Health

New Delhi, Mar 17 (PTI) India recorded its highest daily tally of coronavirus cases this year with 28,903 new infections, taking the total COVID-19 tally to 1,14,38,734, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.

The death toll increased to 1,59,044 with 188 new fatalities, the highest in around two months, the data updated at 8 am showed.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China has approved a new COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, one that was developed by the head of its Center for Disease Control, adding to its arsenal.

Gao Fu, the head of China’s CDC, led the development of a protein subunit vaccine that was approved by regulators last week for emergency use, the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Microbiology said in a statement Monday.

It is the fourth such vaccine to be given emergency use approval. China has approved four vaccines developed by three Chinese companies for general use.

WASHINGTON, March 14 (Xinhua) -- The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected racial and ethnic minority groups in the United States, and continues to deepen health disparities in the country, according to data of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Long-standing inequalities have increased the risk for severe COVID-19 illnesses and death for many Americans, causing disparities between racial and ethnic minority groups and non-Hispanic white people, according to the CDC.

13 Mar 2021; MEMO: Tunisia launched a vaccination campaign today against the coronavirus pandemic, days after receiving the first batch of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, Anadolu Agency reports.

Tunisia received 30,000 doses of the Russian vaccine on Wednesday. The batch was part of a shipment of 500,000 doses the North African country is scheduled to get from Sputnik V.

Nurse Mehreziya al-Humami, 54, at El-Menzeh Hospital in the capital Tunis took the first shot.

11 Mar 2021; MEMO: Turkey plans to vaccinate 50 million people against COVID-19 by autumn in order to combat the spread of coronavirus, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Thursday, after the number of daily cases surged to their highest level this year, reported Reuters.

11 Mar 2021; MEMO: Palestinians received 40,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine on Thursday, a donation by the United Arab Emirates that could boost a long-time rival of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of an election, reported Reuters.

Mohammad Dahlan, who fell out with Abbas and was dismissed from the president's Fatah party more than a decade ago, took credit for securing the shipment to Gaza from the UAE, where he lives in exile.

Washington, Mar 12 (PTI) US President Joe Biden has announced that all adult Americans will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccination by May 1 with an aim to get the country, worst-hit by the pandemic, closer to normal by July 4th, Independence Day.

In his first prime-time address to the nation on Thursday since assuming office in January, Biden also announced the deployment of more than 4,000 active-duty troops to support vaccination efforts, bringing the total to over 6,000.

RIO DE JANEIRO, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Brazil on Tuesday saw record high daily COVID-19 deaths at 1,972 in 24 hours, bringing the national toll to 268,370.

Meanwhile, the country reported 70,764 new COVID-19 cases, taking the nationwide tally to 11,122,429, said the Ministry of Health.

Brazil has the second highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the world, after the United States, and the third highest number of cases, behind the United States and India.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE was able to neutralize a new variant of the coronavirus spreading rapidly in Brazil, according to a laboratory study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Monday.

Blood taken from people who had been given the vaccine neutralized an engineered version of the virus that contained the same mutations carried on the spike portion of the highly contagious P.1 variant first identified in Brazil, the study conducted by scientists from the companies and the University of Texas Medical Branch found.

08 Mar 2021; MEMO: Israel has almost emerged from its COVID-19 closures, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on the campaign trail, said on Sunday as restaurants reopened under an exit plan fuelled by fast-paced vaccinations, reported Reuters.

But health officials cautioned that rising contagions could trigger another lockdown – a possible dampener on Netanyahu's hope of parlaying his pandemic policies to victory in a March 23 ballot.