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February 13, 2025
Staff
COVID-19: Over 1.11B vaccine shots given worldwide
May 02, 2021Over 1.11 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered around the world by the start of May, according to figures from the online resource Our World in Data.
With 253.46 million jabs China is the country where the greatest number of vaccine shots have been given to date.
It is followed by the US with 240.16 million, India 154.98 million, the UK 48.14 million, Brazil 41.99 million, Germany 28.77 million, Turkey 22.87 million, France 20.97 million, Indonesia 19.89 million, Russia 19.52 million, Italy 19.42 million, Mexico 17.36 million, Spain 15.86 million, Chile 14.62 million, Canada 13.13 million, Poland 11.47 million, and the UAE at 10.55 million doses.
The country with the highest vaccination rate is the island nation of Seychelles, where the number of doses administered per 100 people is 127.66.
It is followed by Israel at 121.24, the UAE 106.64, San Marino 85.36, Chile 76.47, Malta 75.06, the Maldives 73.63, Bahrain 71.94, the US 70.97, the UK 70.91, Bhutan 62.25, and Monaco with 62.15 doses per 100 people.
Turkey 7th in the world
According to the Turkish Health Ministry’s figures, over 22.87 million [22,874,102] doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Turkey to date.
The figure puts Turkey at number seven on the list of countries where most doses have been administered.
The number of vaccine doses given per 100 people in Turkey presently stands at 26.76.
Over 13.74 million [13,740,100] people have been given the first dose of a vaccine in Turkey, while more than 9.13 million [9,134,002] have completed a two-dose course.
Drastic gap in hemispheres
Continents in the northern hemisphere have a clear lead when it comes to vaccinations, with Asia’s 520.94 million jabs the highest in the world, followed by North America with 273.13 million and Europe with 221.22 million.
In the southern hemisphere, 74.6 million jabs have been administered in South America, 17.68 million in Africa, and 2.41 million in the Oceania region.
Worldwide tally
The COVID-19 pandemic has now claimed over 3.18 million lives in 192 countries and regions since December 2019.
Over 151.51 million cases have been reported around the world, with recoveries now nearing 88.4 million, according to figures compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.
The US, India, and Brazil remain the worst-hit countries in terms of infections, while the death toll is currently highest in the US, Brazil, and Mexico./aa
UK: ‘South Asians at greater risk in 2nd virus wave’
May 02, 2021The UK’s South Asian community is at greater risk during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the country’s other ethnic minorities, a new study has revealed.
The study, published in The Lancet medical journal on Saturday, found that all ethnic minority groups in the UK were disproportionately affected during the first wave of the pandemic.
However, these differences narrowed during the second wave, as South Asians were found to be more likely to contract the virus.
“It’s concerning to see that the disparity widened among South Asian groups. This highlights an urgent need to find effective prevention measures that fit with the needs of the UK’s ethnically diverse population,” said Dr. Rohini Mathur, the lead author of the study.
“The fact that inequalities worsened for South Asian groups in the second wave compared with the first wave suggests that more aggressive and tailored interventions are needed to meet the needs in these communities.”
During the first wave, which ran from March to September 2020, nearly all ethnic groups were at high risk of infection, hospitalization, and death, according to the study.
The second wave from November 2020 to February 2021 saw the Bengali, Indian, and Pakistani communities being at greater risk than other groups, it said.
For reasons behind the disparity, the study looked at social factors such as standard of living, income, and household sizes.
The research concluded that South Asian communities have larger households when compared to Black, Asian, white, and other groups.
Disparities in wealth and income meant that many in the South Asian community could not afford to work from home or were not offered that option by their employers, the study found.
As a result, they were forced to travel and work outside, which increased their vulnerability, it said.
The research quoted the 2011 national census in the UK which showed that 21% of South Asian groups live in multigenerational households, much higher than the 7% in white groups.
“In general, living in multigenerational households and highly networked communities is of huge social benefit,” read the study.
“But with infectious diseases, it may also increase risk of exposure to the infection from younger or working-age adults who may bring the virus into the household and may potentially put older members at risk.”
The study, which was the largest of its kind and was funded by the Medical Research Council, involved a team of scientists from the University of Oxford and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
They analyzed medical data from 17 million adults across the country and compared it to data from the first and second waves of the pandemic./aa
Ethiopia designates TPLF, OLF-Shene as terror groups
May 02, 2021Ethiopia on Saturday added two insurgent groups to its terror list, including the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), against which it launched a massive law enforcement operation late last year.
The Council of Ministers approved a resolution to designate the TPLF as a terrorist organization, along with the OLF-Shene after several attacks in different parts of the country targeting civilians and public infrastructure over the past couple of years.
On Nov. 3, TPLF forces attacked the Ethiopian National Defense Forces, killing soldiers while they were sleeping and looting military hardware, prompting the Ethiopian government to launch a sweeping law enforcement operation.
On Nov. 28, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared the military confrontation over after the fall of the regional capital Mekele to the federal army.
TPLF was at the head of a four-party coalition the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front that ruled Ethiopia with a heavy hand for 27 years up until 2028.
According to the local broadcaster FANA, the Council of Ministers listed the two as terrorist organizations due to their activities arming, training, and financing other violent elements in addition to engaging in attacks themselves.
They have been launching attacks against civilians and public infrastructure to achieve political objectives, the FANA reported./aa
The number of hate crimes and violence committed against Turkish nationals in other countries skyrocketed last year, according to Turkey's Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) on Saturday.
In a report titled Attacks Targeting Turkish Citizens Abroad, the YTB said Turkish and Muslim minority communities, as well as individual members of such groups, places of worship, schools, associations, businesses, and facilities belonging to them and Turkey’s foreign representation offices, faced many more attacks than in 2019, along with a much greater degree of violence in these attacks.
Released annually, the report seeks to prompt international communication and cooperation mechanisms against the threats Turkish nationals are exposed to, especially Western countries amid increasing Islamophobia and racism.
The number of hate crimes directly or indirectly targeting Turks abroad rose to 389 -- a 53.7% increase since 2019, according to the report.
It showed that 389 crimes had been committed across 28 different countries in America, Europe, and Australia, though the report noted that most attacks were not reported in the media or to the YTB.
With at least 205 attacks, Germany recorded the most crimes against Turks, followed by France with 40, and Austria with 37.
While far-right, racist and anti-Islamic terror groups accounted for the lion's share of hate crimes, the number of attacks by members of the PKK terrorist group, as well as Armenian racist groups, increased considerably.
At least five people lost their lives, while at least 36 were wounded in the attacks.
The report pointed out that 225 cases of hate speech or threats, 37 attacks on individuals, 25 arson cases constituted most of the crimes./aa
A university in central Nigeria has closed all its students’ hostels over security threats, an official said.
Abdullahi Abdullahi, the deputy registrar of the University of Jos in the Plateau state, said the decision was taken following reports of security threats to the university staff, students, and properties.
He urged students and staff to comply with the directive and remain cautious.
Nigeria has witnessed increasing terror attacks on schools, the kidnapping of students, and banditry in recent months.
On Friday, President Mohammadu Buhari held an emergency security meeting with service chiefs and security advisors as many Nigerians called for urgent action./aa
Shortages hinder India's drive to vaccinate over-18s
May 02, 2021Amid a serious supply crisis, India on Saturday launched a nationwide drive to vaccinate all people aged 18 and above.
The campaign to vaccinate all adults was started on a day that saw India become the first country in the world to report more than 400,000 coronavirus cases in 24 hours.
Over 3,500 more deaths were also reported over the past day, as the country’s healthcare system reels under a deadly second wave of the pandemic that has triggered a critical shortage of hospital beds, drugs, and oxygen.
As of Saturday, India’s total caseload crossed 19 million while the death stood at 211,853.
Nearly 160 million doses have been administered in the country since the first vaccinations started on Jan. 16.
Previously focusing only on frontline workers and people over the age of 45, the government is now aiming to vaccinate as many adults as possible.
However, several states have delayed the expanded rollout because they do not have enough doses to carry out the exercise.
Most residents of the capital New Delhi will also have to wait for their COVID-19 shots, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal saying that vaccinations will be ramped up as authorities get more doses.
Many private hospitals in Delhi, though, started offering vaccination services on Saturday, prompting more criticism of the government’s failure to ensure adequate supplies for public hospitals.
“I registered on the [government] website two days ago but my appointment was never confirmed. All of this looks like a farce,” Prashant Kumar, a Delhi resident, told Anadolu Agency.
Along with vaccines, Delhi, where an ongoing lockdown was extended for one week on Saturday, has also been facing a dismaying shortage of oxygen.
Eight COVID-19 patients died at the Batra Hospital and Medical Research Center in the capital on Saturday after the facility’s oxygen supply ran out.
“Our oxygen supply did not arrive on time and we lost eight lives, including a senior doctor,” Dr. Sudhanshu Bankata, the hospital’s executive director, told Anadolu Agency.
“We have received some more [oxygen] for now, but it will only last for about another hour. More supply is still on the way.”
In the financial hub of Mumbai, authorities have started vaccinations at just a few designated centers and declared that there will be no walk-in registrations.
‘We must stock up on vaccines’
Experts have criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for failing to take into account the situation on the ground before announcing the start of the expanded vaccination drive, saying many states have been “caught short” by the decision.
India has approved three jabs for use in the country, with one of them being Russia’s Sputnik V.
The other two are Covishield – made by Oxford University and AstraZeneca and being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India – and the locally developed jab called Covaxin.
“There is a shortage. We cannot hide the fact that there is a shortage of vaccines [in India],” K. Srinath Reddy, the president of Public Health Foundation, a think tank, told Anadolu Agency.
The Health Ministry, however, has said that over 1.7 million vaccine doses will be sent to different states in the next three days.
A statement said the “Liberalised and Accelerated Phase 3 Strategy of COVID-19 vaccination” will be implemented from Saturday.
It added that the government has provided “nearly 16.37 crore [160 million] vaccine doses” to states for free, and there are more than 7.9 million vaccine doses still available with state authorities.
Despite the ministry’s claims, Reddy urged the government to halt the new phase of the immunization drive and stock up on vaccines.
“We must take a pause and focus on the 45-plus age group and build up our vaccine stocks as quickly as possible. Obviously, domestic manufacturers need time to ramp up output, so we must import and get in aid as many vaccines as possible,” he said.
“Once the government has taken stock of the situation, it can then gradually come down in the age groups, perhaps first from 45 to 35, then 35 to 25, and then 25 to 18, instead of trying to do it all at once.”/aa
Over 15,000 children aged between one and 20 years have been infected by coronavirus across Pakistan in April alone, as the country is battling with a staggering third wave of the pandemic, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.
Of them, the ministry said, 19 children have lost their lives due to the virus, six of them between one and 10 years of age.
Out of over 15,000 cases reported among children in April, nearly 3,000 are between one and 10 years, while the remaining are between 11 and 20 years of age.
A total of over 93,000 children from the same age groups have so far been infected across the country since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, according to the Health Ministry.
Meanwhile, the government has banned all the processions on the anniversary of the martyrdom of Islam’s fourth Caliph Ali, falling on Tuesday, due to the rising numbers of the virus cases.
However, small gatherings will be allowed with safety protocols.
The South Asian country recorded another 4,696 new infections on Saturday, taking the total caseload to 825,519. The death toll rose by 146 on Saturday to 17,957.
Some 717,009 people have so far been recovered, while the total number of active cases in the country is 90,553.
The country of over 210 million population has so far inoculated slightly over 2 million people./aa
Turkish charity distributes food aid in DR Congo
May 02, 2021As part of an aid project, a Turkish charity prepared 1,000 food packages to distribute among the needy families in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Turkiye Diyanet Foundation (TDV) started delivery in Goma, with 500 packages given away to families in the city as part of efforts in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, said Ilyas Bulut, a TDV official.
He said that another 500 packages will be delivered in the capital Kinshasa next week.
Bulut said they came to Goma after aid activities in Rwanda, and added that the aid was good but not enough due to high population and lack of access to basic needs.
“We plan to increasingly continue our aid here in the coming years,” he added./aa
Magnitude 6.8 earthquake jolts northeastern Japan
May 01, 2021A powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake jolted northeastern Japan on Saturday, the country’s meteorological agency said.
The quake occurred off the coast of Miyagi prefecture at 10.27 a.m. local time (0127GMT) at a depth of 51 kilometers (32 miles), according to the agency.
Authorities did not issue a tsunami notice following the tremor.
Earlier, the agency put the magnitude of the earthquake at 6.6 and depth at 60 kilometers (37 miles)./aa
18 killed in Gujarat hospital fire in India
May 01, 2021At least 18 people, mostly patients, died after a fire broke out in a hospital in Western Gujarat state early Saturday, according to a senior official.
Bharuch Collector, MD Modiya told Anadolu Agency that most of the deceased were coronavirus patients but the fire at the Welfare Hospital in Bharuch district has been brought under control.
“Further investigation is underway. Injured have been shifted to the nearby hospitals,” he said.
There have been several recent fires in hospitals in India as the country battles a deadly second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 300,000 daily new cases reported every day since April 22./aa
