WHO grants emergency authorisation to Sinovac vaccine – latest updates

Covid-19 pandemic has infected more than 171 million people and claimed at least 3.5 million lives across the world. Here are the updates for June 1.

Vials of the CoronaVac vaccine, developed by China's Sinovac firm, are displayed in Bangkok as the first batch of vaccines to battle the Covid-19 coronavirus arrive in the kingdom on February 24, 2021.
AFP

Vials of the CoronaVac vaccine, developed by China's Sinovac firm, are displayed in Bangkok as the first batch of vaccines to battle the Covid-19 coronavirus arrive in the kingdom on February 24, 2021.

Tuesday, June 1

WHO grants emergency authorisation to Sinovac vaccine

The World Health Organization (WHO) has approved a vaccine made by Sinovac Biotech for emergency use listing, the second Chinese-produced shot to get its endorsement, a WHO statement said.

WHO emergency listing is a signal to national regulators on a product's safety and efficacy. 

It would also allow the shot to be included in COVAX, the global programme to provide vaccines mainly for poor countries, which currently faces major supply problems due to India's suspension of vaccine exports.

Turkey imposes 14-day quarantine for arrivals from eight countries 

Turkey has announced new travel restrictions for passengers entering the country in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Under the new measure by the official authorities, passengers departing from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brazil, South Africa, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka will be quarantined for 14 days in locations determined by the governorships, according to a statement shared by Turkish Airlines on Tuesday. 

Passengers who have been to these countries in the last 14 days will also be requested to submit a negative result of the PCR test conducted a maximum of 72 hours before entering Turkey. 

The flight bans to Brazil and South Africa ended (as of June 1) under this new measure, the national flag carrier stressed. 

Turkey reports over 7,000 new cases

Turkey has registered total of 7,112 cases, including 602 symptomatic patients, in the past 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry.

Turkey's overall case tally is now over 5.25 million, while the nationwide death toll reached 47,656, with 129 more fatalities over the past day.

Moderna seeks full US approval for shot

Moderna has applied for full approval in the United States of its vaccine for people aged 18 and over, joining Pfizer which made the same request last month.

The vaccine has been available since December 18, 2020 under an "emergency use authorisation" intended to make life-saving medications available as fast as possible.

UK reports zero daily deaths for first time since July

Britain has reported zero daily deaths for the first time since 30 July 2020 according to government data, despite fears over a possible third wave of cases.

According to the latest official figures, 127,782 people have died within 28 days of a positive test since the start of the pandemic, which is the worst death toll of any European country. 

The UK has had 4.49 million cases in total.

Italy reports over 2,300 new cases

Italy has reported 93 deaths against 82 the day before, the Health Ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 2,483 from 1,820.

Poland to offer vaccinations to children aged 12-15

Poland will offer vaccinations to children aged 12-15 from June 7, the minister in charge of the country's vaccination programme, Michal Dworczyk, has said.

The European Commission on Friday authorised Pfizer and partner BioNTech SE's vaccine for use in children as young as 12.

WHO to start vaccination in Houthi-run north Yemen

The World Health Organisation has said it will start vaccinations next week in north Yemen where the Houthi authorities in control have played down the impact of the pandemic, largely denying any outbreak there.

Inoculations in parts of the Arabian Peninsula country run by Yemen's Saudi-backed government began seven weeks ago, giving a boost to a healthcare system shattered by war, economic collapse and, recently, a shortfall in humanitarian aid funding.

India reports 127,510 new Covid-19 infections, 2,795 deaths

India has reported its lowest daily rise in new coronavirus infections since April 8 at 127,510 cases over the past 24 hours, while deaths rose by 2,795.

The South Asian nation's tally of infections now stands at 28.2 million, while the death toll has reached 331,895, Health Ministry data showed. 

Experts say the true number of fatalities is several times higher from what is being reported by government officials.

Australia court upholds ban on pandemic travel

An Australian court has rejected a challenge to the federal government's draconian power to prevent most citizens from leaving the country so they don’t bring the coronavirus home.

Most Australians have been stranded in their home nation for more than a year under a government emergency order made under the powerful Biosecurity Act. 

Australia is alone among developed democracies in preventing its citizens and permanent residents from leaving the country during the pandemic except in "exceptional circumstances."

The libertarian group LibertyWorks argued the government did not have the power to enforce the travel ban.

Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 1,785 - RKI

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 1,785 to 3,682,911, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed.

The reported death toll rose by 153 to 88,595, the tally showed. 

Vietnam says seeking to produce vaccines to supply COVAX

Vietnam is seeking to buy vaccine production technology and wants to build a plant to supply the COVAX programme, its Health Ministry said, as the country tries to step up vaccinations to stem a new outbreak of infections.

India and South Africa are among developing countries that have been pushing for an intellectual property waiver for vaccines. But even with a surprise US shift last month to support a waiver World Trade Organization talks on the issue on Monday failed to achieve a breakthrough.

Sinopharm's Wuhan affiliate boosts Covid-19 shot annual capacity to 1 billion doses

A Wuhan-based affiliate of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) said the start of operations at a new factory will raise the annual production capacity of its virus vaccine to at least 1 billion doses.

The Wuhan Institute of Biological Products made the announcement in a statement released late on Monday through social media. It did not specify when it will operate the factory at full capacity.

Still, the announcement marks a step toward state-backed Sinopharm's annual capacity target of 3 billion doses for its virus vaccines.

Japan to begin vaccinations at workplaces on June 21

Japan plans to start Covid-19 vaccination at workplaces and universities on June 21 to speed up the country's inoculation drive, a top government spokesman said.

Moderna Inc vaccines will be used for those areas, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a news conference. 

Long lines and waits as Venezuela starts Covid vaccination

Hundreds of senior citizens and health workers stood in long lines to get vaccinated against the coronavirus as part of Venezuela's inoculation campaign, which has been held up by payment problems and political disputes.

The government of President Nicolas Maduro for months said it was unable to pay for vaccines due to US sanctions, but last month announced it had come up with the funds to enter the global COVAX program. 

Reuters data shows that only 1.1 percent of the population has received at least one vaccine shot so far.

Japan to begin Covid-19 vaccinations at workplaces

Japan is planning to start Covid-19 vaccination at workplaces and universities on June 21 to speed up the country's inoculation drive, a top government spokesman said.

Moderna Inc vaccines will be used for those areas, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a news conference.

Efforts to tackle virus in UK amid worries on variant.

Over 600 million Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine doses supplied 

Sinovac Biotech reports that it has supplied a total of 600 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines around the world as of May 31.

It also reports that at least 430 million doses of its CoronaVac shot have been administered within the same time period.

Brazil registers 860 Covid-19 deaths on Monday

Brazil has registered 860 Covid-19 deaths and 30,434 new cases, according to data released by the nation's Health Ministry.

The South American country has now registered 462,791 total coronavirus deaths and 16,545,554 total confirmed cases.

This comes two days after demonstrators took to the streets to protest President Jair Bolsonaro's handling of the pandemic. 

Russia resumes flights to UK, extends ban on Turkey

Russia has decided to resume flights from Moscow to London from June 2 thanks to an improved Covid-19 situation, while it keeps in place bans on flights to Turkey and Tanzania until June 21 inclusive, the coronavirus task force said.

It said there will be three flights per week from Moscow to London.

Russia also has decided to resume a limited number of regular flights to other countries, including Austria, Hungary, Lebanon and Croatia.

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