MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Brazil has increased by 27,345 to 20,703,906 within the past 24 hours, the national Ministry of Health said on late Friday.
According to the ministry, the death toll has risen by 761 to 578,326 people within the same period of time.
More than 19.62 million patients have recovered since the start of the outbreak.
A day earlier, the country confirmed 31,024 new coronavirus cases, with 920 fatalities.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Denmark will remove certain COVID-19 restrictions on September 10, as the successful vaccination drive has improved the epidemiological situation in the country, Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said on Friday.
"The epidemiological situation is under control, we have a record level of vaccination. Therefore, from September 10, we can lift a number of measures that we were forced to introduce in the fight against COVID-19," Heunicke was quoted as saying in the ministry's statement.
The official, however, stressed that the pandemic was not over and that the government was ready to respond to any negative trends.
According to official statistics, over 4.3 million people in Denmark have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
BERLIN (Sputnik) - Germany will supply 70 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to African countries this year, instead of the previously promised 30 million, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday.
"The COVAX mechanism will be strengthened: Germany can supply not 30 million doses, but 70 million this year," Merkel told a press conference after the G20 Compact with Africa summit.
The participants of the summit, aimed at attracting private investments in the African continent, agreed that vaccines should become available to African populations as soon as possible, she added.
The G20 conference on Africa went from Thursday through Friday.
The COVAX Facility is a global initiative responsible for the distribution of COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines worldwide.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday applauded Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci, the husband and wife team behind a pioneering COVID-19 vaccine technology.
"The technology Ugur Sahin & Ozlem Tureci pioneered is changing the world. It is changing Africa too. mRNA is protecting millions against #COVID19. It can be a game-changer in fighting other diseases, malaria & TB. Thank you Uğur Şahin & Özlem Türeci for your gift to the world," von der Leyen wrote on Twitter.
The German couple, both of Turkish descent, co-founded German biotechnology company BioNTech, which in 2020 developed the first messenger RNA-based vaccine approved for use against COVID-19.
Their trailblazing vaccine technology is said to have advantages over traditional vaccines.
Unlike traditional vaccines that require the production of pathogens, which, if done at high volumes, could increase the risks of localized outbreaks of the virus at a production facility, RNA vaccines can be produced faster, cheaper, and in a more standardized fashion (with fewer error rates in production), which can improve responsiveness to severe outbreaks.
More than 44 million people in Russia received the first shot of a coronavirus vaccine, more than 37 million Russians are fully vaccinated, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova told reporters.
"As of today, the number of citizens who received vaccination with the first component amounted to more than 44 million people, more than 37 million people are fully vaccinated," she said.
International organizations have called on COVID-19 vaccine producing and stocking nations to share their surplus shots with lower-income countries, as alarming inequity undermines pandemic response.
The heads of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Health Organization and World Trade Organization met on Friday with leaders of UNICEF, the Gavi vaccine alliance and African organizations to discuss the staggering global vaccination campaign.
"We urge G7 and all dose-sharing countries to fulfill their pledges urgently, with enhanced pipeline visibility, product shelf life and support for ancillary supplies, as barely 10% of nearly 900 million committed doses have so far been shipped," a joint statement read.
The global leaders — the Multilateral Leaders Taskforce on COVID-19 — complained about a two-track vaccine rollout. They said that almost 50% of adults in high-income countries were fully immunized, compared to fewer than 2% in most low-income countries, particularly in Africa.
The organizations called on all countries to scrap export restrictions on coronavirus vaccines and asked vaccine manufacturers to fulfill their contracts to the global shot-sharing mechanism COVAX and the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust.
More than 350 million COVID-19 Digital Certificates have been issued in the European Union, meaning that 78.4% of the bloc's total population have the passes, the European Commission said on Friday.
"More than 350 million EU Covid Certificates have already been issued. An #EUCovidCertificate is a proof that a person has either been: vaccinated | tested negative | recovered from COVID-19," the commission tweeted.
The EU Digital Certificate is a QR code containing essential information about the user, and it can be issued by hospitals and test and vaccination centres within the European Union. The purpose of the certificate is to facilitate safe and free movement within the union by identifying those vaccinated, recovered and tested negative from COVID-19.
The European Union initiated digital COVID-19 certification on 1 July 2021, reaching 200 million certificates within the first few days of launch.
Lebanon may not be able to enforce lockdown measures if it becomes necessary to rein in a new coronavirus wave, as the country still struggles to weather economic crisis, Mohammad Makkawi, the governor of the central Mount Lebanon province, told Sputnik.
"Today, the state may be unable to force citizens to follow lockdown caused by the coronavirus. Indeed, the number of infected people is increasing again, while hospitals’ capacity has sharply decreased. However, the mortality rate is not high and the need in emergency and reanimation is still low despite the rise of cases," Makkawi said.
The government will face large problems, trying to compel people to follow restrictive measures, including closing shops and enterprises, due to the devastating economic crisis, the governor elaborated.
Makkawi added that imposing restrictions for just a couple of weeks will not be enough to stabilize the health situation, while "closing" the country for more than two months will inevitably destroy what remains of the country’s economy.
"The epidemic is under control, we have record vaccination levels. That is why, on September 10, we can lift the special rules we had to introduce in the fight against Covid-19," Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said in a statement.
Australia has approved vaccination of minors aged 12 to 15 against the coronavirus with the Pfizer shot starting September 13, the prime minister's office said on Friday.
"Children aged between 12 and 15 years will be able to book a COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine from September 13 following the Morrison Government’s decision to implement expert medical advice," the office said in a statement.
With the country having some 1.2 million teenagers of this age group, the authorities expect their vaccination to help reach the 80% immunization level of the entire population.
The government also mulls vaccination of the minors aged 12 to 18 with the Moderna shot.
According to the latest data, nearly 18.4 million people have been administered a coronavirus vaccine across the country.
Russia registered 19,509 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, down from 19,630 the day before, taking the overall tally to 6,844,049, the federal response centre said on Friday.
"Over the past day, 19,509 COVID-19 cases were confirmed across 85 Russian regions, including 1,364 cases (7%) without clinical symptoms," the centre said, adding that the rate of increase stands at 0.29%.
Moscow has the highest number of new cases with 1,509 daily infections, down from 1,712 the day before. The Russian capital was followed by St. Petersburg with 1,395 cases, up from 1,301, and the Moscow region with 786 cases, up from 726.
The response centre reported 798 new deaths linked to the coronavirus, down from 820 the day before, raising the country's death toll to 180,041.
In the same 24 hours, 19,217 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals across the country, down from 19,661 the day before, bringing the total to 6,112,035.
India has confirmed 44,658 new cases of the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, with the total number of those infected having reached 32,603,188, the country's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Friday.
The death toll from the disease has reached 436,861 people, with 496 new fatalities being recorded over the past day.
More than 31.82 million people have recovered in India since the start of the outbreak.
A day earlier, the country confirmed 46,164 new coronavirus cases, with 607 fatalities.
