MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th February, 2021) The death toll from the coronavirus infection across the world topped 2.3 million as of Saturday, while over 105.5 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.
The United States still has the highest case count in the world � 26,817,228 infections, including 459,634 fatalities.
The Brazilian government intends to purchase 10 million doses of Russia's coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V, executive secretary of the Latin American country's Ministry of Health Elcio Franco has said. According to the ministry, the country will receive 400,000 doses in a week after the signing of the agreement with the Russian manufacturer. Another 2 million doses will be delivered in a month and 7.6 more million doses within the next two months.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has discussed with Russian Ambassador to the Latin American country Sergey Melik-Bagdasarov the deliveries of the Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus during a meeting. Under the relevant agreement, Venezuela will purchase Sputnik V to vaccinate 10 million people. The vaccine has already been authorized for emergency use in the country.
India will begin vaccinating senior citizens against the coronavirus in March, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said in parliament.
Meanwhile, a massive campaign to vaccinate over 93,000 police officers and firefighters kicked off on Saturday in the southcentral Indian state of Telangana, a Sputnik correspondent said.
China's State food and Drug Administration has approved the coronavirus vaccine developed by Beijing Kexing Zhongwei Biotechnology (part of Sinovac) for all groups of people, the agency announced on Saturday. Previously it was allowed only for emergency vaccination of key groups, including doctors, transport workers, and law enforcement officers.
Iran will kick-start the vaccine rollout by giving Russia's Sputnik V shots to medical workers this week, President Hassan Rouhani announced on Saturday. Apart from medical workers, senior citizens and people with chronic health conditions will be first in line to receive the vaccine. The president expressed hope that the campaign would be in full swing by the end of March.
The authorities of Myanmar have approved Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 for emergency use, a military and diplomatic source told Sputnik. The source added that in January, the first batch of the drug in the amount of 200 doses was delivered to Myanmar for registration.
Russia can vaccinate all its citizens willing to get a coronavirus shot by June, Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), said on Saturday. Dmitriev added that Russia was currently delivering very small volumes of its Sputnik V vaccine doses to foreign markets, noting that the priority is given to Russian citizens.
Russian epidemiologists at the Gamaleya Institute, the maker of the world's first COVID-19 shot, are working on a technology that will allow to swiftly tweak and rollout vaccines against mutant strains, its director, Alexander Gintsburg, said on Saturday.
Gintsburg also said that Russia's coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V showed 100 percent efficacy in preventing severe and moderate cases of the infection. If vaccinees contract the infection, they will develop mild symptoms in a worst-case scenario, he added.
Experts of the Czech Health Ministry are studying the legal aspects of a possible direct purchase of Russia's coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V, bypassing the EU regulatory authorities, Seznam reported on Saturday, citing its sources.
A staffer of the Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) has received the equivalent of five doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine due to a human error but suffered no side effects, media reported on Saturday. The incident occurred on January 14.
Belgium has detected 16 percent of UK coronavirus variant cases among the total number of COVID-19 infections over the last week, according to media reports, citing Steven Van Gucht, the head of viral diseases department at the national health institute Sciensano. The virologist added that the South-African coronavirus strain had also been circulating in the country and observed by health officials.
The number of people, who have died of COVID-19 in Brazil, has topped 230,000 after increasing by 1,239 within the past 24 hours, the national Health Ministry has said.
The number of COVID-19 cases in the Netherlands has surpassed 1 million, the NL Times newspaper reported on Saturday, citing the country's health authorities. The exact toll is 1,001,826.
The Tokyo Olympics, initially scheduled for 2020, will either go ahead or be scrapped entirely if the coronavirus is still a threat in the summer, Dick Pound, the longest-serving member of the International Olympic Committee, told the Jiji Press, stressing that cancellation was the worst option.
Pound said the IOC had the power to cancel the games and would do it if it had scientific evidence that it was too dangerous to proceed. The final decision will be made together with the Japanese authorities.
The number of crimes against politicians has significantly increased in Germany in 2020 in light of the coronavirus pandemic, the Die Welt newspaper reported, citing data provided by the country's interior ministry in response to a respective request by Ulla Jelpke, a member of parliament from the Left Party.
According to the interior ministry, measures introduced by the authorities to combat the coronavirus pandemic, which are highly unpopular with the citizens, led to anti-government sentiments among them. The authorities linked 14 percent of crimes against politicians in 2020 � or 374 cases � to the pandemic and the government's handling of it.
