MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2021) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 2.1 million, over 98.4 million cases of infection were detected, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University (JHU), which tracks and compiles data from Federal and local authorities, media and other sources.
The United States still has the highest case count in the world, with over 24.8 million COVID-19 cases, including more than 415,000 fatalities.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced that the country will launch its COVID-19 vaccination campaign in the near future and said that the use of foreign-made vaccines will be necessary, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) inked an agreement with a leading Turkish pharmaceuticals developer to produce Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in Turkey and started the transfer of manufacturing techniques, the RDIF told Sputnik.
A total of one million French nationals have received a vaccine against COVID-19, French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced.
France's national health agency HAS recommended administering the second shot of an anti-coronavirus vaccine six weeks after the first one, up from three weeks for Pfizer and four for Moderna.
The British Medical Association asked the UK Health authorities to shorten the current 12-week gap between the first and second doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19, out of concern about the antidote's level of protection, the chair of the doctors' union, Chaand Nagpaul, confirmed.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he received assurances from Pfizer's CEO Albert Bourla that the company would deliver 4 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine by the end of March.
A plane from India with 2 million vaccines against the coronavirus developed by the AstraZeneca company arrived in Brazil, media reported.
Mali is going to purchase 8.4 million doses of vaccine against the coronavirus, media reported.
Uruguay reached an agreement with the companies of Pfizer and Sinovac on deliveries of the vaccines against the coronavirus, President Luis Lacalle Pou said.
Pfizer is seeking to capitalize on the fact that the vials of their coronavirus vaccines contain enough for a sixth dose, one more than the originally intended five, by decreasing shipments and recalculating its volumes, the New York Times reported.
Russian medical facilities will receive more than 17 million coronavirus vaccine doses in the first quarter of the year, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced Saturday that he will leave no stone unturned in forcing coronavirus vaccine producers Pfizer and AstraZeneca to abide by their contractual obligations.
The United States registered nearly 187,000 new coronavirus cases and over 3,600 coronavirus-related fatalities within the past 24 hours, according to the JHU.
India confirmed 14,256 new cases of the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, with the total number of those infected having reached 10,639,684, the country's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.
Russia registered 20,921 COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, down from 21,513 the day before, taking the tally to 3,698,273, the coronavirus response center said.
Tunisia decided to reintroduce a curfew to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic until February 14, local media reported.
Austria banned incoming flights from Brazil, South Africa and the United Kingdom until February 8 to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the Foreign Ministry announced.
Hong Kong authorities issued a two-day lockdown on some 10,000 residents of the densely populated Yau Tsim Mong district, seeking to stem a spike in COVID-19 transmissions, media reported.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokeswoman, Allegra Stratton, has self-quarantined after possibly coming in contact with a coronavirus patient, media reported.
Nearly 200 members of the National Guard deployed to Washington, DC for the inauguration of President Joe Biden have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the Wall Street Journal reported.
