India has detected a new "double mutant variant" of the novel coronavirus yesterday, as the pandemic has taken a turn for the worse in many nations with known infections worldwide crossing 124 million and death toll passing  2.7 million.

The new variant is an addition to the several "variants of concern" (VOC) that have already been found in at least 18 states in India, the health ministry said.

Genome sequencing and analysis of 206 samples from Maharashtra state found mutations in the new variant of the virus that do not match previously catalogued VOC.

"Though VOCs and a new double mutant variant have been found in India, these have not been detected in numbers sufficient to either establish a direct relationship or explain the rapid increase in cases in some states," the ministry said in a statement.

The new variant was also detected in nine samples in the capital New Delhi, the director of the National Centre for Disease Control, Sujeet Kumar Singh, told a news conference.

India has already reported several cases of a variant first detected in Britain, as well as ones first found in South Africa and Brazil.

Yesterday, the country recorded 47,262 new infections over the previous 24-hour period, the highest since early November, taking its overall tally to 11.7 million. Only the United States and Brazil have higher caseloads.

The number of deaths from Covid-19 in India in the previous 24 hours rose to 275, the most this year, taking the total to 160,441, government data showed.

Several states announced a ban on large gatherings ahead of the Hindu festival of Holi this weekend.

The health ministry said states were "strongly advised" to restrict public observation of festivals.

"Any laxity at this point in ensuring strict adherence ... to contain the spread of Covid-19, may result in losing the impetus and benefits that our country has gained so far in managing the virus," the ministry said in a statement.

Alarmed by the surge, the federal government has announced it was expanding its nationwide inoculation campaign to include everyone above the age of 45 years, and appealed to people to get vaccinated, reports Reuters.

Total vaccinations in India, rank as world's third highest, behind the United States and China, but its ranking is lower on a per capita basis, the website Our World in Data showed.

As immunization programmes gather pace around the world, Hong Kong and Macau yesterday suspended the Pfizer-BioNTech jab over what authorities said were packaging problems.

The uncertainties are a blow to scientists' hopes for a quick rollout of what they say is the best hope of ending the pandemic.

Meanwhile, French infectiologist Odile Launay told RTL radio the Pfizer and the AstraZeneca Covid-19 shots have the same efficiency in severe cases of the disease.

The European Union yesterday tightened its vaccine export control mechanism to prevent what it sees as an unfair one-way flow of vaccines out of the bloc.

The measure could limit vaccine exports to countries like Britain which produce some of their own vaccines but do not in turn send doses to the EU.

'IT WAS LIKE A WAR'

Despite these issues, rich nations have accelerated their drives but fears are growing about supplies for the rest of the world.

"I am deeply concerned that many low-income countries have not yet received a single #COVID19 vaccine dose," United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tweeted yesterday.

"Vaccines must be a global public good. The world must unite to make this a reality."

Hard-hit Brazil's daily death toll crossed 3,000 for the first time, as the South American nation's healthcare infrastructure was pushed to the brink by an explosion of cases, reports AFP.

Supplies of medical oxygen for Covid-19 patients have fallen to "worrying" levels in six of Brazil's 27 states, officials said Tuesday.

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday admitted a failed plan for a strict Easter virus shutdown was "my mistake" in a rare climbdown amid massive criticism of the government's pandemic response.

Belgium announced a renewed partial lockdown of four weeks, with schools closed and non-essential stores open to customers by appointment only.

A Beijing suburb is giving out discount coupons for supermarkets to residents who have received a Covid-19 jab, as China tries to boost the uptake of its vaccines.