BUENOS AIRES (Sputnik) - Peru and Russia have agreed to start production of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in the Latin American country, Peruvian President Pedro Castillo said.
“Without vaccination, there will be no complete economic recovery... I inform you that as a result of talks between the governments of Peru and Russia, the opening of a plant to produce the Sputnik V vaccine in the country was agreed,” Castillo said.
VIENNA (Sputnik) - Austria may restrict unvaccinated citizens' access to public places in case of a spike in COVID-19 infections and subsequent overload of the health system, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Monday.
The country confirmed 1,774 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours.
"The time for lockdowns must come to an end because we have the vaccine. If people do not get vaccinated and we have to respond because our hospitals are close to an overload, then restrictions will definitely be placed on unvaccinated," Kurz told the public ORF broadcaster
The government will discuss and decide on possible restrictions this Wednesday.
"However, it is absolutely clear to me that before shutting down some area [of activity], it is better to leave it open for the vaccinated," Kurz added.
The chancellor stressed that such restrictions would be introduced only in an extreme emergency, and that the Austrian government was aiming to avoid limiting citizens' freedom because of the pandemic.
The Danish ministry of industry and business said on Monday that it would not launch a tender process for COVID-19 vaccine production in the country, opting instead to support a local biotech firm in development of a vaccine candidate.
A market survey showed that the best way for Denmark to ensure long-term vaccine supplies was to support the research of a vaccine candidate by the Danish biotech company Bavarian Nordics, the ministry told Danish TV 2 station.
Six companies, including AstraZeneca, J&J, Sanofi and Bavarian Nordic, were prepared to bid in the auction that would see the winner set up a vaccine production facility in Denmark. The survey was conducted to determine whether a tender was the optimal solution.
Russia recorded 17,856 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, down from 18,645 cases the day before, bringing cumulative total to 7,030,455, the federal response centre said on Monday.
"Over the past day, 17,856 COVID-19 cases were confirmed across 85 Russian regions, including 1,251 cases (7%) without clinical symptoms," the centre said, adding that the rate of increase fell to 0.25%.
Moscow has the highest number of new cases with 1,463 daily infections, down from 1,542 the day before. The Russian capital was followed by the Moscow region with 891 new cases, up from 826, and St. Petersburg with 690 new cases, down from 1,357.
The response centre reported 790 new deaths linked to the coronavirus, down from 793 the day before, raising the country's death toll to 187,990.
In the same 24 hours, 14,276 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals across the country, down from 15,256 the day before, bringing the total to 6,285,007.
"We are within sight of elimination, but we can't drop the ball," New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. "Day by day we are making very good progress. What I dont want to do is move too quickly and then see a resurgence."
