Countries around the world increased their coronavirus vaccine campaigns on Monday, with Russia offering shots to all citizens, while an independent probe found fault with the early response to the pandemic.
The World Health Organisation and Beijing could have acted faster when Covid-19 first appeared in China a year ago, the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response concluded.
Its report said that countries to which the virus was likely to spread should have put containment measures in place immediately.
With the global death toll past two million, many governments are hoping mass vaccination will curb the pandemic, while tightening lockdown measures at the same time.
Nationwide vaccination programmes, from Brazil to Azerbaijan, were under way on Monday, while Britain and France were widening inoculation eligibility to all elderly people.
In Russia, the government invited all citizens to sign up for the homegrown Sputnik V shot.
But while it was widely available in Moscow, many regions reported receiving between 5,000 and 15,000 doses in the country of 146 million.
India's campaign was also facing teething problems as it emerged that almost a third of the 300,000 people invited for a shot on the opening day did not turn up.
"These are initial days and we understand people are waiting to see how the procedure pans out," said Suneela Garg, a member of the coronavirus task force for New Delhi.
"These numbers will go up as confidence is strengthened. And for that, we have to tackle misinformation."
Authorities worldwide have been launching public information campaigns to address concerns over vaccine safety, against powerful online anti-vaccination movements.
After 33 elderly people who had received a first dose died in Norway, authorities there stressed there was no proven link to the injections.
But they recommended that doctors consider patients' frailty before immunising them.
For Syrian refugee Fatima Ali, receiving her vaccination was cause for tears of joy.
"It's a gift from God," said Ms Ali, 70, as she was vaccinated outside a clinic in Mafraq, Jordan.
WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned rich countries against hoarding doses while the poorest suffer, condemning vaccine makers for chasing regulatory approval in wealthy nations rather than seeking global approval.
"I need to be blunt. The world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure," Dr Tedros said.
"And the price of this failure will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the world's poorest countries."
Israel, praised for one of the world's fastest introductions, has secured a significant stock of vaccines partly by pledging to quickly share data on its effects with Pfizer, according to an agreement with the drug company seen by AFP.
Despite the mass immunisation campaigns now under way, rapidly increasing infection rates have left governments to rely on restrictions to people's daily lives.
Nearly three million people in China's north-eastern Jilin province were put under lockdown on Monday after a surge in cases, while Malawi introduced an overnight curfew.
Globally, travel remains at a trickle of its usual pace and there were signs on Monday of the price being paid by companies and countries that rely on tourism.
Disneyland Paris, Europe's biggest tourist attraction, announced it was delaying its reopening until April, while train operator Eurostar made a desperate plea for British state support.
"Without additional funding from government there is a real risk to the survival of Eurostar," the cross-Channel service said.
Soaring public debt in Greece, Spain and Italy was on the agenda at eurozone finance ministers' talks on Monday, with the high reliance of these economies on tourism compounding the problem.
Smaller business owners are also fed up after months of restrictions that have them struggling for survival.
In Poland, there had been plans for a major campaign of civil disobedience in ski resorts, but while some restaurants reopened in defiance of the rules, most businesses ultimately decided to stay shut.
In Japan, meanwhile, there are growing doubts on whether the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics can go ahead in July.
The international extravaganza is hugely dependent on travel, but Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he was committed to holding the Games as "proof of mankind's victory over the virus".
In just one example of the remaining hurdles facing travellers, Britain imposed 10 days of isolation on all arrivals, who will have to provide a negative Covid test taken at most 72 hours before departure.
The UK is battling a highly infectious strain of the coronavirus that emerged late last year, along with others first detected in South Africa and Brazil.
Despite the doom and gloom, in Milan fashionistas were dreaming of life beyond Covid, with a digital edition of Men's Fashion Week offering up colourful collections for Winter 2021.
Many labels looked to the new norms of working from home for inspiration, with Fendi and Zegna displaying coats resembling dressing gowns.
