MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th December, 2020) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 1.643 million, over 73.8 million cases of infection were detected, 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 Wednesday, the number of cases globally is 73,881,356, including 1,643,707 fatalities.
The United States still has the highest case count in the world, with 16,813,837, including 305,723 fatalities.
Russian biotechnology company Biocad, which produces coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V, told Sputnik on Wednesday it had started vaccine supplies for the mass immunization campaign in the country.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin ordered the coronavirus vaccines to be added to the national vaccination schedule, the government said.
The European Union will authorize its first vaccine against the coronavirus disease this week, planning to start immunization immediately, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
The European Parliament approved the REACT-EU proposal to provide additional 47.5 billion Euros ($57.9 billion) to EU member states to help them cope with the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
The US government has allocated 2 million doses of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine to jurisdictions in the United States and almost 6 million doses of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine in case it receives the necessary authorization, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said.
US President-elect Joe Biden said that his team was working on a plan to get publically vaccinated against the novel coronavirus so that the American people could witness it.
President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Ambassador Munir Akram expects that the incoming US administration of president-elect Joe Biden would contribute toward the equitable global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced that his country would receive more than one million doses of the Pfizer/Biontech vaccine against coronavirus by December 30.
French company Valneva announced that it was starting clinical trials of its coronavirus vaccine candidate in the United Kingdom.
Saudi Arabia on Wednesday received the first shipment of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine approved by the country's food and Drug Authority last week, Health Minister Tawfiq Al-Rabiah said.
The Omani Health Ministry has issued a license to import the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to start mass vaccination in the country.
The Costa Rican Health Ministry authorized the use of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, with deliveries and mass vaccination scheduled for the first quarter of the next year, according to the Costa Rica Hoy portal.
Panama's government has approved the emergency use of the vaccine produced by US company Pfizer and German company BioNTech, the delivery of the first batch is expected in the first quarter of 2021, the country's health ministry said.
Japanese pharmaceutical company Shionogi & Co announced the launch of clinical trials of its prophylactic vaccine candidate against COVID-19.
King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa said that the country would soon begin a nationwide campaign for providing a free COVID-19 vaccine for all citizens and residents, noting that vaccination will be voluntary.
Russia has registered 26,509 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, down from 26,689 the day before, bringing the total to 2,734,454, the federal response center said.
French authorities will take tough measures against organizers and participants of clandestine parties and celebrations amid the night curfew recently imposed to prevent the third coronavirus outbreak, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has warned.
France expects to allow employees to go back to their workplaces one day per week starting January 7 under the coronavirus lockdown relief strategy, Labor Minister Elisabeth Borne said.
Authorities in Belgium's Brussels-Capital Region have prolonged the coronavirus-related curfew to cover the festive holidays period, including Christmas and New Year's Eve, Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region Rudi said.
The budget of the Russian capital is expected to have lost more than 600 billion rubles ($8.2 billion) this year to curbing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and reduced contribution, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
There are currently about six million migrants in Russia, down from the annual average of 9-11 million, the Russian Interior Ministry told Sputnik.
Retail sales, the cornerstone of the consumer-driven US economy, fell 1.1 percent in November amid new restrictive measures introduced to deal with an increase of novel coronavirus cases, Commerce Department data revealed.
Russian private medical company Invitro says a quarter of its COVID-19 antibody tests in Russia has come back positive, and in the regions of Siberia and Ural the average daily number has been surpassing 50 percent since mid-November.
