Iran's total COVID-19 cases near 2.5m
Turkey approves emergency use of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine
Published : 01 May 2021, 00:18
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced on Friday that the country has approved Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. Meanwhile, Iran's total number of infections approached 2.5 million, reported Xinhua.
Sputnik V became the third vaccine to be used in Turkey, after China's Sinovac and the Pfizer-BioNTech jointly developed by the German company BioNTech and the U.S. firm Pfizer.
On Wednesday, Koca stated that Turkey signed a procurement deal with Russia for 50 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine within six months, noting the first shipment of the vaccines would be delivered in May.
Turkey has so far administered over 22.8 million COVID-19 jabs across the country. More than 13.7 million people have received their first doses, and over 9.1 million have taken their second shots.
Iran reported 19,272 new COVID-19 cases, taking the country's total infections to 2,499,077.
The pandemic has so far claimed 71,758 lives in Iran, up by 407 in the past 24 hours. A total of 1,954,321 people have recovered from the disease in Iran, while 5,398 remained in intensive care units.
By Friday, 858,296 people have received the first dose of coronavirus vaccines in Iran and 209,827 people the second dose.
Iraq reported 6,405 new coronavirus cases, pushing up the tally of confirmed cases in Iraq to 1,065,199.
It also reported 32 new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 15,465, while the total recoveries in Iraq climbed to 942,046.
Israel reported 87 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of cases in the country to 838,481.
The death toll from the virus increased by two to 6,363, while the number of patients in serious condition decreased from 114 to 110, out of 182 hospitalized patients.
The total recoveries in Israel rose to 830,625 after 118 newly recovered cases were added, while the number of active cases decreased to 1,493, lowest in over a year.
The number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 in Israel stands at over 5.4 million, or 57.9 percent of its total population.
Morocco's total COVID-19 tally rose to 511,249 as 363 new cases were registered.
Its death toll rose to 9,023 with three new fatalities during the last 24 hours, while the total number of recoveries from COVID-19 in Morocco increased to 497,621 after 516 new ones were added.
Meanwhile, 5,054,642 people have received so far the first vaccine shot against COVID-19 in the country, and 4,260,412 people the second dose.
In Algeria, 242 new COVID-19 cases were reported, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the North African country to 122,108.
Its death toll from the virus rose to 3,253 after nine new fatalities were added, while 168 more patients recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries in the country to 85,108.
Qatar announced 676 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 205,652.
Meanwhile, 1,593 more recovered from the virus in Qatar, bringing the overall recoveries to 189,544, while the fatalities increased by eight to 458.
In Oman, 927 new COVID-19 infections were detected, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the sultanate to 193,253.
Meanwhile, 1,275 people recovered during the past 48 hours, taking the overall recoveries to 173,123, while nine deaths were reported, pushing the tally up to 2,010.
Lebanon registered 1,001 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections to 526,578, while its death toll from the virus went up by 29 to 7,278 in the country.
So far, 299,559 people have received their first doses of COVID-19 vaccine in Lebanon and 167,461 second doses.