The US remains the worst-hit nation, with well over 33.5 million coronavirus cases, while at least 600,000 Americans have died during the pandemic. It is followed by India, where the wave of COVID is thinning out after a surge in May, with over 29.8 million cases and over 386,000 deaths. Meanwhile, Brazil has the third-highest number of COVID-19 infections (at least 17.9 million cases) and the second-highest reported number of deaths (496,000).
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BUENOS AIRES (Sputnik) - The death toll from the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Colombia has risen by 648 over the past day to 100,582 people, the country's Health Ministry said in a statement.
It said the overall number of cases increased by 23,239 over the past 24 hours to 3,968,405.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Monday called on the German biotechnology company BioNTech, which produces an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, to urgently share its vaccine technology and knowledge with manufacturers in developing countries with vaccine shortages.
"Ahead of tomorrow’s @BioNTech_Group shareholder meeting, we call on the company to immediately and openly share its vaccine technology and knowledge with able manufacturers in developing countries! Make it a #PeoplesVaccine now," Lara Dovifat, Campaign and Advocacy Advisor for MSF’s Access Campaign, tweeted on Monday.
According to MSF, some African countries would be able to produce an mRNA vaccine if the technology were shared and financial assistance provided to them. The mRNA vaccine technology of BioNTech has advantages for manufacturing in that it is possible to store it at standard refrigerator temperatures for one month, it is adaptable to new variants, and able to be produced at smaller production sites having no experience in vaccine production.
...entire squad had lateral flow tests on Monday afternoon and all were again negative, as was the case with Sunday’s UEFA pre-match PCR tests.”
— Dan Roan (@danroan) June 21, 2021
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Fully vaccinated individuals coming into Canada will no longer be subject to quarantine requirements as of 5 July, Health Minister Patty Hajdu said on Monday.
"Beginning on 5 July, fully vaccinated travelers, who are permitted to enter Canada, will no longer be subject to the federal requirement to quarantine", Hajdu said during a press briefing.
Additionally, fully vaccinated travellers can forego testing on the eighth day following arrival, Hajdu added.
However, Canada will not be adjusting requirements for partially vaccinated travellers, as was recommended by the government’s hand-picked expert panel, and unvaccinated children will be required to abide by the quarantine measures.
Hajdu explained that the measures will remain in place for most groups of travelers to protect the public from imported cases.
Hajdu also reiterated that Canada will not be scrapping the controversial hotel quarantine mandate, which forces air arrivals into the country to quarantine at state-designated hotels, citing the risk posed by the Delta coronavirus variant, which was first detected in India.
Although the Canadian government is constitutionally prohibited from barring citizens from leaving the country, the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has used the enhanced border security measures to discourage international travel amid the pandemic.
All entrants in Canada must complete a mandatory 14-day quarantine. As of 25 March 2020, Quarantine Act violators may be subject to a fine of up to $537,000 and/or imprisonment for six months.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) is planning to set up a technology transfer hub in South Africa for the country to produce its own messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccines and provide necessary training to local manufacturers, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.
"Today, I'm delighted to announce that WHO is in discussions with a consortium of companies and institutions to establish a technology transfer hub in South Africa. The consortium involves a company Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines which will act as the hub, both by manufacturing mRNA vaccines and by providing training to a second manufacturer called Biovac. In time, Afrigen could provide training to other manufacturers in Africa and beyond", Tedros told a press briefing.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, in turn, noted that Africa was now close to being able to manufacture vaccines and medicine-related products on its own.
"Through this initiative and others, we will change the narrative of an Africa that is a center of disease and poor development", Ramaphosa said.
So far, 43 African countries have joined the WHO-led COVAX facility, which aims to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines globally. Africa aims to vaccinate at least 20% of the population by providing up to 600 million doses by the end of 2021.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Half of the beneficiaries of the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility do not have enough COVID-19 vaccine doses to continue their mass immunisation programmes, Bruce Aylward, the senior adviser at the World Health Organisation (WHO), said on Monday.
"What we're hearing is a mix of things ... Some countries saying that they've run completely out of vaccines, and others saying that they are holding back some vaccine to have just in case the other shipments are delayed or continue to be delayed ... but, I would say, of the 80 AMC [Advance Market Commitment] countries, at least well over a half of them would not have sufficient vaccine to be able to sustain their programs right now", WHO senior adviser Bruce Aylward said at a press briefing.
"If a state of emergency is declared then we can't rule out not having spectators", Suga told reporters during a tour of a vaccination site in Tokyo.
