French police officers check passing vehicles at Avenue des Champs-Elysees in Paris on Sunday. The curfew in France,  intended to help stem the spread of coronavirus, was brought forward two hours to 6 pm and will run until 6 am. Photo: Xinhua

The European Union (EU) announced progress in its battle to get the vaccine doses promised it by drugs manufacturers, as protestors in several countries staged fresh demonstrations against their governments' action - or inaction - against coronavirus.

EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced on Sunday that AstraZeneca would increase its coronavirus vaccine deliveries to the EU by 30 percent.

The British-Swedish company had announced last week that it could deliver only a quarter of the doses originally promised to the bloc for the first quarter of 2021 because of problems at one of its European factories.

But AstraZeneca, whose vaccine was authorized for use in the EU on Friday, has now agreed to send 9 million additional doses and "will start deliveries one week earlier than scheduled," Von der Leyen said in a tweet.

But she also acknowledged that February and March would remain "a difficult phase" for vaccine supply.

And Captain Tom Moore, 100, who won British hearts with a COVID-19 fund raising drive, was hospitalized on Sunday with the virus, his family said.

Several countries further tightened restrictions to try to stem the spread of coronavirus.

France's borders have closed to non-European countries, but President Emmanuel Macron chose to step back from imposing a third nationwide lockdown - against the advice of senior scientific advisers. 

And a two-week ban on foreign travel took effect in Portugal on Sunday as the country grapples with the worst surge in COVID-19 cases anywhere in the world.

The authorities in Australia meanwhile did not hesitate to impose a snap five-day lockdown in Perth after the detection of a single case in the city of roughly 2 million people.

But protests against governments' handling of the crisis have been multiplying.

In Belgium, police detained more than 200 people taking part in two banned protests against anti-virus measures.

In the Netherlands, which in recent days has seen violent protests against anti-lockdown protesters, Amsterdam police cleared out the city's famous museum square after some 600 people gathered there for an illegal protest.

AFP