MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2021) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 5.24 million, over 264.6 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 20:10 GMT Friday, the number of cases globally is 264,677,131, including 5,240,240 fatalities. As many as 8.11 billion of vaccine doses have been administered to date.
The benefits of all COVID-19 vaccines approved in the European Union outweigh the risks, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said.
The Department of Health and Social Care of the United Kingdom will allow general practitioners in England to lessen their workload with patients until April so they can participate in administering COVID-19 vaccine booster shots amid the increase in COVID-19 cases, the Guardian reported.
US biotechnology company Novavax said that it had started work on developing the "Omicron-specific construct" of the antigen in its COVID-19 vaccine as part of the two-pronged strategy to curb the spread of the new coronavirus variant.
The United States will ship 9 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to African countries and 2 million doses worldwide later on Friday amid concerns about the novel coronavirus Omicron variant that was first detected in South Africa, White House Assistant Press Secretary Kevin Munoz said.
Russia confirmed 32,930 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the cumulative total to 9,736,037, the federal response center said.
The Omicron strain has been identified in 38 countries, but Delta remains the dominant variant of COVID-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical lead of COVID-19 response at WHO's Emergency Diseases Unit, said.
The French government anticipates that the ongoing fifth coronavirus wave will reach its peak in late January, Health Minister Olivier Veran said.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased by 74,352 within the past 24 hours and thus surpassed 6 million, Robert Koch Institute said.
Barefoot people calling themselves "barefoot fathers" gathered in Vilnius in front of the office of the Lithuanian President to protest the introduction of COVID-19 certificates for children from 12 years old, local media reported.
India has confirmed 9,216 new cases of the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, with the total number of those infected having reached 34,615,757, the country's ministry of health and family welfare said.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Brazil has increased by 12,910 to 22,118,782 within the past 24 hours, the national ministry of health said.
The World Health Organization so far has no data about deaths linked to the Omicron coronavirus variant, spokesman Christian Lindmeier said.
Scientists warned that new travel restrictions are ineffective against the Omicron coronavirus strain and risk slowing down studies of the variant, according to a report by the journal Nature.
The Berlin government announced that it would not close nightclubs, but would ban dancing therein to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Japan's Nippon Electric Company (NEC) will begin development of biometric facial recognition technology for COVID-19 vaccination, media reported.
Mortality in Russia in October 2021 increased by 20.3% year-on-year, with more than 100% of the total increase in mortality linked to the coronavirus, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said.
The World Health Organization does not yet have data on the difference between the clinical symptoms of Omicron and other strains of COVID-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical lead of COVID-19 response at WHO's Emergency Diseases Unit, said.
The US food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking steps to expedite a potential review of Omicron-specific vaccines and drugs to ensure prompt delivery of these when needed, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources.
China will continue strengthening its strategic cooperation with Russia, including joining efforts to prevent the cross-border spread of COVID-19, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said.
