MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st May, 2021) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 3.421 million, over 165 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 Thursday, the number of cases globally is 165,081,361, including 3,421,294 fatalities.
The United States still has the highest case count in the world, with 33,046,210, including 588,311 fatalities.
Russia's single-component Sputnik Light vaccine against the coronavirus will enter the civil commerce market in three weeks, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko announced.
Nicaragua approved Russia's single-dose coronavirus vaccine Sputnik Light, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said.
The European Commission signed the third contract with pharmaceutical companies BioNTech and Pfizer to secure extra 1.8 billion doses of the coronavirus vaccine between the end of the year and 2023.
The European Parliament and the Council of the EU reached a preliminary agreement on the introduction of a coronavirus certificate for EU residents, which should start working in June, the European Parliament said.
The countries of the European Union will independently decide on the recognition or non-recognition of coronavirus certificates issued in other EU states with vaccines not authorized by the European Medicines Agency, according to a statement issued by the European Parliament following negotiations with the Council of the EU.
The Council of the European Union recommended allowing EU entry for foreign travelers who were fully inoculated against the coronavirus with a vaccine approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) or the World Health Organization (WHO) at least 14 days before arrival.
European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said that EU population will likely need a third vaccine dose to boost immune protection from the coronavirus.
Costa Rica received more than 174,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, the largest batch delivered to date, the National Commission for Risk Prevention and Emergency Attention reported.
Africa's rollout of coronavirus vaccines is being undermined by supply shortages and financial difficulties, the African regional office of the World Health Organization said.
Russia registered 9,232 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, up from 7,920 the day before, which brought the cumulative total to 4,974,908, the federal response center said.
India has confirmed 276,070 new cases of the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, with the total number of those infected having reached 25,772,400, the country's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Brazil increased by 79,219 to 15,812,055 within the past 24 hours, the health ministry said.
Argentina has registered 39,652 new COVID-19 cases within the past 24 hours, marking the largest daily increase since the start of the outbreak, the national health ministry said.
Canada is extending the border restrictions that limit so-called non-essential travel from the United States through June 21 amid the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said.
The US government should abandon its policy of denying asylum to migrants based on Trump-era health guidelines, United Nations Refugee Agency chief Filippo Grandi said.
The coffers of US state, local, territorial and tribal governments swelled by a collective $105.3 billion during the first 11 days of COVID-19 relief effort recently signed into law, the Treasury Department said.
The US authorities impounded more than 4,000 counterfeit designer facemasks from China in a shipment bound for Puerto Rico, the Customs and Border Protection (CPB) agency said.
The government of New Zealand unveiled a budget plan for 2021 on Thursday which includes a significant raise in welfare payments in an attempt to tackle social issues and ensure the post-coronavirus economic recovery.
