MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th February, 2021) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 2.405 million, over 109 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 Monday, the number of cases globally is 109,058,261, including 2,405,339 fatalities.
The United States still has the highest case count in the world, with 27,667,306, including 485,943 fatalities.
Mutations of the British, South African and Brazilian strains of the coronavirus do not affect the efficacy of Russian EpiVacCorona, since other parts of the virus have been selected for the vaccine, Russian consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor told Sputnik.
Kazakhstan has registered the Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 that is produced at the Karaganda Pharmaceutical Complex, the enterprise announced.
Russia's Sputnik V is likely to be the first vaccine to be administered en masse in Armenia, Gayane Sahakian, the deputy head of the Armenian National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said.
Indian watchdog may approve Russia's coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V in the next few weeks, after which its production in India may be set up, Indian Ambassador in Moscow Venkatesh Varma told Sputnik.
Russian scientists have registered the first test system in the world for the British variant of the coronavirus (N501Y), Russian consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor announced.
European Commissioner for internal market Thierry Breton expects Europe to outrun other regions of the world within a year and a half in the race to boost vaccine production capacity.
Poland has ordered 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccines from different manufacturers, Michal Dworczyk, the Polish government's vaccination commissioner, told the RMF FM radio broadcaster.
India will start vaccinating nationals over 50 years old in March, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said. India is developing about 20 more vaccines against the coronavirus and plans to roll them out in the coming months, Vardhan also said.
Over 23,000 Indian health workers have received the second shot of a vaccine against COVID-19 and over 8.2 million citizens have received the first dose, the country's health ministry said.
Pakistan will receive 17 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus via the World Health Organization-led COVAX international distribution initiative, UK authorities said.
First 142,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by the US' Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech pharmaceutical companies has arrived in Australia, Health Minister Greg Hunt said.
First 60,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine arrived in New Zealand on Monday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.
South Korea postpones the immunization of people over 65 years old with the coronavirus vaccine developed by the UK-Swedish AstraZeneca company until the latter provides additional data on the vaccine's effect on senior citizens and local experts verify its efficacy for the group, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
South Korea is not ruling out acquiring the Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V and considers it a backup candidate should it face the spread of new virus variants or supply disruptions, KDCA commissioner said.
Peruvian Foreign Minister Elizabeth Astete has submitted her resignation to President Francisco Sagasti after acknowledging that she was vaccinated against COVID-19 before the start of the mass immunization program in the country.
Russia registered 14,207 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, sightly up from 14,185 the day before, taking the overall tally to 4,086,090, the coronavirus response center said.
The United Kingdom's compulsory hotel quarantine rules for citizens arriving from 33 high-risk countries go into force on Monday, but the UK public's opinion is torn despite the government touting the program.
Italian police have temporarily shut down nightlife facilities in the wake of excessive gatherings of young people for Saint Valentine's Day in Rome despite coronavirus-related restrictions, the ANSA news agency reported.
In-person learning has been resumed in Georgian schools nationwide starting from Monday, a spokesperson for the country's education ministry told Sputnik.
Israel's coronavirus cabinet has allowed up to 2,000 foreign air travelers to enter the country every day, the prime minister's office and the health ministry said.
Morocco keeps existing restrictions in effect for two more weeks amid the the spread of new mutated coronavirus variants, media reported.
Public schools opened in South Africa on Monday, commencing the 2021 academic year after a pandemic-induced three-week delay, as the nation continues to tackle the education system inequalities and lack of space for learners in some regions.
An additional 1.1 billion British Pounds ($1.5 billion) of COVID-19 funding has been allocated to the semiautonomous Scottish government to support people, business and public services affected by the pandemic in Scotland, the UK government announced.
Vaccine diplomacy can help South Korea reengage the North with the Russian help, Choi Moon-soon, the governor of the northeastern border province of Gangwon told Sputnik.
