MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd February, 2021) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 2.246 million, over 103.6 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 20:20 GMT Tuesday, the number of cases globally is 103,676,001, including 2,246,442 fatalities.
The United States still has the highest case count in the world, with 26,377,125, including 445,030 fatalities.
Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V is 91.6 percent efficient against symptomatic COVID-19, according to an interim analysis of the results of the phase 3 trials published in medical journal The Lancet. Findings on a single-dose regimen of Sputnik V provide hints toward the early onset of a partially protective effect 16-18 days after the immunization, while further investigation is necessary, The Lancet said. Four deaths were reported in the phase 3 trials of Sputnik V, and none of them are considered to be related to the vaccine, the journal said.
Those who are doubtful of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine now have no more reasoning for criticism as the phase 3 trials have proved the vaccine's efficacy, as evidenced by a publication in The Lancet, Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) CEO Kirill Dmitriev said.
The Philippines and India are expected to approve Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in the coming weeks, Dmitriev also said. India will become one of the key production centers for Sputnik V and may even end up producing as many doses as Russia, he said.
Developers of Sputnik V want to start partnership with producers of vaccines with efficacy below 90 percent, providing them with a component of the vaccine, Dmitriev said.
Mexico has signed an agreement with Russia for a phased delivery of 24 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine against the novel coronavirus, Deputy Health Secretary Hugo Lopez-Gatell Ramirez said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the data on the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V, which was published in The Lancet magazine, good, adding that Berlin and Brussels will welcome any vaccines in the EU after registration by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Sweden and Russia maintain productive dialogue on coronavirus vaccines both at the level of health ministries and manufacturers, Foreign Minister Ann Linde said.
The Serbian government hopes to set up joint production of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine against the novel coronavirus, the health ministry's State Secretary Mirsad Djerlek told Sputnik.
Clinical trials of the coronavirus vaccine of the Russian Federal Medical-Biological Agency may begin in July, the deputy chief of the agency, Tatiana Yakovleva, said.
The US federal government will provide one million doses of the coronavirus vaccine to several thousand pharmacies across the United States next week, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters.
Plans by President Joe Biden to make COVID-19 shots available to illegal aliens represents a rebuke for US citizens and legal residents who will be forced to wait longer for vaccinations, House Republican Whip Steve Scalise said.
Moderna Inc. is proposing to fill up vials with coronavirus vaccines with additional doses, the company's president, Stephen Hoge, said.
The French National Authority for Health (HAS) approved the use of the vaccine against the coronavirus developed by the UK-Swedish AstraZeneca pharmaceutical company, the BFMTV broadcaster reported. French vaccination coordinator Alain Fischeronsaid that he expected the AstraZeneca vaccine to be used in the national immunization campaign starting mid-February.
German company BioNTech plans to produce 2 billion doses of coronavirus vaccine in 2021 due to increased global demand.
Health professionals in Italy have now administered more than two million doses of vaccines against the coronavirus disease, Domenico Arcuri, the government's COVID-19 special commissioner, said, as cited by domestic media outlets.
The AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine against COVID-19 has become the fourth one approved by the UAE's Dubai health authorities for use and the first batch of the vaccine already arrived from India at the Dubai airport, the emirate's government said.
The European Union's new COVID-19 vaccine transparency mechanism, which requires manufacturers to receive authorization for exporting vaccines produced in the bloc, may delay deliveries to Japan, Taro Kono, the cabinet minister in charge of Japan's vaccination efforts, said.
Kyrgyzstan will receive 504,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus next month, acting Health Minister Alymkadyr Beishenaliev said.
Not administering the second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against the coronavirus on time may result in some elderly people contracting the South African mutated variant, according to lab test results obtained by the Cambridge University researchers.
Two-time Guinness World Record titleholder and war veteran Sir Thomas Moore, fondly known as Captain Tom, who has raised almost $45 million for the United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS) to fight the pandemic, has died after testing positive for COVID-19, his family confirmed.
Russia's single-day increase in COVID-19 cases fell below 17,000 for the first time since October 28, as 16,643 new cases were confirmed in the past 24 hours (down from 17,648 the day before), the response center said.
The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Slovakia has reached 3,743, the highest number recorded since the beginning of the pandemic, the country's health ministry said.
The Russian government has not yet made a decision on whether to require a coronavirus vaccination certificate from those applying for entry visas or not, Ivan Volynkin, the head of the foreign ministry's consular department, said in an interview with Sputnik.
Spain imposes restrictions on flights from Brazil and South Africa over the recently discovered strains of the novel coronavirus, Maria Jesus Montero, the finance minister and government spokesperson, said.
Morocco is extending restrictions in connection with COVID-19 by two weeks, including curfew, according to a government statement obtained by Sputnik.
Saudi Arabian Health Minister Tawfig Al Rabiah warns that another wave of the coronavirus infection is possible in the country and people need to adhere to the current preventive measures.
Saudi Arabia will temporarily suspend all arrivals of foreigners, including diplomats and medical workers, from 20 countries beginning on Wednesday over coronavirus-related precautions, state media reported, citing the Ministry of the Interior.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has extended the state of emergency over the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) for a month, WAFA reported.
The Japanese government extended the state of emergency in Tokyo and nine other prefectures through March 7 despite declining coronavirus infection rates, media reported.
The GDP of the European Union contracted by 4.8 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to the first estimate of EU statistical agency Eurostat.
An international team of experts of the World Health Organization (WHO) will visit the Wuhan Institute of Virology on Wednesday, the CGTN broadcaster reported.
