The total doses administered now stand at 23.7 million

The UAE has administered 22,218 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine in the past 24 hours.

The country's Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) said the total doses administered now stand at 23.7 million.

This takes the rate of doses to 239.84 doses per 100 people.

Schools in Nepal on Sunday demanded the government open up physical classes that were shut down for weeks as the number of Covid-19 cases began to decline.

Teachers say online education was limited to only a small part of the population living in the urban parts of the Himalayan country while a majority of students were being deprived of their chance to learn.

The number of coronavirus cases fuelled by the Omicron variant has peaked in the past weeks but was declining in the last few days.

“We are ready to open the schools, students are eager to get back, guardians are willing to send their children and the number of virus cases are on the decline so there is no reason for the government to continue the ban on schools,” said Tika Ram Puri, president of the Private and Boarding Schools Organisation Nepal.

Meanwhile, protesters opposed to vaccine mandates and Covid-19 restrictions held rallies in cities across Canada on Saturday in a show of solidarity with a week-long demonstration in the national capital.

Officials in Ottawa and numerous provincial capitals worked to ensure that escalating protests against pandemic-related public health measures remained peaceful on Saturday.

By midday Saturday in Ottawa, thousands of demonstrators mingled near open fires on the snow-plastered lawn in front Parliament Hill. Participants roasted hotdogs and doled out baked goods under tarps, while two men on horseback traipsed through the town, one carrying a flag in support of former US president Donald Trump.

The “freedom truck convoy” has attracted support from Trump and other Republicans.