirus or been vaccinated against it could receive waivers from certain restrictions. * Spain will make travellers from South Africa and Brazil go into quarantine for at least seven days following their arrival.

* Pfizer has yet to deliver about 10 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to the European Union that were due in December, leaving it about one-third short of the supplies it had expected by now. AMERICAS

* President Joe Biden's fellow Democrats' drive to hustle his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package through the U.S. Congress could leave some priorities of the party's progressive wing, including a $15-per-hour minimum wage, in the dust. * Johnson & Johnson has only a few million doses of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine in its inventory even as likely U.S. regulatory authorization is only a few weeks away, White House officials said.

* Venezuela will begin vaccinating medical personnel on Thursday. ASIA-PACIFIC

* Malaysia reported a new daily high of 25 coronavirus deaths, taking the total number of fatalities to 1,030. * South Korea's President Moon Jae-in visited a factory that can make 10 million syringes a month and plans to double capacity to prevent shortages as the nation rolls out its vaccination campaign next week.

* Nepal approved the emergency use of a vaccine developed by an affiliate of China's Sinopharm. * India will make COVID-19 molecular tests mandatory for people arriving directly or indirectly from the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA * Africa's total reported death toll from COVID-19 was approaching 100,000 on Thursday, a fraction of those reported on other continents but rising fast as a second wave of infections overwhelms hospitals.

* Nigeria approved the use of Astrazeneca/Oxford University vaccine, its drug regulator said, while Namibia will roll out AstraZeneca's vaccine despite efficacy concerns in neighbouring South Africa. * Turkey will begin a gradual return to normal life on a province-by-province basis from March, while nationwide weekend lockdowns would be lifted in some provinces based on infection rates.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS * Russia plans to register CoviVac, its third COVID-19 vaccine, on Feb. 20, the Interfax news agency reported, citing a government website.

* The vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech is effective against the UK and South African variants, the vaccine's Brazilian partner said. * Researchers urged governments to delay administering the second dose of Pfizer vaccine, which they said had an efficacy of 92.6% after the first dose.

ECONOMIC IMPACT * World stocks were battling to avoid a second day of declines on Thursday as hints of rising inflation led by a one-year high in oil prices and the strongest copper prices in nearly a decade kept traders in check after a boisterous run-up.

* U.S. retail sales rebounded sharply in January after households received additional pandemic relief money from the government. * Russian Central Bank Governor on Thursday said the peak of loan restructuring had passed and that the banking sector was ready to live without COVID-19 support from the regulator.

(Compiled by Anita Kobylinska and Devika Syamnath; editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Gareth Jones)