Globally, there have been nearly 105 million cases of nCoV, nearly 2.3 million deaths, the German Prime Minister said that the EU can use the Sputnik V vaccine after it has been approved by the bloc.

The world recorded 104,853,916 cases and 2,275,668 deaths due to Covid-19, an increase of 506,173 and 14,379 cases in the past 24 hours, respectively.

Sputnik V, deployed in Russia and several other countries, was found to be 91.6% effective on symptomatic nCoV infections, in test results published by the medical journal

"There are no more arguments for these vaccine critics, the Lancet article is a checkmate," said Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), developer of Sputnik V,

German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that "all vaccines are welcome in the European Union" after being approved by the European Pharmaceutical Authority (EMA).

German Health Minister Jens Spahn on 3/2 confirmed they were in talks with Moscow on the possibility of producing Sputnik V in Germany or elsewhere in Europe.

The United States, the world's largest epidemic region, recorded an additional 100,397 cases and 3,415 deaths, bringing the total number of infected people to 27,136,640 and 461,346 deaths.

Since the first Covid-19 case was registered in January 2020, it took the United States 311 days, ie, on November 27, 2020, 13 million cases were recorded.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on January 29 requires all residents to wear masks when traveling by planes, ships, subways, buses, taxis as well as at transportation centers.

US President Joe Biden said vaccinating the entire US population is a difficult challenge and that the vaccination program inherited from the Trump administration "is in worse shape than we expected or expected".

"This is wartime work," he said, announcing that the US would buy another 200 million doses and would be enough to vaccinate 300 million Americans, almost all of the population, by the beginning of the fall.

Nearly 32.8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been distributed across the United States, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on February 2.

India, the second largest epidemic region in the world, reported an additional 12,703 cases and 99 deaths, bringing the total number of people infected and dead from Covid-19 to 10,790,909 and 154,734 respectively.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India would have complete supply of Covid-19 vaccine, as it has received more than two million doses since the start of the world's largest vaccination campaign.

However, a large proportion of Indians have decided not to get the Covid-19 vaccine, due to concerns about side effects following news of anaphylaxis or death.

Brazil, the third largest epidemic region in the world, recorded an additional 1,180 deaths from Covid-19, bringing the total number of deaths to 227,563.

Brazil's Health Regulatory Authority on Feb. 3 said it would change requirements around the emergency vaccine use authorization, to allow approval of the vaccine to be tested outside the country.

The move will help increase supplies of vaccines in the country, the regulator said.

Brazil's Butantan Biomedical Center said about 8.5 million doses of the CoronaVac vaccine, made by the company Sinovac, arrived in the country on Feb. 3, and expects similar shipments to arrive soon after.

Concern about the pandemic situation in Brazil now focuses on Manaus city, Amazonas state.

Russia, the fourth largest epidemic region in the world, recorded an additional 16,474 nCoV infections and 526 deaths, bringing the total number of infections and deaths to 3,901,204 and 74,684 respectively.

The mass vaccination campaign in Russia was launched on January 18.

Sputnik V has been approved in more than 15 countries, including several Soviet Union, Argentina, Tunisia and Pakistan.

He recorded 1,322 more deaths, bringing the total number of deaths from the pandemic to 109,335, while the number of infections increased by 19,202 from the previous day, to 3,871,825.

UK Health Minister Matt Hancock said the government is working to vaccinate the most vulnerable people in society, as the country records more than 3,500 people hospitalized each day.

Hancock said on Feb. 3 that more than 10 million people in the UK received the first shot of the vaccine, describing the milestone as "critically important".

He aims to give the first injection to all people over 70 years old, the vulnerable, and the frontline health workers by mid-February.

France, the sixth largest epidemic region in the world, recorded an additional 26,362 cases and 357 deaths, bringing cases and deaths to 3,251,160 and 77,595 respectively.

The epidemic in France has raised concerns about a third national blockade.

Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Tuesday that the number of new infections had barely increased over the past week, while other indicators, such as traces of viruses detected in wastewater, also made them reassuring.

The French government issued a strict curfew at night after the second blockade ended in December. France, a country of 67 million people, said on February 1 that it had injected more than 1.5 million shots.

Iran, the most serious epidemic region in the Middle East, recorded an additional 6,870 cases and 79 deaths, bringing the total number of infections and deaths to 1,438,286 and 58,189 respectively.

Iran has approved Russia's Sputnik V vaccine for domestic use, and is working to buy the vaccine from AstraZeneca and other companies.

Iran's Health Minister announced on Feb. 3 that Iran plans to receive more than 4 million doses of AstraZeneca since mid-February through the Covax vaccine distribution program.

In Southeast Asia, Indonesia is the region's largest outbreak with 1,111,671 cases, an increase of 11,984, of which 30,770 people die, up 189. Experts say the actual number of infections in Indonesia could be 3 times higher.

Indonesian Minister of Health Gunadi Sadikin said there would be improvements in the fight against the epidemic, and urged people to follow medical guidelines.

However, some suggested that the Indonesian government should issue clearer regulations and at the same time take more stringent measures to prevent epidemics.

From February 3, Indonesia started a Covid-19 screening program at train stations using a breath meter.

The Philippines, the second largest epidemic region in Southeast Asia, reported 530,118 cases and 10,942 deaths, up 1,266 and 68 cases, respectively.

Due to the emergence of the more contagious nCoV strain from the UK in the country, President Rodrigo Duterte on January 25 decided to re-impose a ban on children aged 10-14 from leaving home, despite fears that this would cause

Updated: 9:46, 19/1 | Source: WorldOMeters