MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th October, 2021) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 4.855 million, over 238.1 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 20:00 GMT Monday, the number of cases globally is 238,136,719, including 4,855,635 fatalities. As many as 6.48 billion of vaccine doses have been administered to date.
British tabloid The Sun, which recently published an article claiming that Russia stole the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine formula for creating Sputnik V, is deeply unscientific, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) called an article of The Sun alleging that Russia had stolen the COVID-19 vaccine formula from AstraZeneca "fake" and "lies."
UK Home Office Minister Damian Hinds refused on Monday to comment on the recent reports of Russia allegedly stealing the COVID-19 vaccine formula from AstraZeneca to create Sputnik V.
The COVID-19 vaccination level in Russia is too low, and the high mortality rate during the pandemic is related to this fact, Peskov said.
US pharmaceutical company Merck & Co said on Monday that it has requested emergency approval from the US drug regulator for its antiviral COVID-19 treatment.
An experimental long-acting combo antibody therapy developed by AstraZeneca has helped cut the risk of severe COVID-19 disease or death compared to placebo in non-hospitalized patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms of the disease, the UK-Swedish pharmaceutical company said.
New Zealand is making vaccination against the coronavirus mandatory for teachers and health workers, Minister for COVID-19 Response and education Chris Hipkins said.
Over 90% of Malaysia's adult population have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the national vaccine committee said.
The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) of the World Health Organization (WHO) will discuss the need for COVID-19 booster doses on November 11, Kate O'Brien, the director of the WHO's Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, said.
Russia recorded 29,409 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, up from 28,647 the day before, bringing the cumulative total to 7,804,774, the federal response center said.
The introduction of fines for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in Russia is an unrealistic initiative that runs counter to the welfare state concept, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, commenting on a recent proposal by a member of the Russian academy of Sciences.
A 24-hour nationwide strike by transport workers and civil servants is taking place in Italy at the initiative of the Confederation of Basic Committees (Cobas) and a number of other trade unions. Trade unions demand that the authorities stop layoffs in a crisis, abandon the mandatory introduction of the so-called green pass (electronic COVID certificates) at work, as well as take specific measures to support a number of sectors of the national economy, in particular the transport industry.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro says he was denied entry to the Santos vs Gremio football match because he did not have a COVID-19 vaccination certificate.
