MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th December, 2020) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 1.589 million, almost 70 million cases of infection were detected, and over 45 million of those patients were cured, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University, which tracks and compiles data from Federal and local authorities, media and other sources.
As of 20:00 GMT Friday, the number of cases globally is 69,973,636, including 1,589,532 fatalities.
The United States still has the highest case count in the world, with 15,721,790, including 293,633 fatalities and 5,985,047 recoveries.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that some countries and major pharmaceutical companies are trying to prevent market entry of the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V through "unpleasant" methods, while politicization of the matter is inadmissible.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin pledged that the country would start COVID-19 vaccination in the end of the week and authorities would not miss the deadline.
Three thousand volunteers are being vaccinated with second Russian vaccine against the coronavirus EpiVaccCorona in Stage 3 clinical trials, Russian public health chief Anna Popova said.
Over 10,000 Russian servicemen have already been vaccinated against the coronavirus, with no refusals registered to receive the Sputnik V vaccine, the Defense Ministry's spokesman, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.
Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V for vaccination of medical workers and teachers in accordance with the instructions of the Russian president has been delivered to all regions of the country, except for the Magadan Region and the Chukotka Autonomous Area, the country's industry and trade minister, Denis Manturov, told reporters.
Russia's Vector Center plans to introduce 10,000 doses of its vaccine EpiVacCorona into civil circulation every remaining week in December, and found an industrial partner to scale up production, the center's director, Rinat Maksyutov, said.
UK-Swedish AstraZeneca company will begin clinical trials of its coronavirus vaccine in combination with a component of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine before the end of the year, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said.
The head of Russia's Gamaleya research institute that developed the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine expressed the belief on Friday that AstraZeneca's vaccine's efficacy might increase if combined with a component of Sputnik V.
AstraZeneca confirmed it had accepted cooperation offer from developers of Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V to study COVID-19 vaccine combinations.
The developers of Russian vaccine against coronavirus Sputnik V has expressed readiness to share its technology with France's Sanofi and the UK's GSK companies to help them with their vaccine development, the Russian vaccine's official Twitter account said.
Almost 1 billion doses of three coronavirus vaccines have been secured as part of the World Health Organization's (WHO) COVAX initiative, and Gavi vaccine alliance, which co-leads the initiative, is in talks with several other manufacturers, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
The WHO is encouraged by the growth in the number of vaccines against COVID-19 that have performed well in clinical trials, although the organization remains concerned by the limited number of doses currently available, Bruce Aylward, a senior WHO adviser, said.
The WHO expects that more countries will begin to roll out vaccines against COVID-19 after the United Kingdom began its mass vaccination program earlier this week, the WHO's Tedros said.
The US food and Drug Administration has informed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed that it was working on quickly issuing emergency use authorization for the coronavirus vaccine, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said.
The White House has told US Food and Drug (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn to provide emergency use authorization for the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine by the end of Friday or resign from his post, the Washington Post reported citing anonymous sources.
US Health Secretary Alex Azar said the federal authorities intended to authorize the coronavirus vaccine produced by Pfizer, and Americans may start getting vaccinated as early as next week.
The Trump administration will use whatever legal powers it has to boost production of COVID-19 vaccines and ensure Americans get them first, Health Secretary Alex Azar said.
The European Union expects to authorize the vaccine against the coronavirus from Pfizer for use within the bloc by the end of the year, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
AstraZeneca has withdrawn its application to carry out the clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine in the Philippines, Eric Domingo, the head of the Food and Drug Administration of the Southeast Asian nation, told the CNN Philippines broadcaster.
China's coronavirus vaccine designed by the national pharmaceutical group, Sinopharm, will be free of charge for Egyptian citizens by an order of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Information Minister Osama Heikal said.
Poland expects to vaccinate against coronavirus about 500,000 people with the vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech in January, the head of the Polish Prime Minister's Chancellery, Michal Dworczyk, told Polskie Radio.
The Australian government has agreed with the AstraZeneca and Navavax pharmaceutical companies on the additional supplies of 20 million and 11 million doses of the manufacturers' COVID-19 vaccines, respectively, the Australian Health Ministry said.
Saudi Arabia's Food and Drug Agency (SFDA) said that it had approved the registration of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the US' Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech pharmaceutical companies for use in the Arab country.
Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has tasked the health authorities with carrying out a free COVID-19 vaccination campaign for all of the kingdom's citizens and residents, the state-run BNA news agency reported.
Darknet vendors are selling products they claim to be vaccines against COVID-19 for up to $250, IT security company Check Point Software Technologies reported.
Russia has registered 28,585 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, up from 27,927 the day before, bringing the total to 2,597,711, the federal response center said.
Germany has confirmed 29,875 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours marking the largest daily increase since the start of the outbreak, with the total count reaching 1,272,078, the Robert Koch Institute said.
Canadian health officials project up to 134,931 additional novel coronavirus cases and more than 1,811 coronavirus-related deaths by Christmas, an updated epidemiology and modeling report revealed.
The Russian government has no plans to introduce a coronavirus lockdown, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov assured.
New York City will close indoor-dining beginning on Monday in an effort to clamp down on the spike in coronavirus hospitalizations that could overwhelm the health system, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.
Mexicо has suggested that the United States should extend the prohibition of border crossing between the two countries, introduced to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, for one month, until January 21, the Mexican Foreign Ministry said.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has banned Russian carrier Aeroflot Airlines from operating the Moscow-Shanghai flight for another month after 11 cases of COVID-19 were detected in passengers on flight SU208 earlier this month, CAAC said in a statement.
Thailand's government might grant visa exemptions for foreign tourists from 66 countries with an extension in the allowed period of stay from 30 to 45 days, taking into account the 14-day quarantine requirement the Bangkok Post newspaper reported, citing a governmental source.
Almost half of adults in the United Kingdom say their mental health has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, with the trend is especially pronounced among those with prior experience of depression and anxiety, the Office for National Statistics (ONS), a non-ministerial body that reports to the country's parliament, said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has been accused of colluding with high-ranking public health officials in Italy to remove a report criticizing the European country's pandemic preparedness, The Guardian newspaper reported, citing one of the authors of the report.
Switzerland's health minister urged Europeans not to go to the Alpine nation for ski trips this winter as the country struggles to contain the epidemic.
