G7 nations to donate one billion Covid vaccines globally – latest updates

Sunday, June 13

G7 nations to provide 1 billion COVID vaccines

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the Group of Seven wealthy nations will pledge over 1 billion coronavirus vaccine doses for poorer nations.

Speaking at the end of a G-7 leaders’ summit in southwest England on Sunday, Johnson said the doses would come both directly and through the international COVAX program.

The commitment falls far short of the 11 billion doses the World Health Organization said is needed to vaccinate at least 70 percent of the world’s population and truly end the pandemic.

The G7 meanwhile also urged China to cooperate with the WHO on a "transparent" second-phase probe into how the global coronavirus pandemic began.

Nearly 25% of Turkey’s population administered first jab

Turkey has administered over 33.7 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in mid-January, including first doses to nearly one-fourth of Turkey’s population of some 83.6 million, the Health Ministry has announced.

More than 20 million people have gotten their first doses, while nearly 13.7 million have been fully vaccinated, according to ministry data released on Sunday.

During the last week, over 3 million coronavirus vaccine doses have been administered in Turkey.

Meanwhile, the country reported 5,012 new cases and 53 more fatalities on Sunday.

Italy reports 26 more deaths and 1,390 new cases

Italy has reported 26 coronavirus-related deaths, against 52 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 1,390 from 1,723.

Italy has registered 127,002 deaths linked to Covid-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year. That is the second-highest toll in Europe behind Britain and the eighth-highest in the world. The country has reported 4.24 million cases to date.

Patients in hospital with Covid-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 3,542 on Sunday, d own from 3,655 a day earlier.

There were 20 new admissions to intensive care units, down from 25 on Saturday. The total number of intensive care patients fell to 565 from 574.

Some 134,136 Covid-19 tests were carried out over the past day, compared with a previous 212,966.

Saudi shopping malls open only to vaccinated people from August - State TV

Saudi Arabia will bar people from entering its shopping malls unless they have been vaccinated against Covid-19, state TV reported on Sunday, citing a decision by the trade ministry that will come into effect on August 1

"Having received at least one vaccine shot will be a condition for entering commercial facilities," the ministry said.

Saudi Arabia has administered 15.7 million vaccine doses so far, enough to have inoculated 23 percent of the population, according to the Reuters Covid-19 tracker.

40,000 jabs given in Lebanon's vaccine 'marathon'

Lebanon HAS administered more than 40,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in a weekend inoculation drive to contain the Covid pandemic.

On Saturday and Sunday, nearly 50 centres across the country administered jabs on a walk-in basis to anyone over the age of 55 who had not yet received a single dose. Disabled people above the age of 16 were also eligible for vaccination.

As of 6:00 pm (1500 GMT) on Sunday, 22,696 doses had been administered that day, the health ministry said on Twitter, following 19,089 jabs given the previous day.

The so-called 'Pfizer marathon' was the latest in a series of weekend vaccination drives organised this month in an effort to contain the virus.

Lebanon, home to more than six million people, has recorded over 542,000 infections, including over 7,700 deaths since last year. Its current coronavirus rates are the lowest they have been in months.

According to the health ministry, nearly 927,000 people had received at least one vaccine dose since inoculation started in February.

UK records another 7,490 cases, eight more deaths

The United Kingdom has recorded another 7,490 daily Covid-19 cases and the deaths of 8 people who tested positive for the virus within 28 days, official data shows.

The 7,490 cases was down slightly from the 7,738 recorded the day before and the 8 deaths were down from the 12 recorded on Saturday.

The data also showed that 78.4 percent of the adult population have had a first vaccine dose while 55.9 percent have had a second.

China gives Bangladesh another 600,000 doses of vaccine

Two flights of Bangladesh’s national flag carrier have reached the capital Dhaka Sunday evening with 600,000 doses of Chinese Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine donated in a sign of friendship, according to official sources.

A top foreign investor in Bangladesh, China on May 12 gave Dhaka 500,000 doses.

Bangladesh received the second shipment at a time when the country is going through a critical phase of its nationwide inoculation campaign due to a vaccine shortage.

Hualong Yan, deputy chief of mission at the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka, Sunday morning confirmed on social media that the second shipment is on its way to Bangladesh.

In a statement, Bangladesh military’s media wing, Inter Services Public Relations, also confirmed receiving the Chinese vaccines.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Sunday recorded 47 deaths in the last 24 hours, the highest single-day toll in a month, taking the Covid-19 casualties to 1 3,118.

With 2,436 new infections, the number of total cases surged to 826,922.

Bangladesh has so far inoculated over 10 million people.

Russia's new cases rise to highest since February 13

Russia has reported 14,723 new Covid-19 cases, including 7,704 in Moscow, the largest one-day national caseload since February 13.

The number of new infections in Moscow was the most reported in one day since Dec. 24. The city's mayor told residents on Saturday to stay off work this coming week to curb the spread of the virus.

The coronavirus task force said on Sunday that 357 people had died of coronavirus-related causes nationwide, taking the death toll to 126,430.

Turkey lowers vaccine eligibility age to 40

Turkey has lowered the vaccine eligibility age to 40, the Turkish health minister announced.

“If you are 40 or older, you can make an appointment as of this morning. We expect 100 percent participation,” Fahrettin Koca wrote on Twitter.

Indonesia reports 9,868 infections, highest since February 22

Indonesia has reported 9,868 Covid-19 daily infections, the highest since February 22, the Covid-19 task force said.

Total infections are 1,911,358.

The Southeast Asian country also reported 149 Covid-19 fatalities, taking the total to 52,879.

Death toll in Colombia surpasses 95,000

The death toll from the virus in Colombia has reached 95,192 with 577 news fatalities in the past 24 hours, the Health Minister said.

It reported 29,998 new cases, bringing the total to 3.72 million, according to data released by health officials.

Recoveries reached 3.45 million with more than 22,000 in the past day.

In the country of nearly 50 million, over 12.71 million people have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine while 3.73 million people are fully vaccinated.

India records lowest single-day cases in last 71 days

 India has reported 80,834 new virus cases over the last 24 hours, its lowest daily rise in the last 71 days, the country’s Health Ministry said.

The country also reported 3,303 fatalities over the last day.

The total number of confirmed infections has now reached 29.4 million and deaths toll stands at 370,384 in the country.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 370 million samples have been tested for Covid-19 so far.

Germany's cases rise by 1,489 – RKI

The number of confirmed virus cases in Germany increased by 1,489 to 3,714,969, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed. The reported death toll rose by 18 to 89,834 the tally showed. 

Australia's Victoria state expects further easing of curbs

Australia's Victoria state expects to announce further easing of restrictions this week, acting Premier James Merlino said, as the state reported one new locally acquired infection for a second straight day.

The latest infection was a close contact of a previously reported case and had already been quarantined, Victoria's health department said.

Australia's second-most-populous state has recorded 92 cases in its latest wave of infections, which triggered a two-week snap lockdown late last month.

Taiwan reports 174 cases

Taiwan has reported 174 new domestic infections, down from the previous day's figure of 250.

China reports 34 new cases 

Mainland China reported 34 new Covid-19 cases on June 12, down from 35 cases a day earlier, the country's national health authority has said.

Of the new cases, six were local transmissions, compared with eight the previous day, the National Health Commission said. All of the local cases were in southern Guangdong province.

China also reported 18 new asymptomatic infections, versus 27 a day earlier. China does not classify symptomless infections as confirmed cases.

The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Mainland China now stands at 91,428, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,636. 

UNICEF calls on G7 to commit to vaccine equality

Rich nations must do more than just donate surplus vaccines if they hope to end the pandemic, and G7 leaders should deliver detailed plans when they end their summit in Cornwall.

Public health experts and humanitarian groups that are calling for money, increased production and logistical support to help developing countries where the virus is still raging.

"What we don't want is for there to be lots of grand statements and commitments not backed up by detailed plans and not backed up by timelines," Lily Caprani, head of vaccines advocacy for UNICEF said.

The appeal came after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he hoped leaders of the Group of Seven major industrialised nations will agree to provide at least 1 billion vaccine doses for poorer countries.

Eight Venezuela players test positive for Covid-19

Eight Venezuela soccer players in Brazil for the Copa America have tested positive for Covid-19, health officials have said, a day before they meet the hosts in the tournament's opening game.

The "members of the delegation include players and members of the backroom staff," said a statement from the Health Secretariat in Brasilia, where Sunday's game will take place.

The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) made the diagnosis on Friday and informed local health authorities.

"All are asymptomatic, isolated in individual rooms, and are being monitored by the CONMEBOL team and local health officials," the statement added.

CONMEBOL said that in total 13 members of the Venezuela delegation tested positive. Brazilian Health Minister Marcelo Quiroga put the number at 12.

Venezuela said it was 11 and announced it was calling up an additional 16 players to join the squad for the month-long tournament.

Brazil president fined for not wearing mask

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has led a throng of motorcyclist supporters through the streets of Sao Paulo and got hit with a fine for failure to wear a mask.

Sao Paulo’s state government press office said a fine — equivalent to about $110 — would be imposed for violation of a rule that has required masks in public places since May 2020.

Bolsonaro’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bolsonaro, who tested positive for the coronavirus last year, also was fined for failure to wear a mask during a rally with supporters in May in the northeastern state of Maranhao.

The conservative president waved to the crowd from his motorcycle and later spoke from atop a sound truck to helmeted but largely maskless backers. They cheered and chanted while he insisted that masks were useless for those already vaccinated — an assertion disputed by most public health experts.

Vaccines are designed chiefly to protect recipients from getting sick, not necessarily from being infected. While studies show many vaccines reduce viral load and likely spread, not all varieties have been fully studied.

Less than 12% of Brazil’s population has received both doses of a vaccine, according to the Ministry of Health.