India administers over 10M vaccine doses in single day – latest updates

Friday, August 27, 2021

India administers over 10M vaccine doses in single day

India has administered a record 10 million vaccine doses in a single day, the country's Health Ministry said.

Figures released by the ministry showed that a total of 10,064,032 vaccine doses had been given across the country in a single, raising the total number of doses administered to 620 million.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the achievement was a "momentous feat."

Merkel: Germany will offer Africa up to 70M vaccine doses

Germany will make up to 70 million doses of vaccine available to African countries this year, Chancellor Angela Merkel has said, more than doubling a previous pledge to donate 30 million.

Russia says July was the deadliest month of the pandemic

Russia had seen the highest monthly death toll of the pandemic in July, with 50,421 people dying from the virus or related causes during the month, state statistic service Rosstat said.

The death toll exceeded the number of coronavirus deaths in December, hitherto the deadliest month of the pandemic in Russia.

Overall, Russia recorded around 365,000 deaths between April 2020 and July, data from Rosstat showed.

Turkey gives over 92.4M jabs so far

Turkey has administered more than 92.4 million doses of vaccines since launching a mass immunisation campaign in January, according to official figures.

Over 47.54 million people have received their first vaccine dose, while more than 36.4 million are fully vaccinated, the Health Ministry said.

The ministry also reported 18,340 new cases, while as many as 244 more people have died of the disease.

US hospitalisations hit eight-month high over 100,000

The number of patients in US hospitals has breached 100,000, the highest level in eight months, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, as a resurgence spurred by the highly contagious Delta variant strains the nation's health care system.

A total of 101,433 patients were hospitalised, according to data published on Friday morning.

US hospitalisations have more than doubled in the past month. Over the past week, more than 500 people were admitted to hospitals each hour on average, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

UK reports most cases since July over past seven days

Britain has reported the highest number of new cases in just over a month during the past seven days, reflecting the continued spread of the Delta variant of the disease, government figures showed.

Britain recorded a further 38,046 cases on Friday, down slightly from Thursday's 38,281, while 100 more people were recorded as having died within 28 days of testing positive for the disease, government data showed.

Uzbek scientists working on edible vaccine 

As part of the fight against the pandemic, scientists in Uzbekistan have been testing "an edible transgenic tomato vaccine".

Scientists from the Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics of the Academy of Sciences are working to develop an edible vaccine against the virus by changing the genetics of tomatoes, an Innovative Department Ministry statement said. 

It was noted that scientists cloned the crown part of the coronavirus detected in the country and placed it in the plant cell, and as a result, these plant cells acted as a vaccine.

Seedlings in the laboratory of the center will grow tomatoes in the form of a vaccine after two months, and people who eat these tomatoes are expected to produce antibodies against the virus, added the statement.

Italy reports over 7,800 new cases

Italy has reported 45 deaths, compared with 43 the day before, the Health Ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 7,826 from 7,221.

Italy has registered 129,002 deaths since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the eighth-highest in the world. The country has reported 4.51 million cases to date.

Global policymakers urge more sharing of vaccine

A group of global policymakers tasked with responding to the health crisis has urged nations with large vaccine stocks to share them with programmes that distribute them to lower-income counties.

In a joint statement, the Multilateral Leaders Taskforce — which includes the heads of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, World Health Organisation and World Trade Organisation — said fewer than 2 percent of adults in most low-income countries were vaccinated, compared with almost 50 percent in high-income countries.

EU: Moderna vaccine production can continue after contamination incident

Production of Moderna vaccines at a plant of partner Rovi in Spain can continue after an initial assessment, the European Union drugs regulator has said, as it continues its investigation of a contamination incident.

On Thursday Japan suspended the use of 1.63 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, with the company saying contamination could be due to a manufacturing issue on one of the production lines at its contract manufacturing site in Spain run by Rovi.

Myanmar to extend vaccinations to persecuted Rohingya minority

Myanmar’s junta will vaccinate minority Muslim Rohingya people against the coronavirus, a spokesperson for its ruling military said.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled to Bangladesh during military operations in 2017 and those who remain complain of discrimination and mistreatment in a country that does not recognise them as citizens.
Junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun said authorities were making progress in reducing coronavirus infections and increasing vaccinations and aimed to inoculate half of the country’s population by the end of this year.
Myanmar reported 2,635 new infections and 113 additional deaths on Thursday, though the number of daily cases and reported fatalities have come down from a peak hit in July.
The vaccinations would include Rohingya people in Maungdaw and Buthidaung districts bordering Bangladesh, he said.

Denmark lowers Covid threat, citing vaccinations

The Danish government will no longer consider as “a socially critical disease in Denmark,” citing the large number of vaccinations in the Scandinavian country.

“The epidemic is under control. We have record high vaccination rates,” said Health Minister Magnus Heunicke in a statement Friday.

Starting September 10, “We can drop some of the special rules we had to introduce in the fight against COVID-19," he said.

In practice, that will mean partially phasing out vaccination card requirements for some major events, like concerts, and in night clubs.
On July 1, Denmark introduced a digital coronavirus passport that had to be shown when required.

“Although we stand in a good spot, we are not out of the epidemic. And the government will not hesitate to act quickly if the pandemic again threatens important functions in our society," he added.

On Thursday, Heunicke said that 80 percent of all people over the age of 12 in Denmark have been vaccinated. Getting the shot in Denmark is voluntary and is available to people aged 12 years and older.

British music festivals ready to rock despite high cases

Tens of thousands of revellers will descend on late summer music festivals across Britain this weekend, armed with a negative test or proof of vaccination in an effort to curb rising infections.

Reading and Leeds, twin events that are a rite of passage for post-exam teenagers, will be two of the biggest since the government removed restrictions in July following a rapid vaccine rollout. Reading had a capacity of 105,000 in 2019.

With Monday a public holiday in England, other large gatherings are being staged across the country, including the 70,000-strong Creamfields event in northwest England. The traditional Notting Hill Carnival in London has however been cancelled again.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said this month that a successful hosting of the British Grand Prix and Wimbledon tennis tournament last month showed mass events could be held safely, but that caution was needed in crowded settings.

Thailand eases curbs on retail and restaurants to spur economy

Thailand will lift most coronavirus restrictions on retail and dining from next month and permit gatherings of up to 25 people in Bangkok and other high risk areas, its Covid-19 task force said on Friday.

Easing restrictions and adjusting measures were necessary to revive the economy safely, the task force said, as the country battles its worst coronavirus outbreak and struggles to ramp up vaccinations, with only 1 in 10 people inoculated so far.

From September 1, shopping malls, salons, barber shops, foot massages and sports fields in 29 high-risk provinces including Bangkok, are allowed to resume operations, while restaurants can open to diners, the task force said.

Authorities asked business operators to ensure service staff are fully vaccinated and regularly tested with antigen kits, and to require customers to show proof of vaccination and negative tests.

Russia reports 798 deaths, 19,509 cases

Russia reported 798 deaths in the last 24 hours as well as 19,509 new cases, including 1,509 in Moscow.

Official case numbers have been gradually falling since a surge of infections that was blamed on the contagious Delta variant peaked in July.

India reports 44,658 new cases in the last 24 hours 

India reported 44,658 new cases in the last 24 hours, a government statement said. 

New Zealand to extend  lockdown until Tuesday -media report

New Zealand is expected to stay in lockdown to prevent the spread of the virus until midnight on Tuesday with Auckland and the Northland to stay shut for longer, the New Zealand Herald reported without citing the source for the information.

New Zealand reported 70 new cases in the community on Friday.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is expected to announce shortly whether the nationwide lockdown, which ends at midnight on Friday, will be lifted or extended.

US Supreme Court allows evictions to resume during pandemic

The Supreme Court's conservative majority is allowing evictions to resume across the United States, blocking the Biden administration from enforcing a temporary ban that was put in place because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Roughly 3.5 million people in the United States said they faced eviction in the next two months, according to Census Bureau data from early August.

The court said in an unsigned opinion on Thursday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which reimposed the moratorium August 3, lacked the authority to do so under federal law without explicit congressional authorization. The justices rejected the administration's arguments in support of the CDC's authority. The three liberal justices dissented.

It was the second high court loss for the administration this week at the hands of the court's conservative majority. 

On Tuesday, the court effectively allowed the reinstatement of a Trump-era policy forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their hearings. The new administration had tried to end the Remain in Mexico program, as it is informally known.

New Zealand reports 70 new cases ahead of lockdown decision

New Zealand reported 70 new cases of Covid-19 in the community on Friday, all in the epicentre Auckland, taking the total number of cases in the latest outbreak to 347.

The announcement comes ahead of a decision at 0300 GMT on whether the nationwide lockdown, which ends at midnight on Friday, will be lifted or extended.

Mexico grants emergency use approval to China's Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine

Mexico's health regulator Cofepris has said that it has granted emergency use authorisation to China's Sinopharm vaccine against Covid-19. 

Meanwhile, Mexico's Health Ministry reported 20,633 new cases of Covid-19 and 835 deaths on Thursday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country since the pandemic began to 3,291,761 and the death toll to 256,287.

Brazil registers 31,024 new cases, 920 deaths

Brazil has registered 31,024 new coronavirus cases and 920 additional Covid-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry said.

South Africa registers 12,771 new cases, 357 deaths

South Africa has recorded 12,771 new Covid-19 cases in a 24-hour period, taking the country’s total number of confirmed infections to 2,734,973, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).

The NICD said a further 357 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 80,826.

“This increase represents a 19.3 percent positivity rate,’’ it said in its daily update.

The institute said the majority of new cases were from KwaZulu-Natal province, accounting for 28 percent, followed by the Western Cape Province at 24 percent and the Eastern Cape Province at 13 percent.

The country has the highest number of Covid-19 infections and deaths on the continent.

Rio starts vaccinating the youngest against Covid-19

Health authorities in Rio de Janeiro state have begun vaccinating young people between the ages of 12 and 18, in an ongoing campaign aimed at reaching 90 percent of the state's population by the end of the year.

High-school-age girls were the first group to receive their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine at the Museum of the Republic, in Rio's southern zone.

Dozens of students began receiving doses early Thursday and nurses and health officials say they expect to distribute thousands of doses over the coming days.

Public health officials are especially concerned with the spread of Covid-19 in schools, which have now opened, and say they will prioritize getting as many students vaccinated as possible by the end of August to prevent outbreaks in classrooms.

Infections and hospitalizations have dropped recently in the state.

Health officials are planning a n aggressive vaccination campaign in the coming months, hoping to inoculate most residents of the seaside city and surrounding communities.

UK govt adds Thailand to Covid travel 'red list'

The British government has added Thailand and Montenegro to its travel "red list,” with foreigners banned from travelling to England from those countries, and nationals required to quarantine.

"Thailand and Montenegro will be added to the red list from 4 am (0300GMT) on Monday 30 August 2021," reflecting the increased coronavirus case rates in those countries, said the government.

British and Irish nationals and those living in the UK are allowed to travel from red list countries, but must quarantine in a hotel for 10 days on arrival.

The government added Switzerland, Denmark and Canada to the green list, the Department for Transport added.

Travellers from those destinations will now not have to quarantine, regardless of vaccination status.