COVID-19 Outbreak: Weekly Global Report for Friday, May 14, 2021
AdvaMed recognizes that its members, particularly those with global government affairs responsibilities, are tracking COVID-19 related developments around the world to assess the public health and economic impacts on their businesses. Knowing that companies are consuming information from a variety of sources, AdvaMed's global team would like to provide members with a weekly snapshot of the key statistics, policy developments and advocacy initiatives underway in our priority markets. If you have any suggestions, we welcome your feedback.
Global
- Weekly COVID-19 statistics: global cases increased by around 5 million to reach a total of 160.5 million cases. Deaths around the world have exceeded 3.3 million. The countries with the most reported cases continue to be the U.S. (32.8 million), India (23.7 million) and Brazil (15.4 million).
- U.S. cases exceeded 32.8 million with deaths increasing to 584,000.
- Staff Contact: Ralph Ives (rives@advamed.org).
China
- Overview: China’s vaccination efforts have ramped up markedly in recent weeks. Over 354 million Chinese citizens have received a COVID vaccine jab as of May 12—the largest number of vaccinations of any country. Still, China to date has only administered vaccines for around 20% of its population, compared to 70% in the United States. China aims to vaccinate 40% of its population (560 million) by the end of June.
- Weekly COVID-19 statistics: China’s total COVID cases now stand at 102,674, an increase of 101 cases over the previous week. The number of reported deaths remained unchanged over the previous week at 4,846.
- Vaccine roll-out: Over the past week, China has administered an average of about 10 million doses a day, up from about four million a day earlier in April. Experts have said they need to reach 10 million a day to meet the national goal of vaccinating 40% of the population by the end of June.
- China’s vaccines: In late February, China’s regulator approved for general use a third and fourth vaccine produced by CanSino Biologics and Sinopharm. This follows China’s approval of the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine on Dec. 31 last year and Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccine on Feb. 5.
- Beijing leads in vaccine roll-out: The Chinese capital has administered over 26.61 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with the vaccination rate among people aged 18 and over reaching 76.71 percent, as of May 9.
- BioNTech vaccine: A unit of Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical has agreed to form a US$200 million joint venture with German partner BioNTech to build a plant in China capable of supplying up to 1 billion doses a year. Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Industry Development will contribute up to US$100 million of assets including cash and a manufacturing facility, while BioNTech will chip in the license and know-how to produce the vaccine. With the announcement, BioNTech’s vaccine is poised to become the first foreign vaccine widely available in China.
- WHO approves Sinopharm vaccine: The World Health Organization has added the Sinopharm vaccine to its list of approved COVID-19 jabs, boosting the credentials of the China-made dose amid doubts over its efficacy. The emergency use listing for the shot, developed in partnership with the Beijing Institute of Biological Products, is for a two-dose regimen for all adults aged 18 and over, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director-general. It is the first vaccine of any kind made in China to receive emergency use authorization from the WHO. The approval is a signal to countries that the Sinopharm vaccine is safe to use and means that the jab will be added to the WHO’s vaccine procurement program Covax. Alejandro Cravioto, chair of the WHO’s strategic advisory group of experts on immunization, said the panel had made “a thorough assessment” of the vaccine, and that there was “enough evidence” it was safe and reduced cases of severe or symptomatic disease by at least 79 per cent.
- Vaccine diplomacy: According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China is providing free vaccines to 69 countries and commercially exporting them to 28 more. China had exported 115 million doses by the end of March, according to Airfinity—a British company that provides real-time life-science intelligence.
- Some travel restrictions between the U.S. and China eased: China said it was willing to resume a travel exchange with the United States following an announcement by the U.S. that it was easing some coronavirus travel bans. The U.S. has announced it will allow students and professionals in various categories and from various countries, including China, to enter the country. The announcement comes more than a year after the US suspended entry for travelers who had been in mainland China 14 days before travelling because of the Covid-19 outbreak.
- Updated estimates on 2020 hospital visits: according to the National Health Commission, the total number of hospital visits/medical consultations in January through September 2020 reached 3.9 billion, a decrease of 15.3% over the same period in 2019. It is important to note that this percentage decrease has gotten progressively smaller since June, perhaps indicating Chinese patients have become more comfortable in visiting medical institutions in the second half of 2020.
- S. aims to shape new WHO report on COVID’s origins: Experts from the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of State, the Agriculture Department and five other federal agencies are developing recommendations to be submitted to the WHO for its planned second phase of the inquiry into how the new coronavirus started spreading. The U.S. is expected to push back on a hypothesis promoted by China that the virus could have spread via frozen-food products, according to people familiar with the work. Instead, the experts are expected to urge the release of more data as well as more testing of animals and humans for early evidence of the new coronavirus, including in parts of southern China where related viruses were previously found.
- AmCham White Paper: An across-the-board deterioration in US-China relations last year became the top challenge to doing business in China, according to a report released by the American Chamber of Commerce in China on Tuesday. Many long-standing economic and commercial issues that plague the foreign business community remain unaddressed. This includes the amount of support China gives its state-owned enterprises, its preferential treatment for domestically invested enterprises, and its preference for domestic technologies and products over foreign technologies, AmCham China said in its annual white paper – a more than 500-page assessment of the operating environment for American businesses in China. “When US-China bilateral relations worsen, we often find that the implementation in the marketplace, particularly in the provinces and municipalities where our members do business, will suffer,” said Greg Gilligan, chairman of AmCham China. “We feel that local officials are reacting to the levels of tension in the relationship and are taking the safer path, which is to offer preference to a domestic industry.”
- S.-China relations: Policy reviews of Trump-era sanctions, initiatives, and Executive Orders on China are underway across U.S. government, with the White House providing oversight. The Commerce Department and Treasury Department have already begun reviewing existing export controls and financial sanctions against PRC entities, respectively. USTR has yet to commence its “top-to-bottom” review of the Phase One agreement, the 301 tariffs, and trade policy towards China more generally. USTR Tai, in a recent Congressional hearing, recognized that “time is of the essence” as it relates to USTR’s review.
- Staff Contact: Kyle Churchman (kchurchman@advamed.org)
India
- Weekly COVID-19 statistics – 23,702,832 total cases, 3,710,525 active cases/258,317 deaths/ discharged 19,734,823 (John Hopkins & MoHFW) as compared to 21,070,852 total cases, 3,566,398 active cases/230,168 deaths/ discharged 17,280,844 (John Hopkins & MoHFW) last week. 17,72,14,256 people have been vaccinated.
- The government has approved the procurement of 1.5 lakh units of the DRDO-developed ‘Oxycare’ system, which regulates the oxygen being administered to patients based on the sensed SpO2 levels, at a cost of Rs 322 crore.
- Faced with the upsurge in Covid-19 cases in the second wave and to meet the urgent need to ramp up testing, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has liberalised import of testing kits into the country.
- Union commerce and industry ministry on Monday, May 10, said it has relaxed general financial rules and removed all restrictive provisions to enable procurement of critical Covid-19 related supplies. Besides, bank guarantees have been waived off for all procurement.
- The head of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) responding to the coronavirus has said districts reporting a high number of infections should remain locked down for another six to eight weeks to control the spread of the rampaging disease.
- In the wake of a rapid spread of Covid-19 infection, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has altered its testing strategy to recommend increased use of Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs), mainly to upscale field testing to detect cases early and isolate them to reduce transmission.
- The expert panel that advises the Indian drug regulator has recommended phase II and III trials for Covaxin on children aged between two and 18 years. According to reports, the trials will be conducted on over 500 kids at multiple sites, including Delhi, Patna and Nagpur.
- Dr Reddy's Laboratories on Tuesday, May 11, said it has inked a licensing pact with Eli Lilly and Company to produce Baricitinib in the country for treatment of Covid-19. The Hyderabad-based firm said it has entered into a royalty-free, non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreement with Eli Lilly and Company for the manufacture and commercialisation of the drug in India.
- In a late-night affidavit, the Union government on Sunday, May 09, told the Supreme Court that differential pricing of vaccines by manufacturers for the Centre and the states or private hospitals would have no impact on the citizens who would be given the vaccine free of cost.
- Drug firm Vivimed Labs on Monday, May 10, said it has received approval from the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) to manufacture and market Favipiravir tablets in India, used for the treatment of mild to moderate cases of Covid-19.
- Faulting the Centre’s oxygen allocation methodology during the recent surge of Covid cases, the Supreme Court on Saturday, May 08 drew health experts from all over India to set up a jumbo national task force to devise a scientific formula for rational and equitable allocation of oxygen to states, audit utilisation and suggest means to augment production.
- Weekly COVID-19 statistics – 23,702,832 total cases, 3,710,525 active cases/258,317 deaths/ discharged 19,734,823 (John Hopkins & MoHFW) as compared to 21,070,852 total cases, 3,566,398 active cases/230,168 deaths/ discharged 17,280,844 (John Hopkins & MoHFW) last week. 17,72,14,256 people have been vaccinated.
- The government has approved the procurement of 1.5 lakh units of the DRDO-developed ‘Oxycare’ system, which regulates the oxygen being administered to patients based on the sensed SpO2 levels, at a cost of Rs 322 crore.
- Faced with the upsurge in Covid-19 cases in the second wave and to meet the urgent need to ramp up testing, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has liberalised import of testing kits into the country.
- Union commerce and industry ministry on Monday, May 10, said it has relaxed general financial rules and removed all restrictive provisions to enable procurement of critical Covid-19 related supplies. Besides, bank guarantees have been waived off for all procurement.
- The head of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) responding to the coronavirus has said districts reporting a high number of infections should remain locked down for another six to eight weeks to control the spread of the rampaging disease.
- In the wake of a rapid spread of Covid-19 infection, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has altered its testing strategy to recommend increased use of Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs), mainly to upscale field testing to detect cases early and isolate them to reduce transmission.
- The expert panel that advises the Indian drug regulator has recommended phase II and III trials for Covaxin on children aged between two and 18 years. According to reports, the trials will be conducted on over 500 kids at multiple sites, including Delhi, Patna and Nagpur.
- Dr Reddy's Laboratories on Tuesday, May 11, said it has inked a licensing pact with Eli Lilly and Company to produce Baricitinib in the country for treatment of Covid-19. The Hyderabad-based firm said it has entered into a royalty-free, non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreement with Eli Lilly and Company for the manufacture and commercialisation of the drug in India.
- In a late-night affidavit, the Union government on Sunday, May 09, told the Supreme Court that differential pricing of vaccines by manufacturers for the Centre and the states or private hospitals would have no impact on the citizens who would be given the vaccine free of cost.
- Drug firm Vivimed Labs on Monday, May 10, said it has received approval from the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) to manufacture and market Favipiravir tablets in India, used for the treatment of mild to moderate cases of Covid-19.
- Faulting the Centre’s oxygen allocation methodology during the recent surge of Covid cases, the Supreme Court on Saturday, May 08 drew health experts from all over India to set up a jumbo national task force to devise a scientific formula for rational and equitable allocation of oxygen to states, audit utilisation and suggest means to augment production.
- Staff Contact: Abby Pratt (apratt@advamed.org).
Japan
- Weekly COVID-19 statistics – 667,563 reported cases and 11,315 reported deaths compared to 622,693 reported cases and 10,625 reported deaths the previous week.
- Japan extended its state of emergency in Tokyo, Osaka, and several other prefectures for several more weeks due to the continuing high number of cases.
- The majority of new cases are among people younger than 50, with people in their 20s accounting for one-quarter of new cases.
- The number of people across Japan who cannot gain admittance to hospitals already full and are instead dying at home from worsening Covid-19 has significantly increased since March.
- Prefectural governments are urging hospitals to open up more Covid-19- dedicated beds, which is putting further pressure on patients to avoid elective surgeries.
- Japan is set to approve the Moderna vaccine and the Astra Zeneca vaccine around May 21. The Pfizer vaccine was approved in February.
- Japan began vaccinating people age 65 or above on April 12. Supplies of vaccines are extremely low and it appears unlikely that Japan will achieve its goal of vaccinating all of its 36 million senior citizens by the end of June. So far, less than 1% of the population has received a vaccine dose.
- The central government has asked companies to reduce the number of workers going to the office by 70% and facilitate telecommuting and staggered commuting hours.
- The Japanese government has decided to maintain its controls for foreign nationals entering the country. Reciprocal business travel arrangements that were forged with China, South Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam remain suspended. While Tokyo’s restrictions on foreign entries except for returning nationals remain in place, the government will make exceptions for athletes entering the country for the upcoming Olympic Games.
- Staff Contact: Phil Agress (PAgress@AdvaMed.org).
Korea
- South Korea’s numbers are up from last week (last week’s number is in parens). They are reporting 715 new cases per day (574). The upsurge in daily infections came as the country's inoculation drive showed little progress recently due to tight supply of vaccines. New deaths have increased from 4 to 7 per day. However, South Korea continues to avoid the dramatic spikes that many other countries are experiencing.
- South Korea has 129,633 total cases, 7,836 active cases, with 1,891 deaths. Total cases per million population have remained low compared to most of the world but Korea is now significantly over the 2,000 threshold with 2,527 cases per million. (S. Korea ranks as one of the lowest among the more highly populated countries). Deaths per million remain comparatively low as well at just 37.
- A total of 49 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in connection with an internet cafe in northern Seoul, the metropolitan government said Wednesday. The first case was a customer who tested positive on May 3, after which a total of 44 people tested positive by Monday, followed by four more on Tuesday, according to the local government. All of them live in Seoul except for one. An epidemiological survey found that the business followed COVID-19 protocols, but ventilation was difficult and users stayed for long periods of time while eating.
- South Korea brought in another 835,000 doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccines, enough for 417,500 people on Thursday amid concerns over a tight vaccine supply.
- South Korea has secured enough COVID-19 vaccines to inoculate 99 million people under COVAX and separate contracts with five foreign drug firms, including AstraZeneca.
- As of Wednesday, a total of 3.71 million people, or 7.2 percent of the population, have been given COVID-19 vaccine shots. AstraZeneca's vaccine has been administered to 2.03 million people, while 1.67 million people have received that of Pfizer Inc. A total of 82,890 people have received two doses.
- The Ministry of Education is hoping to bring all students back to school for in-person classes in the fall semester, a ministry official said Thursday. Schools currently follow the government’s anti-virus guidelines to decide how many students can physically come to classes while others stay at home for remote learning courses. Under the highest level of social distancing, for instance, no students are allowed to come to school and have to take online classes from home. On the other hand, up to two-thirds of students can go to school at the lowest level of social distancing. The goal is to go back to a pre-COVID situation.
- South Korea on Thursday announced a sweeping set of new government policies aimed at safeguarding and further expanding the country’s prowess in chips, which include the most generous tax credits ever given to chipmakers -- up to 50 percent.
- The chip manufacturers, led by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, responded to the support package by committing investments of over 510 trillion won ($458.1 billion) in total over the next 10 years. Samsung unveiled plans to spend 171 trillion won on projects including a third chip manufacturing plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.
- Addressing over 70 industry officials, President Moon Jae-in vowed a renewed focus on the chip industry, the backbone of the economy, as it faces a new wave of market uncertainties amid the rising tides of trade protectionism, the US-China rivalry and major economies’ thrust to rebuild their own semiconductor industries, viewing chips as a key strategic item.
- This is a link to detailed South Korea’s vaccine delivery timeline, highlighting both delivered and expected to be delivered vaccines for 2021. http://res.heraldm.com/content/image/2021/04/15/20210415000913_0.jpg
- South Korea remains under fairly strict social distancing requirements. A nationwide ban on gatherings of 5 people or more continues. Level 2 requirements are in place for Seoul and its surrounding area, with Level 1.5 for other parts of the country. Level 2 requirements include prohibitions on ‘high risk’ activities, mandatory mask wearing for all indoor and high risk outdoor activities, ceasing operations in restaurants and bars after 9 pm, and strict percentage capacity limits on schools, religious services and sporting events.
- South Korea continues to impose suspension of direct flights from Britain.
- Foreigners arriving at South Korean airports face a mandatory 14-day quarantine procedure and must present a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) coronavirus test taken within 72 hours of their departure to the nation.
- Foreigners from Britain and South Africa who fail to present negative PCR test results will be banned from entering the nation, and incoming Korean nationals without test results will be isolated in temporary living facilities for two weeks upon their arrival in the nation, the KDCA said.
- Resources: http://ncov.mohw.go.kr/en/.
- Staff Contact: Joseph Gatewood (jgatewood@advamed.org).
ASEAN
Cases
- ASEAN now has 3,630,329 reported cases and 72,129 reported deaths compared to 3,496,549 reported cases and 69,638 reported deaths compared to 3,240,728 reported cases and 65,380 reported deaths last week.
- Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam have all seen a worrisome uptick in cases in recent weeks, with Thailand having doubled its overall number of cases in the past month.
- Thailand: Reported cases have grown from 46,643 to 88,907 over the past three weeks and reported deaths have increased from 110 to 486 over that time.
- Malaysia: Reported cases have grown from 381,813 to 458,077 over the same timeframe. Malaysia’s government declared a new nationwide partial lockdown effective May 12 as new COVID-19 cases continue to rise ahead of this week’s celebration of the end of Ramadan. Social activities including dining out are banned, along with interstate travel except for medical, work, or other approved reasons through June 7.
- Indonesia: Cases in Indonesia continue to rise, although at a somewhat slower pace. Indonesia is now reporting 1,728,204 total cases, up from 1,691,658 last week. It is reporting about 1,270 new deaths over that timeframe. Indonesia accounts for two-thirds of total deaths in ASEAN since the start of the pandemic.
- Philippines: The Philippines is now reporting 1,124,724 total cases, up from 1,080,172 last week. Total reported deaths have increased from 17,991 to 18,821 over that time.
- Cambodia: The country has experienced a surge in cases and deaths. Reported cases have increased to 20,695 from 16,971 over the past week and reported deaths grew from 110 to 136 over that period.
- Laos: Laos has reported a surge in total cases from 88 to 1,417 over the past three weeks. It reported its first death from COVID last week.
- Vietnam: Cases of COVID-19 infection grew from 3,030 to 3,658 over the past week. The total number of deaths remained unchanged at 35.
- Singapore: After months of COVID-19 control, Singapore has seen the emergence of 11 active clusters of cases in recent weeks, including several concerning variants. However, the growth in cases was small, increasing from 61,128 to 61,419 over the past week. The total number of deaths remained unchanged at 31.
Vaccinations
- Indonesia is currently in the second stage of vaccinations following the vaccination of medical workers in the first stage. It is administering the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines.
- Indonesia has secured orders for 600 million doses of vaccine from four producers. This includes between 13.7 million and 23.1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through the COVAX system. The vaccines will arrive in two phases: 25-35% of doses in Q1 2021, and 65-75% in Q2. The Ministry of Health said this vaccine can be used for those who are over 60, unlike the Sinovac vaccine, currently in use in Indonesia. President Jokowi has set a target of finishing the vaccination process within this year.
- Malaysia approved both AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines for emergency use on March 2. Mass vaccinations began on February 24 using the Pfizer vaccine and the government aims to vaccinate 80% of its 32 million population by next February.
- Malaysia has agreed to buy 25 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine. It has also signed agreements for 18.4 million doses of vaccines produced by Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute and China's Sinovac.
- The Philippines began its immunization program after receiving its first batch of the COVID-19 vaccine (600,00 doses of Sinovac Biotech's CoronaVac, donated by China). It is due to receive another 25 million doses of CoronaVac this year.
- However, there is little public support for the inoculation drive. Polls show that fewer than one third of Filipinos are willing to be vaccinated due to fears of the potential side effects.
- Singapore began its vaccination program in January with seniors aged 70 and above and more than 50,000 active taxi and private-hire car drivers eligible for the shot. Those aged 60 and above became eligible at the end of March. Nearly 15% of Singapore’s population is fully vaccinated, by far the highest percentage in ASEAN.
- Thailand's COVID-19 vaccination program began on March 1. Thailand has granted emergency use authorization for the Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, and Sinovac vaccines, and the government has announced plans to administer over 60 million doses in 2021.
- Thailand's Food and Drug Administration has approved Siam Bioscience as a manufacturing facility for the COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine. Thailand plans to export the vaccines to eight Southeast Asian countries.
- Vietnam received its first batch of vaccines (117,000 doses from AstraZeneca) in late February. It aims to obtain 90 million COVID-19 vaccine doses this year, including 30 million through COVAX, 30 million from AstraZeneca, and the rest from ongoing negotiations with Pfizer and Russia's Sputnik V vaccine. Meanwhile, a Vietnamese pharmaceutical company has begun second phase trials on a coronavirus vaccine. If trials are successful, it is expected to be approved for emergency use in May.
Indonesia has closed its border to foreign nationals to mitigate the increased spread of COVID-19. The policy provides exemptions for holders of diplomatic visas and official visas related to foreign officials at the ministerial level, holders of limited stay permits, and permanent resident permits.
Travel
- Singapore will accept visitors using a mobile travel pass containing digital certificates for COVID-19 tests and vaccines beginning in May. It will accept the International Air Transport Association (IATA) mobile travel pass.
- As of February 1, Singapore suspended its Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL) arrangements with Malaysia, Germany, and South Korea for three months due to a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. Travelers who have already been approved to enter Singapore under these RGLs can continue to do so. The move does not affect Singapore’s Periodic Commuting Arrangement with Malaysia, which includes longer-term workers and business travel. Following this latest suspension, only the green lanes with Brunei and a few cities in China remain open.
- As of April, Thailand reduced its mandatory quarantine from 14 to seven days for foreigners arriving in the country who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus. Vaccinations must be administered within three months of the travel period and visitors will still be required to show negative COVID-19 test results within three days of their departure. Those not yet inoculated but with coronavirus-free certificates would be quarantined for 10 days.
- Staff Contact: Phil Agress (PAgress@AdvaMed.org)
Europe
- Most of Europe continues to be mired with large numbers of cases, but some of the more concerning numbers, such as Germany and France continue to show improvement. Italy continues to be on a positive trend. Total cases in Europe are down significantly from the previous week. Many countries are showing decrease in cases, notable exception being UK with a significant percentage increase (this is a bit misleading since UK is starting from a lower baseline). The UK numbers overall, however, continue to be much better than those within comparable EU member states.
- Increases in new cases per day (New Daily Cases) tend to benchmark increasing COVID incidence. We’ve put the new daily case numbers in the chart below so you can see the numbers in comparison. Here are the current figures with prior week figures in parentheses. France 21,498 (26,000); Spain 6,418 (6,317); Russia 8,217 (7,975); UK 2,284 (2,144), Italy 7,852 (10,576); Germany 13,833 (21,266); and Belgium 2,456 (2,731).
- In terms of total cases, see chart below for the specific numbers. France remains in the lead followed by Russia, the UK, Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland and Ukraine. Czech Republic and the Netherlands round out the top 10 countries with the largest number of total cases in Europe.
- In terms of cases per million in Europe, Czech Republic is 3rd worst in Europe with 153,825. Sweden is 8th worst with 101,239. France is 12th with 89,019, Belgium 13th at 87,989. Spain is 20th with 76,817. Italy is 26th with 68,546, and the UK is 28th with 65,177.
- Russia's reported numbers on COVID, despite its Sputnik vaccine, remain problematic at 4,913,439 (second to France) and 114,723 (which seems to be a lower death total than reported last week) and reporting one of the lowest death rates in the world at just 786 per million). (A recent survey found underutilization of the Sputnik vaccine in Russia due to citizens’ skepticism to be willing to take it, as well as lower than expected production). By comparison, Germany with one of the better track records for the larger Western European countries, has approximately 1.4 million fewer cases (3,569,249) and reports 86,189 deaths and a death rate of 1,026 per million. Russia has authorized the one-shot Sputnik Light version of its Covid vaccine for use.
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