Latest On Coronavirus

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd April, 2021) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 2.832 million, almost 130 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 20:30 GMT Friday, the number of cases globally is 129,988,057, including 2,832,627 fatalities.

The United States still has the highest case count in the world, with 30,590,311, including 553,826 fatalities.

Russia's Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology has developed a technology to update a coronavirus vaccine for new mutations within two days, director Alexander Gintsburg told Sputnik.

Sixty percent of Russia's population will be vaccinated against the coronavirus by the end of the summer, Gintsburg also told Sputnik.

Gamaleya institute is launching pre-clinical trials of an intranasal vaccine against the coronavirus, Gintsburg also said.

Gamaleya institute is set to conduct an expanded study on cellular immune response in people inoculated with the Sputnik V vaccine and include the findings in the official drug description, Gintsburg told Sputnik.

A 106-year-old woman has received the coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V at a care home in Russia's Volgograd Region, the region's authorities said.

The Russian Embassy in Paris clarified to French Minister for European Affairs Clement Beaune that Russia had submitted a request to register its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) back in January, but received the confirmation for the filing weeks later, denying the French minister's claims that the application was submitted in March.

The EU has been inadvertently pushing the Czech Republic with its recent vaccine distribution schemes toward negotiating contracts with Russia for the Sputnik V vaccine, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis stated

Serbia plans to launch the first phase of production of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus in May, and full production is expected to start by the end of the year, Russian Ambassador to Belgrade Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko said.

Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech said that it could increase the production of the CoronaVac vaccine against COVID-19 to two billion doses a year after an additional production plant was put into operation.

The United States has shared a second batch of 1.2 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine with Mexico as part of a loan deal as the national regulator continues assessing safety and efficacy of the drug.

Canada's shipment from the Serum Institute of their version of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine is on hold for an undetermined period of time, a Public Services and Procurement Canada official said.

The Netherlands will stop using the coronavirus vaccine of UK-Swedish company AstraZeneca for people under 60, RTL Nieuws reported.

Italy vaccinated a record 300,000 people against the coronavirus on Thursday, the highest recorded figure since the country's mass vaccination campaign kicked into high gear early March, Mariastella Gelmini, Italy's minister for general affairs and autonomies, reported.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn said he planned to talk to regional health authorities on Wednesday about a recent recommendation of the national vaccination agency not to administer a second AstraZeneca shot to those under 60.

Estonia will receive an additional 62,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine against the coronavirus from April-June under the EU procurement scheme, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said.

Coronavirus antibodies can be transferred across the placenta of pregnant women to their newborns, Alexander Gintsburg, the head of Russia's Gamaleya institute that developed the Sputnik V vaccine, said in an interview with Sputnik.

Gamaleya institute will start clinical trials of its antibody-based drug against the coronavirus on people in the end of the year, the medication should help significantly reduce mortality from COVID-19, Gintsburg said.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) will invest in the creation of a robot capable of conducting 300 coronavirus tests per hour at airports, RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev said on Friday during a meeting with President Vladimir Putin.

Russia registered 8,792 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, down from 9,169 the day before, taking the overall tally to 4,563,056, the coronavirus response center said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated its COVID-19 guidance for fully vaccinated adults who can now travel within the United States without being tested though it is still not recommended they do so, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said.

The UK Department for Transport announced that four countries - Pakistan, Kenya, Bangladesh, and the Philippines - would be added to England's COVID-19 "red list" as part of efforts to limit the spread of new variants of the disease.