Day: February 21, 2022

242 more Iranians have died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) over the past 24 hours bringing the total deaths to 135,040, Iran’s Health Ministry said on Sunday, according to IRNA.

16,967 new cases of infection with the COVID-19 were found over the past 24 hours, 2,315 of whom were hospitalized, it said.

The Iranian Health Ministry noted that 6,489,920 patients out of a total of 6,942,452 infected people have recovered or been discharged from hospitals.

Some 4,053 COVID-19 patients are in critical conditions and in intensive care units, it added.

The Health Ministry also announced that 62,151,678 Iranians have received the first dose and 55,100,697 people have so far received the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Moreover, 22,214,679 people have also received the third shot as the booster jab.

Source: Azerbaijan State News Agency

Turkiye’s president delivered 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines during his visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Sunday, pledging to donate 1.1 million more jabs, according to Anadolu Agency.

“I brought along 100,000 doses of vaccines with me (to the DRC),” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, speaking at a joint press conference with his Congolese counterpart Felix Tshisekedi in the capital Kinshasa.

“Our Health Ministry will send 1 million doses of Sinovac and 100,000 doses of the Turkovac vaccine,” Turkiye’s locally manufactured COVID-19 jab, Erdogan added.

Sinovac vaccines are produced by the Chines biopharmaceutical firm of the same name.

The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) continues its support for the development efforts of the DRC, Erdogan said.

“The TIKA is conducting various projects, including vocational training, healthcare, support for administrative and social infrastructure, and school renewal,” he said, vowing that Ankara would continue to stand with the DRC in its development efforts.

Erdogan underlined that the communique, action plan, and joint implementation report adopted during the third Turkiye-Africa Summit in December provided a “roadmap in our relations with Africa for 2022-2026.”

“We will continue to enhance our relations with African countries on the basis of sincerity, brotherhood, and solidarity within this framework,” he added. “During our talks today, we have reviewed in detail our bilateral relations and cooperation opportunities. We have mutually reaffirmed our will to improve our bilateral cooperation.”

Source: Azerbaijan State News Agency

Australia has reopened its borders to vaccinated travellers after almost two years of pandemic-related closures, according to News Sky.

Hundreds of people have been reunited with family and friends, with more than 50 international flights arriving in Australia through the day.

“It is a very exciting day, one that I have been looking forward to for a long time, from the day that I first shut that border right at the start of the pandemic,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said during a visit to the island state of Tasmania, which relies heavily on tourism. British tourist Sue Witton, who had not seen her son Simon for two years, was among those who have had emotional reunions.

“Seven hundred and twenty-four days apart and it means the world to me. I don’t want to let him go, it’s just beautiful. Thank you for having me back. I’m just so grateful, so, so grateful,” she told reporters at the Melbourne airport. Tourism is a key industry in Australia, worth more than $60bn (£31.7bn) and employing almost 5% of the country’s workforce.

However, the sector has been crippled since international borders were shut in March 2020. Tourism minister Dan Tehan said he is hopeful to see a “very strong” rebound in tourism, with Qantas looking to fly more than 14,000 people into Australia this week.

Source: Azerbaijan State News Agency

1,038 new cases of coronavirus infection have been recorded in Azerbaijan, while 3,324 patients have been recovered, the Task Force under the Cabinet of Ministers told AZERTAC.

According to the Task Force, 26 persons have died after testing positive for COVID-19.

“The overall confirmed cases in Azerbaijan have reached 775,432, with 737,710 recoveries and 9,261 deaths, while treatment of 28,461 others is underway.

A total of 6,491,040 coronavirus tests have been conducted in the country so far,” the Task Force added.

Source: Azerbaijan State News Agency

In the framework of the European Union (EU)-funded “COVID-19 Vaccination Support” project, the experts from the WHO Regional Office for Europe (WHO RO) visited Azerbaijan.

In this regard, a series of meetings with participation of national healthcare authorities and international counterparts will be organized. The events will be held within the mission of the WHO RO experts with specific reference to the European Immunization Agenda 2030 (?EIA2030)?.

Today, the meeting with the international partners was held to review the COVID-19 vaccination campaign and to support the planning of routine immunization activities in Azerbaijan in strong accordance with the EIA2030. During the event, WHO RO representatives Siddhartha Sankar Datta, the Programme Manager and Vaccine-Preventable diseases and Immunization (VPI) Expert, and Team Lead and Immunization Analytics and Monitoring Expert Roberta Pastore presented information on the value of investment on immunization to strengthen health system in Azerbaijan and the WHO Europe’s vision within the context of the EIA2030. Along with this, the discussion on resilient immunization systems under the slogan “leaving no one behind” was conducted. Areas of collaboration and learning on existing support to the Ministry of Health, the role of the UN agencies, the EU, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank and other international organizations was another topic of the session.

Over the course of the three-day mission, WHO RO experts and WHO Representative/Head of Country Office in Azerbaijan Dr. Hande Harmanci will have a number of meetings with national healthcare authorities such as Deputy Minister of Health of the Republic of Azerbaijan Nadir Zeynalov, Chairman of the Executive Board of the State Agency on Mandatory Health Insurance (SAMHI) Zaur Aliyev, Acting Head of the Administration of the Regional Medical Divisions (TABIB) Vugar Gurbanov and other officials to discuss the current situation and future plans and perspectives on COVID-19 vaccination and routine immunization-related issues.

The WHO RO experts will pay one-day site visit devoted to the COVID-19 vaccination and the routine immunization. On the third day of the Mission, the WHO Azerbaijan will conduct the session named “Data for action” with participation of the national counterparts and international partners. The main purpose of the exercise is to discuss importance of the data-driven actions in achieving high uptake of COVID-19 vaccines through development of effective strategies.

The European Immunization Agenda 2030 (?EIA2030)? is a vision and strategy to achieve the full benefits of vaccination in the WHO European Region for the next decade.

The EU-funded “COVID-19 Vaccination Support” project, implemented by the World Health Organization since June 2021, covers three-year fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthens daily immunization programs in six Eastern Partnership countries including Azerbaijan.

The project is part of the continued support of the European Union and the WHO to Azerbaijan.

Source: Azerbaijan State News Agency