FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

A real-world study found the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine highly effective at preventing COVID-19, in a potentially landmark moment for countries desperate to end lockdowns and reopen economies. 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 * New variants of COVID-19 risk a third wave in Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

A real-world study found the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine highly effective at preventing COVID-19, in a potentially landmark moment for countries desperate to end lockdowns and reopen economies.

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 * New variants of COVID-19 risk a third wave in Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Germany has administered only 15% of the AstraZeneca vaccines it has available.

* The Czech Republic must tighten measures to combat the pandemic and prevent a "catastrophe" in hospitals in the coming weeks, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said. * Sweden stepped up pandemic restrictions to avoid a third wave, while France's government ordered a weekend lockdown in the Dunkirk area to arrest an "alarming" rise in cases.

* Italy's government will extend restrictions already in place until after Easter, while Switzerland announced the first phase in a cautious easing from restrictions. * Britain said it was confident in manufacturers' timely supply of vaccines to keep fuelling one of the world's fastest rollouts despite a slowdown this week.

* European Union leaders will agree to work on certificates of vaccination for EU citizens who have had an anti-COVID shot. * Greece will not be able to lift lockdown restrictions in the wider Athens area next Monday as planned.

ASIA-PACIFIC * India announced an expansion of its vaccination programme but warned that breaches of coronavirus protocols could worsen an infection surge in many states.

* Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Japan would start vaccinating the elderly from April 12. AMERICAS

* The United States expects to roll out three to four million doses of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine next week, pending authorization from the FDA, White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said. * The Biden administration will deliver more than 25 million masks to community health centers, food pantries and soup kitchens this spring, the White House said.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA * Hospitals should prepare for a possible second wave and take steps to prevent the disease spreading, health authorities in the government-controlled part of Yemen said.

* South Africa could spend up to 19.3 billion rand over the next three years to vaccinate most of its population, the Treasury said. MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Moderna is working with U.S. government scientists to study an experimental booster shot that targets a concerning new variant of the coronavirus. * Antibodies to two coronaviruses that cause common colds might help the body fend off severe illness from the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, a small preliminary study in Germany suggests.

* Europe's drug regulator is evaluating South Korean drugmaker Celltrion's COVID-19 antibody treatment. ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Asian stocks jumped after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reaffirmed interest rates would stay low for a long time, calming market fears that higher inflation might prompt the central bank to tighten the monetary spigot. * The bull-run in global stocks fuelled by cheap cash and reflation hopes will continue for at least another six months but a rise in bond yields as inflation expectations grow could throw a spanner in the works, Reuters polls found.

(Compiled by Devika Syamnath; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)