MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th February, 2022) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 5.7 million, over 386 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 19:30 GMT Thursday, the number of cases globally is 386,469,528, including 5,706,486 fatalities. As many as 10 billion vaccine doses have been administered to date.
The Russian Health Ministry has registered Molnupiravir, a medication used to treat COVID-19, according to the ministry's registry.
The UK drug regulator authorized a COVID-19 vaccine developed by US pharmaceutical company Novavax.
A laboratory of the US Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) together with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is developing a COVID-19 vaccine with a booster component, in a renewed effort to combat the spread of the virus, MIT professor Robert Langer told Spanish newspaper El Pais.
The European Medicines Agency's (EMA) human medicines committee recommended conditional marketing authorization for Paxlovid, the first oral medicine for treating COVID-19 in at risk adult populations, Marco Cavaleri, the head of Biological Health Threats and Vaccines Strategy at the EMA, said.
Russia has confirmed 155,768 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, up from 141,883 the day before, and 667 deaths, the federal response center said on Thursday.
The peak of the fifth wave of the coronavirus epidemic in France has passed, the country's Health Minister Olivier Veran said.
The subvariant of the Omicron strain of the coronavirus dubbed BA.2 requires further study to understand to what extent it is distinct from its original - the Omicron - regarding contagiousness and other factors, Cavaleri said.
Saudi Arabia has made a COVID-19 booster dose a prerequisite for citizens older than 16 to leave the country, the official Saudi Press Agency said, citing the Interior Ministry.
Sweden will cancel all restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic starting from February 9, Swedish media reported, citing Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson.
One will almost certainly contract the Omicron strain if they communicate with an infected individual not wearing a mask at a distance of 0.5 meters (1,6 feet) for at least 15 minutes, a research team from Japan's Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (Riken) have found.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Antony Fauci said the reports about the negative impact of COVID-19 vaccines on fertility are misinformation.
The European Commission has approved a proposal on the extension of digital COVID-19 certificates for one year until the summer of 2023, spokesman Christian Wigand said.
The Gaza Strip health ministry said on Thursday it has asked UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Palestine Lynn Hastings to pressure Israel into lifting the ban on deliveries of medical equipment for fighting COVID-19 to the Palestinian enclave.
