Latest On Coronavirus

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th April, 2021) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world topped 2.965 million, over 137.8 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 20:25 GMT Wednesday, the number of cases globally is 137,847,272, including 2,965,199 fatalities.

The United States still has the highest case count in the world, with 31,400,193, including 564,098 fatalities.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he got the second shot of a two-phase Russian vaccine against COVID-19.

No thrombosis cases were registered after use of Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V, the vaccine's developer, Gamaleya Institute, said. The institute also said it was ready to share its purification technology with other COVID-19 vaccine producers.

Production of Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V has been launched at Serbia's Torlak Institute, the Russian Direct Investment Fund said.

Delivery of another 1 million doses of BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine to Austria does not affect negotiations between Vienna and Moscow on Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said.

Czech First Deputy Prime Minister Jan Hamacek, who is also the country's interim foreign minister, will visit Moscow on Monday to negotiate possible purchase of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine after its approval by European regulator EMA.

More than 400,000 servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces have been fully inoculated against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) with two components of the Sputnik V vaccine, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The European Commission has decided not to extend the contracts with AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson on supplies of their coronavirus vaccines over reports of blood clotting side effects, Italian newspaper La Stampa reported citing a health ministry source.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the bloc reached an important milestone, as 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccines were administered.

Von der Leyen also announced that the bloc had reached an agreement to get 500 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine ahead of schedule, with 1.8 billion extra doses set to arrive from 2022-2023.

Denmark has become the first country to stop administering the AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus, media said Wednesday, amid concerns over a rare blood clotting disorder.

The first batch of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine has been delivered to Poland, Michal Kuczmierowski, the head of the government's Agency for Strategic Reserves (RARS), said.

Poland's Catholic Church believes that the production of coronavirus vaccines based on adenoviral vectors, such as those developed by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, violates moral principles as they use aborted fetal cell lines, the Secretariat of the Polish Bishops' Conference said on Wednesday, citing Bishop Jozef Wrobel SCJ.

The pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine will not impact President Joe Biden's target of administering at least 200 million doses to Americans by the end of April, White House COVID-19 Response Team Coordinator Jeff Zients said.

Canadian health regulators will not hesitate to change the terms of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine license if additional safety issues emerge, Health Minister Patty Hajdu said.

Canadian safety review of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine concluded that blood clotting events were possibly linked to it, Chief Medical Adviser Supriya Sharma said.

Russia registered 8,326 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, up from 8,173 the day before, taking the overall tally to 4,666,209, the coronavirus response center said.

The daily number of new cases of the novel coronavirus infection in Argentina has hit a record 27,000, the health ministry said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu expressed the belief that Russia's decision to suspend most of the air travel with Turkey was not politically motivated.

EU ambassadors agreed to move ahead with the plan to get the coronavirus vaccination certificate scheme operational by summer, according to the prime minister of Portugal, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council.

The Belgium government has decided to ease some pandemic-induced restrictions, including a ban on non-essential trips, starting April 19, the RTL broadcaster reported after the meeting of regional and federal authorities.

COVID-19 restrictions will stay in effect after April 21 in the Netherlands despite previously announced plans as it still "too soon" to lift them, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said.

Canada is reintroducing enhanced screening measures at the border for individuals arriving in Brazil amid a surging third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the country's health ministry said.

One in four breweries in Germany say they are at risk of becoming insolvent because of the pandemic, according to a poll by the German Brewers' Federation.

The European Commission will borrow 800 billion Euros ($957 billion) until 2026 in order to fund the union's response to the coronavirus pandemic and build a greener, more digital and more resilient future, EU budget commissioner Johannes Hahn said.