Russia likely to release Covid vaccine for public use this week

Moscow: Waiting for the approval, Russia is likely to roll out its newly developed vaccine Sputnik V for civilian use this week.

A permission may be granted to The Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology under the Russian Health Ministry for releasing the first batch of the newly-developed vaccine Sputnik V against the novel Coronavirus for civilian use, Denis Logunov, an associate member of Russian Academy of Sciences, said, Russian news agency TASS reported.

"Its examination is to begin within days. Also, within days we are to obtain permission. There is a certain procedure of authorizing a batch for civilian use. It must pass the quality check of the medical watchdog Roszdravnadzor. Within days, between September 10 and 13, we are to obtain permission to release a batch of the vaccine for civilian use. Respectively, from that moment on the population will begin to be vaccinated," the report quoted Logunov as saying.

The vaccine's distribution will be under the Health Ministry's purview.

On the other hand, Iran and Russia will cooperate to produce a COVID-19 vaccine in the Islamic republic as COVID-19 cases in Iran surged to 384,666 on Saturday.

Meanwhile, an Iraqi health official warned that the citizens should not play down the seriousness of the Coronavirus as 4,644 daily new infections were reported.

Iran, the hardest-hit country in the Middle East region, reported 1,894 new cases, bringing the total number of infections to 384,666, Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

The pandemic has so far claimed 22,154 lives in Iran, up by 110 in the past 24 hours. A total of 332,131 Coronavirus patients have recovered, with 3,708 still in critical condition.

The announcement of Iran-Russia cooperation on producing a Coronavirus vaccine was made on Friday at the online meeting between Kazem Jalali, Iran's ambassador to Moscow and Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of Russian Direct Investment Fund, Iranian semi-official FARS news agency reported on Saturday.

Jalali called for further health and medical cooperation between the two countries.

In Iraq, 4,644 COVID-19 cases were reported during the day, bringing the total nationwide infections to 256,719.

The death toll rose to 7,422 with the addition of 63 new fatalities, while 3,891 more patients recovered in the day, bringing the total number of recoveries to 195,259.

"The lack of compliance of the citizens will increase the number of infections and make the ministry to stop at a certain stage because our health institutions have a limited capacity and this will also lead to an increase in deaths," Ryadh Abdul-Amir, head of Iraqi Public Health Department in the Health Ministry, said in a press release.

Saudi Arabia announced 791 new cases and 34 more deaths, raising the tally of confirmed infections to 319,932 and the death toll to 4,049.

The kingdom also reported 779 more recovered patients, taking the total recoveries to 295,842.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Turkey climbed by 1,673 to 278,228, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted.

The death toll from the Coronavirus in the country rose to 6,620 after 56 new fatalities were added in the past 24 hours, Koca said, adding that the total recoveries increased to 250,092.

In Qatar, 227 new cases of Coronavirus infections were detected, increasing the total number to 119,864, including 202 deaths and 116,780 recoveries.

In Israel, 2,517 new COVID-19 cases were recorded, taking the tally of Coronavirus infections to 128,936.