Today, Russia announced the start of vaccinating its soldiers against the new Corona virus, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that efforts to develop a local vaccine against the virus are progressing rapidly, while a number of countries of the world are preparing for a large vaccination campaign for groups of the population against the pandemic.
The French Press Agency reported on Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu that his country has already begun vaccinating its soldiers against the emerging virus, and the matter will include in total more than 400,000 soldiers, and a statement by the Russian army stated that 2,500 soldiers have been vaccinated so far, and news agencies quoted the Russian Defense Minister as saying that The total number is expected to reach 80,000 by the end of this year.
Russia, which is working to develop several anti-Corona vaccines, has witnessed a rise in infections since last September, but the authorities avoided imposing general isolation measures and resorted instead to measures in certain regions.
Russia has recorded two million 215,533 injuries so far, to come fourth in the world in terms of the number of injuries, after the United States, India and Brazil.
Elderly vaccinations
In a related context, "Russia Today" channel quoted Alexander Rijikov, director of the Department of Zoonoses and Influenza at the Victor State Center for Virology, that the Russian authorities have begun testing an anti-corona virus vaccine on elderly volunteers, which is the vaccine developed by the Victor Center.
Rijikov explained that the first batch of volunteers over the age of 60, including 25 people, were vaccinated with the vaccine called "EpiVacCorona" on November 21.
"Epivac Corona" has become the second vaccine against the Coronavirus that was registered in Russia, after the "Sputnik V" vaccine developed by the Russian Gamalia Center for Microbiology Research.
On the other hand, the Russian sovereign fund announced today the conclusion of an agreement with the Indian "Hetero" pharmaceutical group to manufacture more than 100 million doses of the "Sputnik V" annually.
Currently, clinical trials of the second and third phase of the "Sputnik V" vaccine are underway in India, and it is supposed to start manufacturing it in early 2021.
The Russian sovereign fund said that more than 50 countries have submitted requests for 1.2 billion doses of the mentioned Russian vaccine.
A volunteer prepares to take a Chinese vaccine dose in a hospital in the Turkish capital, Ankara (Anatolia)
Turkish vaccine
In Turkey, President Erdoan said today in press statements after performing Friday prayers that efforts to develop a local vaccine against the virus are progressing rapidly, and he indicated that there are talks with Russia and China regarding importing vaccines against Corona.
In response to a question regarding Turkey's import of anti-Corona vaccines, Erdogan pointed to the existence of discussions with a number of parties in this regard, in light of expectations that the local vaccine will be available to citizens by next April at the earliest.
The Turkish president stated that it had begun testing samples of Russian and Chinese vaccines on volunteers in Turkey to ensure their effectiveness and safety, and to know their potential side effects.
Ready in Germany
In Germany, the authorities have begun establishing large-scale vaccination centers in hundreds of locations, in exhibition halls, concert halls, ski centers and bicycle tracks, and by mid-December the old Tegel airport in the capital Berlin will turn into a large vaccination center, in preparation for the arrival An anti-virus vaccine early next year.
In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro announced that he would not receive the vaccine, but his government would organize "immediately" the distribution of the vaccine licensed by the relevant authorities.
At the global level, about 61 million cases of Covid-19 have been officially counted in the world since the outbreak of the epidemic and more than 1.4 million deaths, and more than 38.8 million have recovered to date.
The United States is the country most affected by the epidemic, with more than 12.8 million infections and more than 263,000 deaths.
In the Arab region, the comprehensive closure took effect today in all governorates of the West Bank, in implementation of the Palestinian Cabinet's decision to limit the spread of the Coronavirus.
The government's decision came after recording the highest rates of infection among citizens this week, and Palestinian Health Minister Mai Al-Keela said today that the Gaza Strip recorded the highest number of new infections in Corona, with 922 out of a total of 1936 new infections.