LIVE: France begins distribution of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine

French government started distributing AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine as epidemiologist Arnaud Fontanet warned the UK coronavirus variant B117 could become dominant in the country by March, reports ANI.

With 193 new infections and 5 deaths, West Bengal's Covid-19 tally reached 5,71,371 cases and 10,207 deaths, reports PTI.

Italy reported 11,641 new Covid-19 infections and 270 new fatalities on Sunday, down from 13,442 cases and 385 deaths reported yesterday, according to the health ministry's data.

The country has recorded 91,273 overall deaths, since the beginning of the pandemic, the second highest in Europe only after the United Kingdom, reports Reuters.

UK government said that 12,014,288 people have have received their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine. Britain reported 15,845 new Covid-19 cases and 373 deaths within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test, according to official data, reports Reuters.

With 67 new Covid-19 cases and two deaths, Haryana's tally reached 2,68,431 cases and 3,029 deaths, according to the state health department.

The state currently has 883 active cases and 2,64,519 patients have recovered, reports PTI.

Karnataka recorded 487 new Covid-19 cases, 493 recoveries and 3 deaths on Sunday, reports ANI.

India's consignment of half-million Covid-19 vaccine doses arrive at Kabul, Afghanistan, as confirmed by the Indian embassy, reports ANI.

The ministry of health and family welfare has said that till 6:40pm today, 58,03,617 healthcare and frontline workers have been vaccinated for Covid-19.

The ministry of health and family welfare shared pictures of frontline workers getting Covid-19 vaccine in Manipur.

With 9 new Covid-19 cases, Manipur's tally reached 29,126 cases and 373 deaths. A total of 28,654 patients have recovered in the state so far, reports ANI.

A British official says the country is not considering issuing so-called “immunity passports” for those who have been given the coronavirus vaccine but they could ask their doctor for written proof of their vaccine status if they need to travel. Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said Sunday that vaccine passports would be discriminatory and officials did not want getting vaccinated to be “made in some way mandatory through a passport.”

The Maldives has vaccinated over 6,000 people against the Covid-19 pandemic in the first six days of its vaccination program, local media citing the Health Protection Agency (HPA) reported here Sunday. Data from the HPA showed that 2,575 people were vaccinated on Saturday, bringing the total number of vaccinated up to 6,854. Among those vaccinated people, 5,588 are from the capital region of Greater Male while the remaining 1,266 are from the atolls.

The United Arab Emirates will temporarily only vaccinate residents and citizens who are elderly or who have certain health conditions, state media said on Sunday. The temporary policy change was made following a spike in infections over the past weeks "to ensure acquired community immunity and contain the disease", state news agency WAM said, quoting the health ministry. Read more

Vietnam has reported 2,001 Covid-19 infections since the coronavirus pandemic first hit the country more than a year ago, the Ministry of Health said on Sunday. More than 1,100 of the cases are locally transmitted, while the rest are imported, the ministry said in a statement. It recorded 20 new cases on Sunday, all linked to a new outbreak that began on Jan. 27 in the northern province of Hai Duong and has spread to at least 12 cities and provinces.

After receiving one million doses of Indian-made Covid-19 vaccine, Nepal has completed the first phase of its vaccination drive with as many as 184,857 persons receiving the first dose of the vaccine in the country. According to Himalayan Times, the first phase of the vaccination drive conducted from 201 booths in 77 districts concluded on Saturday. Frontline workers including health and sanitation workers were given priority in inoculations.

The first 600,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines donated by China to Cambodia arrived in Phnom Penh on Sunday by special plane, with the doses earmarked to vaccinate health workers and the military. The Southeast Asian nation of about 16 million people is one of the least impacted by the coronavirus, with just 474 infections and no deaths. But it saw a rare cluster of cases in November. One of Asia's poorest countries, Cambodia has been an important ally to China in recent years. Beijing has said it will send 1 million Sinopharm vaccines to Cambodia, which will be used to inoculate 500,000 people.

Ecuador registered 1,703 cases of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 257,115, the Ministry of Public Health reported on Saturday. According to the ministry, the country also reported 21 more deaths, bringing the death toll to 10,311, along with 4,693 "probable" deaths from the disease. The province of Pichincha, which has been the most affected by the pandemic, exceeded 90,000 cases, with most infections concentrated in the capital city of Quito, the current epicenter of the pandemic in Ecuador. The capital city's health system has almost reached full capacity due to the high levels of critically ill patients.

Bangladesh on Sunday launched its nationwide Covid-19 vaccination campaign, reported Dhaka Tribune. Health Minister Zahid Maleque rolled out the campaign at a virtual event at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) in Dhaka on Sunday morning. Maleque also urged all not to spread propaganda against the vaccine as it is safe and has no side effects, reported Dhaka Tribune. "The vaccine campaign will continue throughout the year. There is another process to get the jab other than online registration. People can be able to take the shots immediately after registering themselves at the vaccine centres," he added. Later on, he took coronavirus vaccine jab at Sheikh Russel National Gastroliver Institute and Hospital around 11:25 am (local time). Other ministers along with justices and distinguished persons followed the suit and took the jab on Sunday at different hospitals in Dhaka.

The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines reported on Sunday 1,790 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 537,310. The death toll climbed to 11,179 after 70 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said, adding that 11,388 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 499,798.

The Philippines, which has about 110 million population, has tested over 7.58 million people since the disease emerged in January last year.

Russia reported 16,048 new Covid-19 cases across the country on Sunday, including 2,028 in Moscow, taking the national tally to 3,967,281 since the pandemic began. Authorities confirmed 432 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the official death toll to 76,661.

The number of new Covid-19 cases continued to remain under the 200 mark for the 15th day in a row in Telananga as the total infection count rose to over 2.95 lakh, the government said on Sunday. Two fatalities pushed the toll to 1,610, a health department bulletin said. Of the 150 fresh cases reported till 8 pm on Saturday, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the maximum with 25, followed by Rangareddy and Medchal Malkajgiri with 10 and 9 respectively, a health department bulletin said. The total number of cases stood at2,95,581 while recoveries were at 2,92,032.

The Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health on Saturday reported 570 new Covid-19 cases over the last 24 hours, taking the national count to 141,453. The Covid-19 death toll rose to 2,145 after nine new fatalities were recorded, the ministry said. With 290 more recoveries registered, the nationwide count amounted to 125,531, it added. Ethiopia, Africa's second-most populous nation, is one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic in Africa, after South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt. The country has so far reported the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the East African region.

Odisha on Saturday began its second phase of the Covid-19 vaccination drive in Bhubaneshwar. Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP), Odisha, Rekha Lohani, "The second phase of vaccination drive has started today in Bhubaneshwar at three places; CP Headquarters, Reserve Parade Ground, and in the 7th Batallion premises."

"We have all taken the first shots. We are all feeling absolutely fine. This drive will go on till February 15. And after a gap of 21 days, the second shots will be given," she added. 1200 personnel per day will be taking their first jab, she said. The second phase of the inoculation drive is to see the vaccination of frontline workers, including police and sanitation workers.

Turkey confirmed 7,897 new Covid-19 cases, including 618 symptomatic patients, as the total number of positive cases in the country reached 2,524,786, according to its health ministry. The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 108 to 26,685, while the total recoveries climbed to 2,412,505 after 8,089 more cases recovered in the last 24 hours. A total of 137,649 tests were conducted over the past day, with the overall number of tests in Turkey reaching 30,486,691.

South Korea reported 372 more cases of Covid-19 as of midnight Saturday compared to 24 hours ago, pushing the total number of infections to 80,896, according to ANI. The daily caseload has remained below 400 for three straight days.