Coronavirus vaccine shots given worldwide

[ghazi52]

The biggest vaccination campaign in history is underway.

More than 6.13 billion doses have been administered across 184 countries, according to data collected by Bloomberg. The latest rate was roughly 29.4 million doses a day.

In the U.S., 390 million doses have been given so far. In the last week, an average of 703,352 doses per day were administered.

 

[ghazi52]

PARIS: The novel coronavirus has killed at least 4,744,890 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1000 GMT on Monday.

At least 231,740,830 cases of coronavirus have been registered.

The vast majority have recovered, though some have continued to experience symptoms weeks or even months later.

The figures are based on daily reports provided by health authorities in each country.

They exclude revisions made by other statistical organisations, which show that the number of deaths is much higher.

The World Health Organization estimates that the pandemic's overall toll could be two to three times higher than official records, due to the excess mortality that is directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19.

A large number of the less severe or asymptomatic cases also remain undetected, despite intensified testing in many countries.

On Sunday, 4,602 new deaths and 325,362 new cases were recorded worldwide.

Based on latest reports, the countries with the most new deaths were Russia with 779 new deaths, followed by United States with 289 and Iran with 288.

The United States is the worst-affected country with 688,033 deaths from 42,931,410 cases.

After the US, the hardest-hit countries are Brazil with 594,443 deaths from 21,351,972 cases, India with 447,194 deaths from 33,678,786 cases, Mexico with 275,450 deaths from 3,632,800 cases, and Russia with 204,679 deaths from 7,443,149 cases.

The country with the highest number of deaths compared to its population is Peru with 604 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Bosnia-Herzegovina with 318, the Republic of North Macedonia with 317, Hungary with 312, Montenegro with 302, and Bulgaria with 294.

Latin America and the Caribbean overall has 1,483,741 deaths from 44,756,793 cases, Europe 1,302,904 deaths from 67,169,675 infections, and Asia 834,398 deaths from 53,594,389 cases.

The United States and Canada has reported 715,678 deaths from 44,532,817 cases, Africa 208,797 deaths from 8,243,424 cases, the Middle East 197,310 deaths from 13,274,036 cases, and Oceania 2,062 deaths from 169,704 cases.

As a result of corrections by national authorities or late publication of data, the figures updated over the past 24 hours may not correspond exactly to the previous day's tallies.

 

[ghazi52]

More than 6.19 billion doses have been administered across 184 countries, according to data collected by Bloomberg.

The latest rate was roughly 29.2 million doses a day.

In the U.S., 391 million doses have been given so far. In the last week, an average of 701,422 doses per day were administered.

 

[ghazi52]

Global hits, local heroes: Covid-19 jabs around the world


AFP
September 30, 2021

Vials with Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, and Moderna coronavirus vaccine labels are seen in this illustration. — Reuters/File


Some have become global mainstays and others are staying local: here is an overview of more than 20 approved Covid-19 vaccines currently in use, and a few that fell by the wayside.


mRNA leads the pack

Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines developed by US-German alliance Pfizer-BioNTech and American company Moderna have emerged as the most successful vaccines in use today.

A survey from Canada's McGill University shows the Pfizer jab Comirnaty has been approved in 100 countries, while Moderna's Spikevax is authorised in 70.

Ground-breaking mRNA technology teaches our cells to make a harmless piece of protein found on the surface of the virus that causes Covid-19, prompting the immune system to develop antibodies that can fight off the real thing in case of infection.

A Chinese study published online this week comparing vaccine efficacy data found that Comirnaty and Spikevax work better than other jabs, even against the Delta variant currently dominating across the globe. The study has yet to be peer-reviewed.

Runners-up
A widely distributed vaccine developed jointly by Swedish firm AstraZeneca and Britain's Oxford University, along with another made by Johnson & Johnson affiliate Janssen-Cilag in the US, are both based on viral vector technology.

The more traditional approach uses a genetically engineered version of the common cold adenovirus as a “vector” to shuttle genetic instructions into human cells.

AstraZeneca's jab, named Vaxzevria, is approved in the European Union and was widely distributed after its release, but it was restricted in many countries when the vaccine was linked to statistically rare instances of blood clots.

It does not have US approval, and has been largely used to supply the Covax jab scheme that provides shots to poorer countries.

Janssen's was the fourth jab to be approved in the EU, but its seemingly convenient one-and-done dosage became a liability with the rise of Delta, which experts say is too resistant to be beaten with just one dose of any vaccine.


Local heros

There are a number of vaccines distributed only or mostly within the country where they were developed, though a few have limited international reach.

China's two WHO-approved vaccines — the Sinopharm jab, and CoronaVac from the lab Sinovac — have been given in about 50 countries. Two other Chinese firms, Cansino and Anhui Zhifei Longcom, are also marketing vaccines within China.

Russia has approved four domestically developed vaccines including Sputnik V, which currently has the green light in about 70 countries but lacks approval from the EU and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

India gave the green light to its Zydus Cadila vaccine at the end of August, making it the first DNA vaccine ever approved for use in humans.

The jab uses circular strands of DNA to prime the immune system against the virus, according to Nature magazine.

It was the second home-grown vaccine India approved after Covaxin, a shot developed by Bharat Biotech labs. India also produces its own version of the AstraZeneca jab under the name Covishield.

In Cuba, three locally-developed vaccines are available: Abdala, Soberana Plus and Soberana 2.

Other jabs that have local approval but are yet to be widely distributed include Iran's Barekat vaccine, QazVac in Kazakhstan and Taiwan's Medigen.


Next up?

Sputnik V and CoronaVac are under rolling review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) — a first step towards EU approval — along with other candidates.

One is Novavax, a two-jab vaccine from the US that relies on proteins to carry harmless fragments of the coronavirus to produce an immune reaction.

German mRNA jab CureVac is also under review, though efficacy tests showed disappointing results at the end of June.

A total of 121 Covid-19 vaccines, including those that have been approved, have undergone clinical tests on humans, according to a WHO review published on September 24.

Some 124 jabs are in pre-clinical trials meaning they have not yet been tested in humans.


Abandoned efforts

On Tuesday, French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi, which had lagged behind rivals to produce a jab, said it was stopping work on an mRNA vaccine despite positive test results.

Merck laboratories abandoned efforts to produce a jab in January, saying its candidates produced immune responses that were “inferior” to successful Covid-19 vaccines.

A few weeks prior in December 2020 Australia had dropped the development of a vaccine after clinical trials produced a false positive HIV result among subjects involved in early-stage testing.

The vaccine used a small amount of HIV protein but triggered an antibody response that could interfere with HIV screening.

 

[ghazi52]

More than 6.27 billion doses have been administered across 184 countries, according to data collected by Bloomberg. The latest rate was roughly 31.2 million doses a day.

In the U.S., 393 million doses have been given so far. In the last week, an average of 725,777 doses per day were administered.

 

[ghazi52]

More than 6.3 billion doses have been administered across 184 countries, according to data collected by Bloomberg. The latest rate was roughly 31.3 million doses a day.

In the U.S., 394 million doses have been given so far. In the last week, an average of 741,394 doses per day were administered.

 

[ghazi52]

PARIS: The novel coronavirus has killed at least 4,793,613 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1000 GMT on Sunday.

At least 234,542,240 cases of coronavirus have been registered.

The vast majority have recovered, though some have continued to experience symptoms weeks or even months later.

The figures are based on daily reports provided by health authorities in each country.

They exclude revisions made by other statistical organisations, which show that the number of deaths is much higher.

The World Health Organization estimates that the pandemic's overall toll could be two to three times higher than official records, due to the excess mortality that is directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19.

A large number of the less severe or asymptomatic cases also remain undetected, despite intensified testing in many countries.

On Saturday, 6,364 new deaths and 396,062 new cases were recorded worldwide.

Coronavirus toll at 1000 GMT Thursday

Based on latest reports, the countries with the most new deaths were the United States with 983 new deaths, followed by Russia with 890 and Mexico with 614.

The United States is the worst-affected country with 700,935 deaths from 43,658,032 cases.

After the US, the hardest-hit countries are Brazil with 597,723 deaths from 21,459,117 cases, India with 448,817 deaths from 33,813,903 cases, Mexico with 278,592 deaths from 3,678,980 cases, and Russia with 209,918 deaths from 7,586,536 cases.

The country with the highest number of deaths compared to its population is Peru with 605 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Bosnia-Herzegovina with 324, the Republic of North Macedonia with 321, Hungary with 313, Montenegro with 308, and Bulgaria with 302.

Latin America and the Caribbean overall have 1,492,645 deaths from 45,037,562 cases, Europe 1,316,322 deaths from 68,169,439 infections, and Asia 842,664 deaths from 54,127,309 cases.

The United States and Canada have reported 728,880 deaths from 45,289,238 cases, Africa 211,136 deaths from 8,313,436 cases, the Middle East 199,752 deaths from 13,420,110 cases, and Oceania 2,214 deaths from 185,154 cases.

As a result of corrections by national authorities or late publication of data, the figures updated over the past 24 hours may not correspond exactly to the previous day's tallies.

 

[ghazi52]

Global Covid-19 deaths hit 5m as Delta variant sweeps the world


Reuters
October 3, 2021

Visitors walks through artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg's “In America: Remember,” a temporary art installation made up of white flags to commemorate Americans who have died of Covid-19, on the National Mall, in Washington, on Saturday. — AP


LONDON: Worldwide deaths related to Covid-19 surpassed 5 million, according to a tally, with unvaccinated people particularly exposed to the virulent Delta strain.

The variant has exposed the wide disparities in vaccination rates between rich and poor nations, and the upshot of vaccine hesitancy in some western nations.

More than half of all global deaths reported on a seven-day average were in the United States, Russia, Brazil, Mexico and India.
While it took just over a year for the Covid-19 death toll to hit 2.5 million, the next 2.5 million deaths were recorded in just under eight months, according to an analysis.

An average of 8,000 deaths were reported daily across the world over the last week, or around five deaths every minute. However, the global death rate has been slowing in recent weeks.

There has been increasing focus in recent days on getting vaccines to poorer nations, where many people are yet to receive a first dose, even as their richer counterparts have begun giving booster shots.

More than half of the world has yet to receive at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to Our World in Data.
The World Health Organisation this week said its COVAX distribution programme would, for the first time, distribute shots only to countries with the lowest levels of coverage.

Co-led by the WHO, COVAX has since January largely allocated doses proportionally among its 140-plus beneficiary states according to population size.
“For the October supply we designed a different methodology, only covering participants with low sources of supply,” Mariangela Simao, WHO Assistant Director General for Access to Vaccines, said in a recording of a conference presentation last week posted on the WHO’s website.
US surpasses 700,000 deaths
The United States, which has been battling vaccine misinformation that has caused about one-third of the population to avoid inoculations, surpassed 700,000 deaths on Friday, the highest toll of any country.
US cases and hospitalisations have been trending lower, but health officials are bracing for a possible resurgence as cooler weather forces more activities indoors.
Russia reported 887 coronavirus-related deaths, the largest single-day death toll it has recorded since the pandemic began and the fourth day in a row it has set that record. Only 33pc of Russia’s eligible population has received a first vaccine dose.
As a region, South America has the highest death toll in the world accounting for 21pc of all reported deaths, followed by North America and Eastern Europe contributing more than 14pc of all fatalities each, according to an analysis.
However, India, one of the first countries ravaged by the Delta variant, has gone from an average of 4,000 deaths a day to less than 300 as its vaccination campaign is rolled out.
About 47pc of India’s eligible population has received a first shot, with officials administering around 7,896,950 doses per day over the past week, an analysis of Our World in Data showed.
The Delta variant is now the dominant strain around the globe and has been reported in 187 out of 194 World Health Organisation member countries.
Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2021

 

[ghazi52]

More than 6.34 billion doses have been administered across 184 countries, according to data collected by Bloomberg. The latest rate was roughly 31 million doses a day.

In the U.S., 396 million doses have been given so far. In the last week, an average of 831,500 doses per day were administered.

 

[ghazi52]

Vaccine doses remain relatively scarce globally, with demand still forecast to outstrip supply through the end of 2021. But concerns around waning immunity have prompted many countries, including the United States and Israel, to start administering additional doses, leading to a recent surge in their vaccination campaigns.

Additional doses include booster doses given to fully vaccinated individuals when the protection from the original shots has begun to decline, as well as extra shots given to people, such as the immunocompromised, who did not have a strong immune response from their initial doses. More than 32.6 million additional doses have been administered worldwide, with many more countries expected to start administering them soon.

More than 6.38 billion doses have been administered across 184 countries, according to data collected by Bloomberg. The latest rate was roughly 29.7 million doses a day.

In the U.S., 397 million doses have been given so far. In the last week, an average of 957,539 doses per day were administered.

 

[ghazi52]

More than 6.41 billion doses have been administered across 184 countries, according to data collected by Bloomberg. The latest rate was roughly 28.7 million doses a day.

In the U.S., 398 million doses have been given so far. In the last week, an average of 931,983 doses per day were administered.

 

[ghazi52]

More than 6.43 billion doses have been administered across 184 countries, according to data collected by Bloomberg. The latest rate was roughly 28.4 million doses a day.

In the U.S., 399 million doses have been given so far. In the last week, an average of 960,397 doses per day were administered.

 

[ghazi52]

More Than 6.46 Billion Shots Given: Covid-19 Tracker

In the U.S., 400 million doses have been administered

October 8, 2021


The biggest vaccination campaign in history is underway. More than 6.46 billion doses have been administered across 184 countries, according to data collected by Bloomberg. The latest rate was roughly 28 million doses a day.

In the U.S., 400 million doses have been given so far. In the last week, an average of 953,230 doses per day were administered.

 

[ghazi52]

October 09, 2021

Experts are of the opinion that the coronavirus pandemic can be controlled by vaccinating 70-90% of the population

At the present, getting coronavirus jabs is the only prevention we have against Covid-19. Since the novel coronavirus is highly contagious, it is necessary to inoculate the maximum number of people. Unfortunately, there are people everywhere in the world who, either due to the influence of anti-vaxxers or due to their personal predilections, are reluctant to receive the vaccine, so it is the unvaccinated because of whom others, including the fully vaccinated, run the risk of falling victim to the dreaded disease.

Thus the authorities in Pakistan have regularly been exhorting people to get fully vaccinated against coronavirus, and their efforts have borne fruit as so far 90 million doses of vaccines have been administered in the country. Now the federal government has asked parents of schoolchildren of age 12 and above to get their wards vaccinated.

The government has announced that school and seminary students should take the first dose by Oct 31 otherwise they will not be allowed to attend classes. By Nov 30, pupils should be fully vaccinated, as from Dec 1 they will not be allowed to enter schools and seminaries. To quote PM’s adviser on health, it has been observed that children of school-going age are super speeders of coronavirus.

Experts are of the opinion that the coronavirus pandemic can be controlled by vaccinating 70-90% of the population, and have warned that lapse in vaccination might result in nth wave of the pandemic. Around 20% Covid-19 patients need hospitalisation.

Those who are avoiding vaccination should realise that our healthcare system does not have the capacity to handle such a large number of patients.

The authorities, meanwhile, should also tell people about the side effects of anti-Covid vaccines. Last week, a school student died in Vehari after receiving the corona jab. Mystery surrounds the boy’s death, though. This death has raised doubts about the vaccine nonetheless.

 

[ghazi52]

YouTube to remove all anti-vaccine misinformation

YouTube has said it will remove content that spreads misinformation about all approved vaccines, expanding a ban on false claims about Covid-19 jabs.

Videos that say approved vaccines are dangerous and cause autism, cancer or infertility are among those that will be taken down, the company said.

The policy includes the termination of accounts of anti-vaccine influencers.

Tech giants have been criticised for not doing more to counter false health information on their sites.

In July, US President Joe Biden said social media platforms were largely responsible for people's scepticism in getting vaccinated by spreading misinformation, and appealed for them to address the issue.

YouTube, which is owned by Google, said 130,000 videos were removed from its platform since last year, when it implemented a ban on content spreading misinformation about Covid vaccines.

In a blog post, the company said it had seen false claims about Covid jabs "spill over into misinformation about vaccines in general". The new policy covers long-approved vaccines, such as those against measles or hepatitis B.

"We're expanding our medical misinformation policies on YouTube with new guidelines on currently administered vaccines that are approved and confirmed to be safe and effective by local health authorities and the WHO," the post said, referring to the World Health Organization.

Chart showing vaccine doses per 100 people in countries where the population is over one million. Updated 27 September.

Personal testimonies relating to vaccines, content about vaccine policies, new vaccine trials, and historical videos about vaccine successes or failures will be allowed to remain on the site, the company said.