MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th August, 2021) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 4.459 million, over 213.6 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 20:30 GMT Wednesday, the number of cases globally is 213,652,111, including 4,459,318 fatalities.
Indonesia authorized the emergency use of Russia's coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V, becoming the 70th country to do so, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said.
Austria is interested in facilitating travel with Russia, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said, adding that the Sputnik V vaccine's approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) would help the situation.
The Guatemalan Health Ministry said that the country had received a fresh supply of 400,000 shots of the Russian-made coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a memorandum for mandatory vaccinations against COVID-19 for the defense ministry personnel, the Pentagon announced.
US adults vaccinated against COVID-19 are largely on board with plans to introduce booster shots, with more than three-quarters saying they will get the jab if health authorities approve, a Morning Consult poll revealed.
Moderna said it had completed its submission procedure to apply for a full food and Drug Administration (FDA) biologics license for its COVID-19 vaccine.
US pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson said that a study showed a nine-fold increase in COVID-19 antibodies in participants who took a booster dose of its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine.
Several New Zealanders may have been injected with saline solution instead of COVID-19 vaccines, prompting the authorities to launch an investigation, the RNZ broadcaster reported.
The World Health Organization (WHO) chief reiterated his call to suspend the administration of booster shots against COVID-19, so that countries with a lower immunization rate could vaccinate their citizens.
Russia registered 19,536 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, up from 18,833 the day before, taking the overall tally to 6,804,910, the federal response center said.
The US Defense Department declined to comment on Sputnik's request about the coronavirus situation in Guantanamo Bay detention facility amid reports that Cuba is experiencing a surge of new cases.
The state of New York has added around 12,000 COVID-19 deaths to its pandemic toll as governor Kathy Hochul pledged in a radio interview on Wednesday not to cover up nursing home fatalities that her predecessor Andrew Cuomo had tried to pass off as unrelated.
The global coronavirus infection rate flatlined last week after consistently growing for two consecutive months, but remains high, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
Italy can extend the validity of COVID-19 passes for those fully vaccinated from the current nine to 12 months, Franco Locatelli, the coordinator for the Scientific Technical Committee in charge of the virus response said.
Coronavirus vaccinations will be required of all teachers and other school staff in New York, with a weekly testing option initially available, and a universal facemask mandate for all people entering a school building, Governor Kathy Hochul said in an inaugural address on her first day in office.
Delta Air Lines said that it would impose an insurance surcharge on employees who had not received a coronavirus vaccine in response to President Joe Biden's urging companies in the United States to mandate inoculation against the virus.
People evacuated from Afghanistan to India will have to undergo a mandatory two-week quarantine in a designated facility, the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.
The recent protests in Cuba were the result of a perfect storm spurred by the effects of the US blockade, the surge of Delta variant cases, pandemic fatigue and resource shortages, Cuban Ambassador to Canada Josefina Vidal told Sputnik.
The beginning of the school year in several French overseas territories has been postponed to September 13 due to COVID-19, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said.
US intelligence provided President Joe Biden with an inconclusive report on the origins of COVID-19, The Washington Post reported citing sources.
China has many experts capable of conducting an investigation into the coronavirus origins without delay, Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead for COVID-19, said.
Havana is grateful for Canada's vote at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) opposing the US embargo on the island nation and the support provided to Cuba by Ottawa and Canadians in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, Ambassador Josefina Vidal told Sputnik.
The European Court of Human Rights has rejected a bid by 672 French firefighters to suspend a law mandating that they must be vaccinated against COVID-19 or removed from work.
The Swiss government will end most preventative free testing for COVID-19 for those who have not been vaccinated or have not had the disease, starting October 1.
