The overall number of global Covid cases is gradually approaching 232 million amid spread of Delta variant. According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 231,820,802 with 4,748,055 fatalities as of Monday morning. The US has recorded 42,931,354 cases to date and more than 688,032 people have died so far from the virus in the country, said university data. Read: COVID-19 vaccine boosters could mean billions for drugmakers With more than 40 million doses of coronavirus vaccines available, U.S. health authorities said they’re confident there will be enough for both qualified older Americans seeking booster shots and the young children for whom initial vaccines are expected to be approved in the not-too-distant future, reports AP. The spike in demand — expected following last week’s federal recommendation on booster shots — would be the first significant jump in months. More than 70 million Americans remain unvaccinated despite the enticement of lottery prizes, free food or gifts and pleas from exhausted health care workers as the average number of deaths per day climbed to more than 1,900 in recent weeks. Brazil which has been experiencing new wave of cases since January, registered 21,351,972 cases. Brazil's Covid-19 death toll has also risen to 594,443. Read:Full-scale Covid testing at Dhaka airport starts Tuesday India's COVID-19 tally rose to 33,652,745 on Sunday, as 28,326 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data. Besides, as many as 260 deaths due to the pandemic during the period took the total death toll to 446,918. Situation in Bangladesh Covid-19 in Bangladesh claimed 21 more lives and infected 980 others in 24 hours till Sunday morning. This is the lowest number of deaths since May 26 when the country reported 17 single-day Covid deaths. The latest cases were detected after testing 22,221 samples showing a slight fall in the daily-case positivity rate from Saturday’s 4.59 percent to 4.41 percent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). On Saturday, after more than four months, the country saw below 1,000 single-day cases, reporting 818 Covid cases in 24-hour period. According to the DGHS, the fresh numbers of deaths and cases took the country’s total Covid-19 fatalities to 27,414 while the caseload mounted to 1,551,351. Read: Covid daily death toll falls to 21 in Bangladesh Meanwhile, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 percent. The recovery rate increased slightly to 97.43 percent with the recovery of 1,312 more patients during the period. So far, 1,511,479 people have recovered from the deadly virus infections, the DGHS added. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the daily case positivity rate remaining at 5 percent or below for 14 days is considered safe for mass unlocking.

With millions of people still waiting to receive their first doses of coronavirus vaccines, the deadly virus claimed 89 more lives in Bangladesh in 24 hours till Sunday morning and infected another 3,948 people. The country's single-day death toll fell below 100 for the first time in more than two months with 80 deaths on Saturday. Since the start of the Covid pandemic in March last year, Bangladesh recorded 14,93,537 infections and 26,015 deaths, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). The fresh cases were reported after testing 27,921 samples raising the daily case positivity rate to 14.14% from Saturday’s 13.67%. READ: How Long Will Your COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccination Protection Last? Meanwhile, the recovery rate rose to 94.79 per cent, while the case fatality rate remained unchanged at 1.74% during the period. Dhaka division reported 27 of the deaths, Chattogram 21, Sylhet 10, Khulna nine, Barishal eight, Rajshahi seven, Rangpur five and Mymensingh two. Of them, 41 were men while 48 women. READ: What is Covid-19 vaccine passport?

A panel of independent experts who reviewed the World Health Organization’s response to the coronavirus pandemic says the U.N. health agency should be granted “guaranteed rights of access” in countries to investigate emerging outbreaks, a contentious idea that would give it more powers and require member states to give up some of theirs. In a report released Wednesday, the panel faulted countries worldwide for their sluggish response to COVID-19, saying most waited to see how the virus was spreading until it was too late to contain it, leading to catastrophic results. The group also slammed the lack of global leadership and restrictive international health laws that “hindered” WHO’s response to the pandemic. Some experts criticized the panel for failing to hold WHO and others accountable for their actions during COVID-19, describing that as “an abdication of responsibility.” Lawrence Gostin of Georgetown University said the panel “fails to call out bad actors like China, perpetuating the dysfunctional WHO tradition of diplomacy over frankness, transparency and accountability.” The panel was led by former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, who were tapped by WHO last year to examine the U.N. agency’s response to COVID-19 after bowing to a request from member countries. “The situation we find ourselves in today could have been prevented,” Johnson Sirleaf said. Beyond the call to boost WHO’s ability to investigate outbreaks, the panel made an array of recommendations, such as urging the health agency and the World Trade Organization to convene a meeting of vaccine-producing countries and manufacturers to quickly reach deals about voluntary licensing and technology transfer, in an effort to boost the world’s global supply of coronavirus shots. The panel also suggested that WHO’s director-general — currently Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of Ethiopia — should be limited to a single seven-year term. As it stands, the WHO chief is elected to a five-year term that can be renewed once. The suggestion to limit the tenure of WHO’s top leader appeared in part designed to ease the intense political pressure that WHO director-generals can face. Last year, the Trump administration repeatedly inveighed against the agency’s handling of the pandemic — taking aim at WHO’s alleged collusion with China. An Associated Press investigation in June  found WHO repeatedly lauded China in public while officials privately complained that Chinese officials stalled on sharing critical epidemic information with them, including the new virus’ genetic sequence. Clark said the global diseases surveillance system needed to be overhauled — with WHO’s role strengthened. “WHO should have the powers necessary to investigate outbreaks of concern, speedily guaranteed rights of access, and with the ability to publish information without waiting for member state approval,” she said. Sophie Harman, a professor of international politics at Queen Mary University of London, said the panel’s recommendations were unlikely to be entirely welcomed by WHO’s member countries, and thus, unlikely to be implemented. “Which states would actually allow WHO in to investigate an outbreak without their permission?” she asked. Many doctors fatigued after treating COVID-19 patients said any reform of WHO should include an evaluation of its ability to properly assess the science of an emerging health threat. David Tomlinson, a British physician who has been campaigning for health workers during the pandemic in the U.K., said WHO “failed on the most fundamental aspect” in its scientific leadership of COVID-19. He said WHO’s failure to acknowledge that much coronavirus transmission happens in the air has “amplified the pandemic.” WHO has said coronavirus spread can happen in limited circumstances in the air but recommended against mask-wearing for the general public until last June. Clare Wenham, a professor of global health policy at the London School of Economics, said the report overall was good, but questioned its support for the U.N.-backed program for coronavirus vaccines called COVAX, which relies on a “donation” model. Of the millions of COVID-19 vaccines administered to date, developing countries have received just 7%, WHO said this week. “(COVAX) is not addressing one of the main problems, which is we need to rapidly ramp up production of the vaccines and distribution of vaccines,” she said. “And it’s still working on the model of a finite number that’s only able be produced by a certain few manufacturing locations.” Overall, she suggested politicians needed to budge more than technical institutions like WHO. “The problems aren’t technical. The problems are political. The problems are about like: How do you get governments to behave and think about things beyond their own borders?” Wenham said. “I don’t think that has been resolved.”

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs has suggested the ministry keep up intensified efforts to get Oxford-AstraZeneca and China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines from India, China and the United States.  The 20th meeting of the committee was held at Sangsad Bhaban on Sunday with its Chairman Faruk Khan in the chair. Committee members including Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, Nurul Islam Nahid and M Abdul Majid were present.  It reviewed the current situation about procurement of vaccines, celebrations of 50 years of Bangladesh's Independence and other issues, said a media release.  Dr Momen on Saturday said there is nothing to be worried about the availability of vaccines, noting that the government will have enough vaccines soon from alternative sources. Also read: Nothing to be worried about vaccines: FM “I believe we'll have enough vaccines. No person should be worried about it. Vaccines will come timely and all will get it,” he said in a video message shared on his verified Facebook page. The Foreign Minister said Bangladesh is much ahead of many countries in the world in procuring vaccines and launching vaccination drives across the country. He said many European countries decided about which vaccine they should use just in April whereas in Bangladesh many people got vaccinated. Apart from China and Russia, Dr Momen said, there is much possibility to get vaccines from the US. Also read: Deal with Russia soon over Covid vaccine: Health Minister The Foreign Minister has recently written a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken seeking vaccine doses for immediate and long-term needs. The government has sought immediate release of 2-4 million doses of vaccine from the US and a total of 10 to 20 million doses of vaccine for the long-term supply. The US will share up to 60 million doses of its Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine with other countries as they become available. The Foreign Minister said 5,00,000 doses of Chinese vaccine will arrive on May 12 as gift from the Chinese government. Also read: Bangladesh seeks immediate delivery of 4 mn vaccine doses from US: FM The World Health Organization (WHO) has listed the Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use, giving the green light for this vaccine to be rolled out globally. The Sinopharm vaccine is produced by Beijing Bio-Institute of Biological Products Co Ltd, subsidiary of China National Biotec Group (CNBG). Dr Momen said Russia's Sputnik V vaccine showed over 97 percent efficacy while the Chinese vaccines were taken by 100 million people without any side effects. Bangladesh has received 7 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine produced by Serum Institute of India (SII) through its contract. Bangladesh also received 3.3 million doses of vaccine as a bilateral partnership gift. This is the largest amount sent from India to any country.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Saturday said there is nothing to be worried about the availability of vaccines, noting that the government will have enough vaccines soon from alternative sources. “I believe we'll have enough vaccines. No one should be worried about it. Vaccines will come timely and all will get it,” he said in a video message shared on his verified Facebook page. The Foreign Minister said Bangladesh is much ahead of many countries in the world in procuring vaccines and launching vaccination drives across the country. He said many European countries decided about which vaccine they should use just in April whereas in Bangladesh many people got vaccinated. Apart from China and Russia, Dr Momen said, there is much possibility to get vaccines from the United States. Also read: Bangladesh seeks immediate delivery of 4 mn vaccine doses from US: FM The Foreign Minister has recently written a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken seeking vaccine doses from the US for immediate and long-term needs. The government has sought immediate release of 2-4 million doses of vaccine from the United States (US) and a total of 10 to 20 million doses of vaccine for the long term supply. The US will share up to 60 million doses of its Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines vaccine with other countries as they become available. The Foreign Minister said 5 lakh doses of Chinese vaccine will arrive here on May 12 as a gift from the Chinese government The World Health Organization (WHO) has listed the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, giving the green light for this vaccine to be rolled out globally. Also read: Deal with Russia soon over Covid vaccine: Health Minister The Sinopharm vaccine is produced by Beijing Bio-Institute of Biological Products Co Ltd, a subsidiary of China National Biotec Group (CNBG). “The addition of this vaccine (Sinopharm COVID-19) has the potential to rapidly accelerate Covid-19 vaccine access for countries seeking to protect health workers and populations at risk. We urge the manufacturer to participate in the COVAX Facility and contribute to the goal of more equitable vaccine distribution," says Dr Mariângela Simão, WHO Assistant-Director General for Access to Health Products. Dr Momen said Russia's Sputnik V Covid vaccine showed over 97 percent efficacy while the Chinese vaccines were taken by 100 million people without any side effects. He said the government of Bangladesh got the vaccines from India at a very low cost but they could not supply as per agreement due to the deteriorating situation in India with sharp rise of demands for vaccines there. Earlier, the Foreign Minister said the government is not shifting its attention from India as there is an agreement with Serum Institute of India to get 3 crore doses of vaccine. Also read: What does it feel like to get COVID-19 after taking the vaccine? He said India is yet to reply as Bangladesh sought at least 30 lakh doses of vaccine under the agreement to address the immediate demand in Bangladesh. “We’ll procure vaccines wherever we get it.” Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reaffirmed that the government will procure vaccines at any cost to protect people from coronavirus."We are bringing more vaccines, no matter how much money is required; we will bring more vaccines." Bangladesh has received 7 million of Oxford-AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine doses produced by Serum Institute of India (SII) vaccines through its contract. Bangladesh also received 3.3 million doses of vaccine as a bilateral partnership gift. This is the largest amount sent from India to any country.

The potential of new coronavirus strains appearing won’t diminish the efficiency of Russian-made COVID vaccines, assures Viktor Zuyev, chief researcher at the Gamaleia Research Institute. "As of today, when asked whether the emergence of mutations would invalidate the vaccines’ efficiency, we can answer that there is no such danger," he emphasized. Also read: More support easing vaccine patent rules, but hurdles remain Earlier, Anna Popova, the nation’s chief sanitary doctor, stated that Russian vaccines guarantee protection from all coronavirus strains. Also read: US support behind vaccine patent waiver ‘monumental moment’ in Covid fight: WHO

The Biden administration is throwing its support behind efforts to waive intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines in an effort to speed the end of the pandemic. United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced the government’s position in a Wednesday statement, amid World Trade Organization talks over easing global trade rules to enable more countries to produce more of the life-saving vaccines. “The Administration believes strongly in intellectual property protections, but in service of ending this pandemic, supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines,” Tai said in the statement. But she cautioned that it would take time to reach the required global “consensus” to waive the protections under WTO rules, and U.S. officials said it would not have an immediate effect on the global supply of COVID-19 shots. “This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures,” said Tai. “The Administration’s aim is to get as many safe and effective vaccines to as many people as fast as possible.” Also read: PVA bats for suspension of intellectual property rights on Covid jabs Tai’s announcement comes hours after WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala spoke to a closed-door meeting of ambassadors from developing and developed countries that have been wrangling over the issue, but agree on the need for wider access to COVID-19 treatments, WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell said. The WTO’s General Council — made up of ambassadors — was taking up the pivotal issue of a temporary waiver for intellectual property protections on COVID-19 vaccines and other tools, which South Africa and India first proposed in October. The idea has gained support in the developing world and among some progressive lawmakers in the West. Rockwell said a WTO panel on intellectual property was set to take up the waiver proposal again at a “tentative” meeting later this month, before a formal meeting June 8-9. No consensus -- which is required under WTO rules -- was expected to emerge from the ambassadors’ two-day meeting Wednesday and Thursday. But Rockwell pointed to a change in tone after months of wrangling. Also read: Senators to Biden: Waive vaccine intellectual property rules “I would say that the discussion was far more constructive, pragmatic. It was less emotive and less finger pointing than it had been in the past,” Rockwell said, citing a surge in cases in places like India. “I think that this feeling of everyone-being-in-it-together was being expressed in a way that I had not heard to this point.” Authors of the proposal, which has faced resistance from many countries with influential pharmaceutical and biotech industries, have been revising it in hopes of making it more palatable. Okonjo-Iweala, in remarks posted on the WTO website, said it was “incumbent on us to move quickly to put the revised text on the table, but also to begin and undertake text-based negotiations.” “I am firmly convinced that once we can sit down with an actual text in front of us, we shall find a pragmatic way forward,” that is “acceptable to all sides,” she said. Co-sponsors of the idea were shuttling between different diplomatic missions to make their case, according to a Geneva trade official who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. A deadlock persists, and opposing sides remain far apart, the official said. Also read: Covid-19 vaccines: Ex-leaders, Nobel laureates urge Biden to waive intellectual property rules The argument, part of a long-running debate about intellectual property protections, centers on lifting patents, copyrights and protections for industrial design and confidential information to help expand the production and deployment of vaccines during supply shortages. The aim is to suspend the rules for several years, just long enough to beat down the pandemic. The issue has become more pressing with a surge in cases in India, the world’s second-most populous country and a key producer of vaccines — including one for COVID-19 that relies on technology from Oxford University and British-Swedish pharmaceutical maker AstraZeneca. Proponents, including WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, note that such waivers are part of the WTO toolbox and insist there’s no better time to use them than during the once-in-a-century pandemic that has taken 3.2 million lives, infected more than 437 million people and devastated economies. More than 100 countries have come out in support of the proposal, and a group of 110 members of Congress — all fellow Democrats of Biden — sent him a letter last month that called on him to support the waiver. Opponents say a waiver would be no panacea. They insist that production of coronavirus vaccines is complex and simply can’t be ramped up by easing intellectual property, and say lifting protections could hurt future innovation.

Ten liberal senators are urging President Joe Biden to back India and South Africa’s appeal to the World Trade Organization to temporarily relax intellectual property rules so coronavirus vaccines can be manufactured by nations that are struggling to inoculate their populations. The lawmakers, in a letter delivered to the White House on Thursday evening, wrote that Biden should “prioritize people over pharmaceutical company profits” and support the temporary waiver of the rules. A waiver could pave the way for generic or other manufacturers to make more vaccines. The letter was led by independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, along with Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Sherrod Brown of Ohio. Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Raphael Warnock of Georgia also signed the letter. “Simply put, we must make vaccines, testing, and treatments accessible everywhere if we are going to crush the virus anywhere,” the lawmakers say in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press. Also read: Covid-19 vaccines: Ex-leaders, Nobel laureates urge Biden to waive intellectual property rules More than 100 nations support a temporary waiver, which could help vaccine manufacturing ramp up in poorer countries that are struggling to acquire vaccine supplies. The Biden administration has said it is studying the issue. Opponents, including pharmaceutical companies, worry that it would set dangerous precedent in allowing scientists around the globe to copy American and European companies’ research — some of which was funded by the U.S. government — long before patents expire. The Trump administration had opposed calls for the waiver. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the lawmakers’ letter. The lawmakers’ appeal to Biden came after a group of 170 former world leaders and Nobel laureates earlier this week sent a similar letter to Biden urging him to support a temporary waiver of the WTO’s intellectual property rules. The coronavirus pandemic has killed nearly 3 million people worldwide, including more than 170,000 in India and more than 50,000 in South Africa, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The United States has assured of making Covid-19 vaccines available for other countries including Bangladesh once they have surplus. “I can assure you when we can reach the level of the critical mass vaccination and we’ve surplus, we’ll absolutely make vaccines available in whatever different ways,” said John Kerry, the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate. While responding to a question at a joint briefing on Friday, Kerry said US President Joe Biden believes deeply that they have a responsibility - moral and practical - to bring the whole world back from this break. Also read: Make no mistake; take action: Kerry on dealing with climate crisis together He, however, said he cannot give the numbers and schedule but he can guarantee that there is a concerted effort to reach out globally to help all with this pandemic. “We all benefit by getting this pandemic conquered.”

The U.N. health agency said its global rollout of coronavirus vaccines remains unaffected even as a growing number of countries, especially in Europe, suspended use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine on Monday amid concerns about blood clots in some people who received it.