MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th February, 2021) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 2.491 million, over 112.3 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 112,387,354, including 2,491,737 fatalities.
The United States still has the highest case count in the world, with 28,297,193, including 503,777 fatalities.
Egypt authorized two coronavirus vaccines, Russia's Sputnik V and another one developed by the UK-Swedish AstraZeneca company, for emergency use, the country's drug authority said.
Honduras has registered Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V under a fast-track procedure, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said.
Mexico on Wednesday started inoculating senior citizens using Russia's coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V, with a 72-year-old man being the first to receive the shot.
Jordan is considering acquiring the Russian-made COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, Russian ambassador in Amman Gleb Desyatnikov told Sputnik, adding that Moscow is ready to make logistic arrangements if Amman greenlights the vaccine's registration.
The Dutch Embassy in Moscow confirmed to Sputnik that it had received an invitation from the Russian Foreign Ministry to get inoculated with Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine but did not disclose the response of the embassy's staff.
France wants more COVID-19 vaccines to be available in Europe, a cabinet spokesman told reporters after he had been asked whether Paris could help Moscow bring the Sputnik V shot to the EU market.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper that she opposed the idea of prioritizing access to certain areas or services for citizens already vaccinated against the coronavirus.
The German Health Ministry declined to comment on reports about Berlin police officers refusing to be injected with the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine. Earlier, the Berliner Zeitung newspaper reported that Berlin police officers, who are listed among priority vaccination groups, are doubting the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine and voice concern over possible side effects.
The United Kingdom's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is not in favor of prioritizing the vaccination of key frontline workers, including teachers, against COVID-19 in the second phase of the country's mass immunization program, Anthony Harnden, the JCVI's vice-chair, said.
High-ranking officials of the Czech Republic spoke in favor of using only those coronavirus vaccines that are approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the presidential office said.
India will proceed to the second stage of coronavirus vaccination on March 1, people aged over 60 will be inoculated, sources told Sputnik.
Iraq expects to receive first shipments of coronavirus vaccines in about a week and is working to remove hurdles for an inoculation campaign, President Barham Salih said.
Canada is negotiating with the Serum Institute of India to obtain additional doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, Procurement Minister Anita Anand said.
Colombia has approved the AstraZeneca/Oxford coronavirus vaccine for emergency use, drug regulator Invima announced.
Bolivia has received 500,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by China's Sinopharm company, President Luis Arce said.
The number of people in Chile who have received a COVID-19 vaccine has exceeded 3 million, the country's health ministry said.
Data from more than 40,000 participants in a clinical trial of a single-dose coronavirus vaccine by Johnson & Johnson, which shows the vaccine achieves 85 percent effectiveness 28 days after an inoculation, was publicly released by the US food and Drug Administration (FDA) Wednesday ahead of a critical review by a advisory panel on Friday.
Ghana became the first country on Wednesday to receive a batch of free anti-coronavirus vaccine doses through the COVAX initiative, a shot-sharing scheme behind the inoculation drive in poorer countries. UK Foreign Minister Dominic Raab hailed as an "important milestone" the start of COVID-19 vaccine delivery to poor countries via the COVAX facility, a global initiative aimed at equitable access to immunization led by the Vaccine Alliance.
Ghana is planning to use trainees to assist with the coronavirus vaccination campaign as the country has just revived its first delivery of AstraZeneca vaccines through the World Health Organization-led COVAX international distribution initiative, WHO Ghana communications officer Joana Ansong told Sputnik.
The Group of 20 countries (G20) must avoid a dangerous divergence in their ranks and step up the coronavirus vaccine supply across the world to shield vulnerable economies from untold risks, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said.
The European Medicines Agency began a rolling review of data sent by South Korean drugmaker Celltrion on its experimental antibody treatment for the coronavirus.
The situation with the coronavirus pandemic in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries is stabilizing as the number of new cases is going down, Russia's public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said.
Russia's single-day increase in COVID-19 cases fell to the lowest level since October 8, as 11,749 new cases were confirmed (down from 11,823 the day before), the coronavirus response center said.
France will introduce a lockdown over the weekend in the northern coastal city of Dunkerque and the communes of Hauts-de-Flandre to head off a spike in COVID-19 cases, Health Minister Olivier Veran said.
A new variant of the coronavirus has been confirmed in two patients, a Helsinki lab said Wednesday, a week after the strain was first reported in Finland.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, who was appointed earlier this week, announced on Wednesday lifting all the coronavirus-related restrictions apart from the nationwide curfew that remains in place between 21:00 and 05:00 local time (17:00-01:00 GMT).
Tbilisi expanded the list of countries citizens of which could enter Georgia by air after presenting a negative PCR test for coronavirus, Russia is among the nations added on the list, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced.
The Dutch government extended the lockdown and curfew introduced as part of measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic until March 15 over the rise of the COVID-19 variant originating in the UK.
The Israeli government has approved the introduction of a night curfew starting from Thursday evening until Sunday morning due to the celebration of the national Jewish holiday of Purim.
The Israeli authorities intend to gradually lift all coronavirus-related restrictions and fully reopen the country by April, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Western countries persist in sanctions pressure despite the pandemic, making use of coronavirus woes to punish "unwelcome" governments, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
Losses by global airlines due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions continue to rise, with $95 billion "cash burn" expected this year under the worst case scenario, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in a report.
The UK government will allot a 700 million British Pounds ($991 million) package to an education recovery plan aimed at helping children catch up with learning and development missed during the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced.
The Biden administration will deliver 25 million face masks to communities hard hit by the novel coronavirus across the United States, the White House announced.
