MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th February, 2021) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 2.425 million, over 109.7 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 Wednesday, the number of cases globally is 109,749,689, including 2,425,227 fatalities.
The United States still has the highest case count in the world, with 27,786,719, including 489,221 fatalities.
Russia welcomes the United States' readiness to jointly counter the coronavirus pandemic and is not ruling out the possibility to submit an application to register Russian vaccines in the country, deputy foreign minister Sergey Ryabkov said in an interview with Sputnik.
Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V had paperwork submitted for "scientific advice" in the bloc, but not "conditional marketing authorization" yet, European Commissioner for Health and food Safety Stella Kyriakides said.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has already appointed a rapporteur for a rolling review of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, the developers expect it to begin soon, according to the vaccine's Twitter account. Sputnik V developers see the EU as a partner and would like to work together to protect Europeans and produce the vaccine in the EU.
India expects that Russia's Sputnik V will get emergency use authorization as soon as possible, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said.
The Gabonese Health Ministry has registered Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V under a fast-track procedure, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said.
Uzbekistan has certified Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine for nationwide use, seeking to procure 1 million doses, the country's COVID-19 task force said.
The first shipment of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine containing 2,000 doses has arrived in the Gaza Strip, the Russian diplomatic mission to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) told Sputnik.
Iran hopes to start producing the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine together with Russia in less than two months, Sima Sadat Lari, the spokeswoman for the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical education, told Sputnik.
Pfizer and BioNTech pledged to deliver extra 200 million doses of their coronavirus vaccine to the European Union in 2021.
European Union received a total of 33 million shots of vaccines against the coronavirus, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
The production capacity of pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca in Belgium is up roughly 50 percent, inspiring optimism regarding its ability to produce the necessary volume of the coronavirus vaccine, European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton said.
Residents of Finland will be able to receive a certificate of vaccination against coronavirus by the end of April, the country's government said.
US President Joe Biden claimed that the country had had no coronavirus vaccine before he moved into the White House in January. However, the US vaccination campaign actually kicked off in December under the Donald Trump administration.
White House health officials admitted that inclement weather across the United States is causing delays in the coronavirus vaccination campaign and called for extra steps later to make up for the time lost.
The US state of California opened its first two community centers under a new federal program targeting people in underserved and historically marginalized communities, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said.
Prospects for vaccinating every teacher for the novel coronavirus before public schools reopen are unrealistic due to a limited supply of vaccines, National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci said.
Nationwide vaccination against coronavirus infection has begun in Japan, according to the country's health ministry.
The Bahraini authorities will start issuing electronic passports to people who underwent COVID-19 vaccination, Al Arabiya broadcaster reported.
India is ready to provide 200,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine to all United Nations peacekeeping personnel, Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told a UN Security Council meeting.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is calling for a global ceasefire while coronavirus vaccines are delivered and administered, UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said.
French company BioSerenity announced that it had developed a face mask capable of neutralizing the coronavirus, media reported.
A proposed clinical trial that will see UK volunteers deliberately exposed to COVID-19 as a means to develop new vaccines and therapeutics against the disease has gained ethical approval, the government said.
The number of new global cases of the novel coronavirus disease is decreasing, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement.
Russia registered 12,828 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, down from 13,233 the day before, taking the overall tally to 4,112,151, the coronavirus response center said. This is the lowest single-day increase since October 9.
The United States is seeing a steady decline in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations with a death rate almost steady and new variants of the virus that are jeopardizing the progress, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said.
The new Italian government will inform citizens well in advance about any changes in the anti-coronavirus restrictions, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said.
Measures adopted by Switzerland's Geneva administration to tackle the coronavirus pandemic are likely to remain in force beyond this month, with the possible easing of restrictions in the fields of sports and culture, the canton's Health Minister Mauro Poggia said in an interview to Sputnik.
Russia has sent 20 medical missions to more than a dozen countries as part of its efforts to assist in the fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said.
The United States aims to advance the creation of a much needed financing mechanism for health security to make the world better prepared during outbreaks in the future than it was for the current coronavirus pandemic, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a UN Security Council meeting.
The Biden administration will provide $200 million for a rapid expansion of genomic mapping of positive COVID-19 test samples to detect and track variants of the deadly coronavirus, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said.
The European Commission will launch a new public/private corporation to research and combat new COVID-19 variants, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Wednesday, pointing to a surge in the proportion of coronavirus cases caused by the new strains.
The European Union will set aside 75 million Euros ($90 million) to develop PCR tests for the coronavirus that can detect different strains, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides said.
US airline passenger traffic in December fell 62 percent below pre-coronavirus pandemic levels in a year earlier, the Transportation Department reported.
Japan's southern prefecture of Shimane is considering canceling Olympic Torch Relay events on its soil until adequate safeguards can be put in place to contain the spread of the coronavirus, governor Tatsuya Maruyama said.
