MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th September, 2021) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 4.655 million, over 226.1 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 20:10 GMT Wednesday, the number of cases globally is 226,173,361, including 4,655,442 fatalities. As many as 5.77 billion of vaccine doses have been administered to date.
Iran authorized Russia's Sputnik Light single-component vaccine against the coronavirus, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) announced.
The new President of the UN General Assembly, Maldivian diplomat Abdulla Shahid, said he plans to convene a high-level emergency debate to address the issue of global COVID-19 vaccine equity at the beginning of the next year.
Estonia will borrow 10,000 single-dose Janssen vaccines against COVID-19 from Spain, with the batch expected next week, Estonian Minister of Health and Labour Tanel Kiik said.
US pharmaceutical company Pfizer has announced that 95 vials of its coronavirus vaccine had floating substances, which are undissolved residue and are thus harmless, Japanese news agency Kyodo reported.
New data on the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19 shows that its recipients need a booster shot after half a year to maintain its effectiveness against the virus, including the Delta variant, according to company documents released by the food and Drug Administration.
Black communities in the US, who early in the pandemic expressed significantly lower willingness to get vaccinated than White citizens, are now as likely as them to have received a COVID-19 jab, a Pew Research Center poll said.
The US state of Arizona is suing the Biden administration over the federal vaccine mandate, making it the first lawsuit in the United States to be filed against the administration on the issue, the office of state Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced.
New York City has ordered that all individuals entering the UN General Assembly Hall must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination during the annual high-level event, according to a letter sent by the Office of the Mayor to the UN General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid.
Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia in a letter, seen by Sputnik, requested to convene an urgent meeting to discuss the requirement by New York City to show proof of vaccination to enter the UN General Assembly Hall during the high-level event.
The headquarters of the Republican Party launched a fundraising drive that it said will fund a lawsuit against President Joe Biden's order requiring large- and mid-size business to require COVID-19 vaccinations for employees.
Russia recorded 18,841 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, up from 17,837 the day before, bringing the cumulative total to 7,194,926, the federal response center said.
More than a third of the Ukrainian population have contracted COVID-19 at some point and have developed antibodies, Health Minister Viktor Liashko said.
Hospitals and intensive care units in France have been less overwhelmed by coronavirus patients as the health situation in the country is improving, Government Spokesman Gabriel Attal said.
Austria has recorded around 2,600 cases of the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, marking the lowest daily increment during the fourth wave of the pandemic since August, the interior ministry said.
Turkey registered 27,802 daily COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the highest infection rate in the last four months, the country's health ministry said.
The Russian authorities are not considering a new COVID-19 lockdown or some other restrictions at the moment, since virology experts have different opinions about the possibility of a new coronavirus wave, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov assured.
The European Union validated COVID-19 certificates issued by seven non-member nations, a reciprocal move that will allow for more travel across the EU's external borders.
The Dutch government will mandate COVID-19 passes for going to restaurants, entertainment and cultural venues from September 25 but will scrap social distancing requirements.
Cars for people vaccinated against COVID-19 or those who have recently recovered from the virus have started to appear on some train routes in Latvia, a representative of Pasazieru vilciens, the passenger-carrying railway monopoly in Latvia, told Sputnik.
Vaccinated tourists will be able to visit Bangkok without a 14-day quarantine beginning October 15, 2021, while quarantine on arrival will be lifted in four more touristic areas of the country starting October 1, Thailand's Tourism and sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said.
German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said that Europe's largest economy could return to its pre-pandemic level at the beginning of 2022, after a spike in infections dashed hopes of an early recovery.
US passenger airlines reported a $1 billion after tax profit in the April-June quarter, despite a pre-tax operating loss of $3.6 billion, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) said.
Nearly seven in ten Americans believe the recent rise in deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic was preventable, a new Quinnipaic University poll revealed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was invited to the US-led virtual summit on the COVID-19 response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that the president's participation is being considered.
The US earmarked $470 million for a nationwide study of the long-term effects of COVID-19, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said.
The member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and several other nations worldwide agreed that they should boost efforts in an attempt to accelerate the recovery of their economies, battered by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has signed memoranda of understanding with Pfizer and AstraZeneca pharmaceutical companies on the establishment of clinical research centers and investment facilitation, state-run Saudi Press Agency reported.
