Tag: Russia

Russia sets records for virus cases, deaths

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Thursday registered record numbers for daily infections and deaths from the coronavirus, as the country avoids reimposing a nationwide lockdown. Health officials reported 29,935 new infections, bringing the country’s caseload to 2,963,688 — the fourth-highest in the world. They also registered 635 deaths, increasing total fatalities to 53,096 since the beginning of the pandemic. Russia’s death rate is much lower than that of other badly hit countries, raising […]

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Telegram messaging app to launch pay-for services in 2021

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Encrypted messaging app Telegram will launch pay-for services in 2021, its Russian-born founder Pavel Durov said Wednesday, as the growing company needed “at least a few hundred million dollars per year”. “Telegram will begin to generate revenue, starting next year,” Durov said in a statement. “We will be able to launch countless new features and welcome billions of new users.” Durov, 36, said he did not plan to sell the […]

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Putin congratulates Biden, says ready for ‘collaboration’

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday congratulated Joe Biden on winning the US presidential election in November, saying he hoped the countries could set aside their differences to promote global security. Putin wished the US president-elect every success and said that, “for my part, I am ready for collaboration and contacts with you,” according to a Kremlin statement. The Russian president was one of the last remaining leaders of major world countries […]

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11 elderly dead in Russian nursing home fire: investigators

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Fire erupted in a retirement home in central Russia overnight, killing 11 people who were trapped as the blaze swept through the small wooden building, investigators said Tuesday. Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said it had opened a criminal investigation into possible negligence over the blaze at the home in the Bashkortostan region. “At the time the fire started, there were 15 people in the room, four of whom […]

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AstraZeneca to use part of Russian Covid vaccine in trials

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca’s Russian branch said Friday it would use part of Russia’s homemade Sputnik V vaccine in further clinical trials. “Today we announce a clinical trial programme to assess safety and immunogenicity of a combination of AZD1222, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, and Sputnik V, developed by Russian Gamaleya Research institute,” AstraZeneca said in a statement published on its website in English and Russian. The pharmaceutical company said […]

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Moscow starts inoculating vulnerable workers against coronavirus

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Moscow on Saturday began vaccinating workers at high risk of becoming infected with the coronavirus at newly opened clinics across the city. Health officials said they had opened 70 coronavirus vaccine centres in the Russian capital that would initially offer jabs for health, education and social workers. “Citizens from the main risk groups who in connection with their professional activities come into contact with a large number of people can get […]

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Putin orders ‘large-scale’ vaccinations to start next week

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — President Vladimir Putin told health officials Wednesday to start widespread vaccinations next week, adding that Russia has produced close to two million doses of its Sputnik V vaccine. The announcement came on the day Britain approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for a rollout starting next week. Last week Russia reported interim test results showing Sputnik V was 95 percent effective, rivalling international competitors for efficacy. Sputnik V — dubbed after the Soviet-era […]

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Russia says India to produce 100 million doses of Sputnik vaccine

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — One of the developers of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine announced Friday that India-based drugmaker Hetero will produce over 100 million doses of the jab. “Hetero, one of India’s leading generic pharmaceutical companies, have agreed to produce in India over 100 million doses per year of the world’s first registered vaccine against the novel coronavirus infection -– Sputnik V,” the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said in a statement, adding […]

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Frontrunners emerge in race for Covid-19 vaccine

PARIS, France (AFP) — Dozens of companies, from biotech start-ups to Big Pharma, are racing to develop a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine, both to meet urgent medical need and for the potential payday. Here’s an update on the quest for a magic bullet against the coronavirus that has already killed more than a million people worldwide. How many in the pipeline? The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified 42 “candidate vaccines” at the stage […]

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Venezuela to buy 10 million doses of Russian Covid-19 vaccine

CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Sunday that his government has agreed to buy 10 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19. The vaccines will come in the first quarter of 2021, Maduro said at an event in Caracas broadcast on government television, adding that “Venezuela will manufacture the Russian vaccine in the Venezuelan laboratories.” In August, Russia became the first country to register a vaccine against Covid-19, which it […]

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Russia says Sputnik V virus vaccine 92% effective

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine is 92 percent effective according to initial test results, its developers said on Wednesday, as Moscow races against its competitors in the West. The calculations were based on results from 16,000 individuals who received both doses of the vaccine, Russia’s health ministry, the state-run Gamaleya research center and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said in a statement. “The Sputnik V vaccine had an efficacy rate […]

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Russia says Sputnik V virus vaccine 92% effective

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine is 92 percent effective according to initial test results, its developers said on Wednesday, as Moscow races against its competitors in the West. The calculations were based on results from 16,000 individuals who received both doses of the vaccine, Russia’s health ministry, the state-run Gamaleya research centre and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said in a statement. “The Sputnik V vaccine had an efficacy rate […]

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