A man wearing a face mask crosses a street in Lisbon on July 14, 2021. (PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP)
CARACAS / BRASILIA / RABAT / LUSAKA / WASHINGTON / MEXICO CITY / BUENOS AIRES / BERLIN / HAVANA / SANTIAGO / MILAN / MOSCOW / TRIPOLI / NICOSIA / COPENHAGEN / BELGRADE – Europe has recorded 60,093,393 COVID-19 cases, including 1,220,486 deaths, according to the figures released by the WHO Regional Office for Europe on Monday.
"The end of the pandemic is still over the horizon and sadly so far in the European region there have been more than 1.2 million COVID-19 deaths," WHO Regional Emergency Director for Europe Dorit Nitzan said in a press release.
"It is important that countries continue their combined efforts to protect their most vulnerable people and those at risk," Nitzan added.
In addition, the official expressed concern over the continued low uptake of vaccinations across the European region, especially among priority population groups such as "the over 60s, health care workers, people living in long-term care facilities, and those with underlying conditions," which had the potential to lead to "more hospitalizations and deaths."
A woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine next to a car at a drive-thru vaccination center outside an IKEA store in Berlin, Germany, on July 29, 2021. (STEFANIE LOOS / AFP)
Germany
Germany is poised to widen COVID-19 vaccinations to include all 12-17 year-olds, stepping up efforts to spur its flagging inoculation drive.
The move set to be agreed Monday goes beyond advice published by the government’s independent vaccine commission. The authority, known as STIKO, recommends inoculating those in that age group who have pre-existing conditions that put them at heightened risk from the coronavirus, or those who are in regular contact with people who are in particular danger.
“In other countries this is already happening and we think it’s important not to lose any time,” Bavaria Health Minister Klaus Holetschek said Monday in an interview with ARD television.
“If anyone is unsure, they should consult their doctor,” he added ahead of talks with regional counterparts and Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn. “The key thing is that we’re making an offer of vaccines to a group that is not yet protected.”
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As of Friday, 52 percent of the German population were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and just under 62 percent had received at least one shot, according to the latest health ministry data.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 847 to 3,772,109, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Monday.
The reported death toll rose by 1 to 91,660, the tally showed.
Global tally
Coronavirus cases worldwide exceeded 198.47 million while the global death toll topped 4.22 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Brazil
Brazil has had 20,503 new cases of the novel coronavirus reported in the past 24 hours, and 464 deaths from COVID-19, the health ministry said on Sunday.
The South American country has now registered 19,938,358 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 556,834, according to ministry data.
As vaccination advances in Brazil, the rolling 7-day average of COVID-19 deaths has dropped to 932 fatalities in the past week, down from almost 3,000 a week at the peak of the pandemic in early April, according to a Reuters tally.
As of Saturday, more than 142 million people in Brazil had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while more than 41.4 million people have been fully vaccinated.
People dance during an event for kids at a soup kitchen in the Antimano neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, July 27, 2021. The soup kitchen was celebrating a belated national children´s a day with different cultural activities amid the coronavirus pandemic. (ARIANA CUBILLOS / AP)
Venezuela
Venezuela will receive 6.2 million doses of coronavirus vaccines through the COVAX initiative "in the coming days," President Nicolas Maduro said on Sunday, potentially speeding up an inoculation campaign well behind regional peers.
The announcement comes after the GAVI alliance, which co-runs the facility along with the World Health Organization (WHO), said in early July that COVAX had received payments from the South American country after Venezuelan officials said some payments were blocked by a bank due to US sanctions.
Maduro had given COVAX an "ultimatum" to send the doses or return the funds Venezuela has already paid.
Venezuela will receive doses of China's Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines through the initiative, according to the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), the regional arm of the WHO. The country has so far been administering Sinopharm, Russia's Sputnik-V, and Cuba's Abdala vaccines.
The country of some 28 million inhabitants has reported 305,766 cases and 3,591 deaths, official data show. It had administered some 2.2 million doses as of July 14, according to PAHO. Reuters data show Venezuela has fully vaccinated 3.9 percent of the population, among the lowest rates in Latin America.
ALSO READ: UK advisers: Vaccine protection highly likely to wane over time
Mexico
Mexico's health ministry on Sunday reported 6,740 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country and 128 more fatalities, bringing its total to 2,854,992 infections and 241,034 deaths.
Pfizer, Moderna vaccine prices
Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. have increased the prices of their COVID-19 vaccines in the latest supply contracts with the European Union, the Financial Times reported.
The price rises come as the bloc deals with supply disruptions and side-effect concerns from other shots, the FT reported. The terms of the deals – struck this year and covering up to 2.1 billion shots until 2023 – were renegotiated after Phase 3 clinical trial data showed vaccines from the two companies are more effective than some rivals, according to the report.
The new price for a Pfizer shot is 19.50 euros (US$23.15), up from 15.50 euros previously, the newspaper reported, citing portions of contracts it had seen. A Moderna jab increases to US$25.50 a dose, it said.
Pfizer declined to comment to the FT on pricing. Moderna did not respond to the FT’s request for comment on EU pricing.
Argentina
Argentina registered 6,083 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, raising the tally to 4,935,847, the country's health ministry said.
The ministry said 51 more deaths were reported, bringing the death toll to 105,772.
The number of patients in intensive care has reached 3,913, with a bed occupancy rate of 54.2 percent nationwide and 53 percent in Buenos Aires and its periphery.
So far, more than 32.29 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country, according to the ministry.
This July 26, 2021 file photo captures visitors at Trocadero plaza, near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. (MICHEL EULER / AP)
France
Tourism to France is rebounding versus last year, when the pandemic shut borders, though US and Asian visitors remain limited, said Tourism Minister Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne.
France expects 50 million foreign tourists this summer, up from 35 million in the comparable period last year but down from 90 million in 2019, Lemoyne said.
A so-called health pass – proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test – is required to enter museums and theme parks, and that will be extended to bars, restaurants and long-distance trains starting Aug 9.
“A period of teaching will be necessary for the French to get used to the health pass,” Lemoyne said in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche newspaper. “But it is essential to keep all these establishments open.”
The best way to ensure a strong tourist season is for everyone to get vaccinated, he said.
European tourists are back in force, except for British visitors because the UK government is requiring a 14-day isolation upon return from France, the minister said. While a few Americans are starting to travel again, Asian customers largely won’t be back until next year, he said.
Opponents of the health pass, who say it infringes on their freedom, took to the streets in Paris and other cities on Saturday in a third weekend of protests against the measure.
READ MORE: Thousands protest against COVID-19 health pass in France
Almost 65 percent of French adults are fully vaccinated, according to government figures.
Morocco
Morocco announced on Sunday 6,189 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally of infections in the North African country to 629,717.
The death toll went up by 48 to 9,833 while the total number of recoveries from COVID-19 increased to 566,008 after 4,078 new ones were added.
The number of active cases rose to 53,876, and there were 985 people in intensive care units.
A total of 13,672,764 people have received their first vaccine shot against COVID-19, with 10,129,424 having received two doses.
An NHS worker injects a syringe with a COVID-19 shot at a pop-up inoculation center during a four-day vaccine festival in Langdon Park, east London, July 31, 2021. (KIRSTY O'CONNOR / PA VIA AP)
UK
Britain will offer COVID-19 booster vaccines to 32 million Britons starting early next month with up to 2,000 pharmacies set to deliver the program, The Telegraph reported on Sunday.
The campaign could start as soon as Sept 6, which would see the rollout completed by early December if it goes to plan, according to the report.
British ministers plan to warn holidaymakers against visiting destinations such as Spain and may create a new list of countries at high risk of moving to the government's quarantine list, The Times newspaper reported.
Such a step could trigger an exodus of about a million British tourists already abroad, cause further damage to the travel sector and deal a new blow to southern Europe's summer tourist season.
Finance Minister Rishi Sunak has written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling for an urgent easing of travel restrictions which he said were damaging the economy, The Sunday Times reported.
Under current rules, which will be reviewed on Thursday, double-vaccinated travelers can return from amber-list countries without quarantining, but those returning from red-list countries must pay 1,750 pounds to spend ten days in a hotel.
Separately, the bosses of Britain's biggest airlines and travel companies urged Transport Minister Grant Shapps to add more countries to the "green list" that have fewer restrictions.
They said green status should increasingly become a default, given that nearly 90 percent of British adults had been given one vaccine and more than 70 percent had two, and domestic restrictions had eased.
The UK on Sunday reported another 24,470 COVID-19 cases and 65 deaths, bringing the tally to 5,880,667 and the toll to 129,719, according to official data.
Zambia
The Zambian government on Sunday said it was clear that the country was making progress in bringing the COVID-19 pandemic under control.
Kennedy Malama, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Health in charge of Technical Services, however, said the risk of contracting the virus remains high as there was still person-to-person transmission taking place in communities.
"We are encouraged by the current positive outlook of the COVID-19 situation in our country. However, this is not the time to be complacent but heighten adherence to the public health and social measures," Malama said in a statement.
The country has witnessed a reduction in positivity in the last two weeks as well as hospitalizations and deaths, according to the official.
In the past 24 hours, the country saw 477 new cases and 17 deaths, bringing the tally to 196,293 and the toll to 3,406.
US
The United States will not lock down again to curb COVID-19 but "things are going to get worse" as the Delta variant fuels a surge in cases, mostly among the unvaccinated, top US infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday.
A sufficient percentage of Americans have now been vaccinated to avoid lockdowns, Fauci said on ABC's "This Week".
"Not enough to crush the outbreak, but I believe enough to not allow us to get into the situation we were in last winter," he said.
Separately, Fauci said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that COVID-19 vaccines work extremely well and that a return to the lockdowns of 2020 is unlikely despite reports of outbreaks among fully vaccinated people.
“The likelihood of your getting a severe outcome of the infection is very low,” Fauci said.
Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari told the same program that the Delta variant was "creating a bunch of caution" among millions of out-of-work Americans and could slow the US labor market recovery.
The White House said the past week has been the best for administering first shots since early June.
On Sunday, 816,000 doses were administered, one of the highest in the past month.
A man receives the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in New York on July 30, 2021. (MARK LENNIHAN / AP)
Chile
Chile reported on Sunday 1,185 new COVID-19 infections and 80 more deaths in the past 24 hours, raising the caseload to 1,616,942 and the toll to 35,528, according to the Ministry of Health.
Health Minister Enrique Paris said in a statement that the positivity rate in the Santiago Metropolitan Region remained at 2 percent, while 15 regions have reported positivity rates of less than or equal to 2 percent.
In recent weeks, Chile has registered its lowest numbers of cases and hospitalizations of the pandemic, thanks to the restrictive measures adopted and the ongoing vaccination campaign.
Cuba
Cuba on Sunday set a new daily record of 9,747 cases and 87 deaths from COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections to 394,343 and the death toll to 2,845.
The Ministry of Public Health said in its daily report that three pregnant women and a 12-year-old child were among those who died in the last 24 hours.
Among the new cases, 22 had a source of infection abroad, said Francisco Duran, the ministry's national director of hygiene and epidemiology.
"This disease is not the same one we faced last year," he added.
So far, 34.2 percent of Cuba's population has received at least one dose of a domestically produced vaccine.
Italy
Italy reported five coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday, down from 16 the day before, the health ministry said, and the daily tally of new infections fell to 5,321 from 6,513.
Italy has registered 128,068 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the eighth-highest in the world. The country has reported 4.355 million cases to date.
Patients in hospital with COVID-19 – not including those in intensive care – stood at 1,954 on Sunday, up from 1,851 a day earlier.
There were 22 new admissions to intensive care units, down from 25 on Saturday, and the total number of intensive care patients increased to 230 from a previous 214.
Russia
Russia on Monday reported 23,508 new COVID-19 cases, including 3,330 in Moscow, taking the total number of cases to 6,312,185 since the pandemic began.
The government coronavirus also confirmed 785 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours.
Libya
Libya's interior ministry on Sunday said that people who breach curfew instructions against COVID-19 could be punished with six months in prison or receive a fine of 200 dinars (about US$44), or both.
The ministry said the decision was taken with an aim to "save people's lives, maintain their safety, and prevent rapid spread of the virus".
Interior Minister Khaled Mazen issued instructions to all security services to implement the instructions.
The government has imposed a curfew due to an increased number of COVID-19 infections. The curfew lasts for two weeks and runs from 6 pm (1600 GMT) until 6 am (0400 GMT) the following morning, said the government.
According to the National Center for Disease Control, Libya's virus tally stood at 253,436, including 192,184 recoveries and 3,548 deaths.
Cyprus
Cyprus' Health Ministry said it on Monday started a vaccination program for 12- to 15-year-olds.
The ministry said that the decision was made after it was established that 20 percent of new COVID-19 infections related to these age groups.
The youngsters would be eligible for Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines, provided they had the consent of their parents or legal guardians, according to the ministry.
The vaccination program was launched after the Cyprus Pediatric Society issued a recommendation to immediately include 12- to 15-year-olds.
The society said that it came to the conclusion after establishing that the mRNA vaccines are safe and effective and that the benefit of vaccinating these age groups far outweighs any potential risks.
In this photo Moderna vials sit on a table before they are loaded into syringes at a mobile COVID-19 vaccination clinic, run by Hartford Healthcare at Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic Church's McGivney community center, in Bridgeport, Connecticut on April 20, 2021. (PHOTO / AFP)
Denmark
Combining AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine with a second dose from either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna’s jab provides “good protection”, Denmark’s State Serum Institute said on Monday.
A growing number of countries are looking at switching to different COVID-19 vaccines for second doses, a measure particularly necessary in Denmark after health authorities discontinued inoculations with AstraZeneca’s vaccine in April over rare side-effect concerns.
More than 144,000 Danes, mostly frontline personnel in the health sector and the elderly, received their first jab with AstraZeneca’s vaccine but were subsequently vaccinated with either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna’s shots.
“The study shows that fourteen days after a combined vaccination program, the risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 is reduced by 88 percent compared to unvaccinated individuals,” the State Serum Institute (SSI) said.
That is a “high efficacy”, SSI added, comparable to the 90 percent efficacy rate of two doses from Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine, confirmed in a different Danish study.
The study, published last week, covered a span of more than five months between February and June this year, a period in which the Alpha-variant of the coronavirus was predominant.
It could not conclude whether the same protection applied to the Delta-variant, which is now the most widespread in Denmark.
It also provided no efficacy data on COVID-19 related deaths or hospitalizations, since none took place following the combined vaccination program.
Serbia
Serbia is benefiting from COVID-19 'quarantine tourism' as thousands of Indians make a two-week stopover on the way to other countries.
India has registered more coronavirus cases than any other country except the United States. Its citizens are barred from entering many countries during the pandemic unless they spend two weeks in another country en route.
Serbia has become a popular stopover destination for Indians because it offers them visa-free entry if they have been vaccinated and test negative for the virus.
They are also required to spend at least the first seven days of their stay in Serbia in isolation, depending from conditions set by their destination countries. They must also take another coronavirus test at the end of their quarantine.
In June, Serbia recorded a 48.4 percent annual increase in tourist arrivals and the number of overnight stays increased by 39.3 percent, the Statistics Office said.
Since last December, Serbia has vaccinated almost a third of its 6.7 million population. Serbia has recorded more than 722,220 people COVID-19 cases and 7,118 deaths from the virus.
Kenya
Kenya approved the emergency use of Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer Inc COVID-19 vaccines, said Fred Siyoi, chief executive officer of the Pharmacy and Poisons Board.
The East African nation expects to receive 13 million J&J doses starting this month. Kenya’s plan to inoculate its entire adult population of 26 million people by end of 2022 is reliant on J&J vaccines. About 10 million people will be vaccinated by the end of December, President Uhuru Kenyatta said last month.
Kenya has so far inoculated less than 2.5 percent of its population of approximately 53 million people, using mostly doses from AstraZeneca.
The nation is battling a surge in cases after the positivity rate hit 18 percent in July and authorities warned of a shortage of oxygen and scarcity of hospital beds in the capital, Nairobi. Health Secretary Mutahi Kagwe lask week annouced the suspension of public gatherings and said a night curfew will remain in force.
