Live Updates: UK Coronavirus Strain Confirmed in at Least 60 Countries, WHO Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian vaccines against the coronavirus objectively have all the potential to compete on an equal basis globally, Russia's Permanent Representative to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said on Wednesday.

"I proceed from the fact that objectively ... our vaccines — not only Sputnik V, but also other vaccines — have a very good starting position to compete fairly on a par with those vaccines that are available," Chizhov told the Rossiya 24 broadcaster.

He expressed regret that the opportunity for the world to unite "in the fight against such a common, purely non-politicized and non-ideological enemy like the coronavirus has been missed."

"And this, of course, is a pity," Chizhov stressed.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - President Joe Biden in his inauguration speech on Wednesday said the United States can overcome the novel coronavirus pandemic.

"We can overcome the deadly virus," Biden said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the UK's medical regulator, should have the infrastructure in place to approve vaccines for future COVID-19 variants if required, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday.

"We're confident that the MHRA will be in a position to turn around new applications for new variants of vaccines as may be required to deal with new variants of the virus," Johnson said in parliament.

The discovery of new highly infectious variants of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil has triggered a new wave of travel bans as countries across the globe look to slow the spread of strains of the disease that are believed to be up to 70 percent more transmissible.

The UK has broken its national single-day record for new COVID-19 cases and coronavirus-related deaths multiple times since the emergence of a new variant of the disease in southeast England in December.

The Department of Health and Social Care added 1,610 deaths to the UK's COVID-19 death toll on Tuesday, the largest single-day increase since the start of the pandemic. In total, 91,470 UK residents have died within 28 days of a positive test for the coronavirus disease.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Speaker of the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, Valentina Matviyenko on Wednesday assured that no coronavirus vaccination passports will be introduced in the country, also stressing that those inoculated will have no extra rights.

"No one said that COVID passports would be introduced in Russia. This is some invention of public opinion. Of course, no COVID passports are needed", Matviyenko told reporters.

There will just be an online register of those inoculated against the coronavirus, the speaker explained.

"Vaccination is not obligatory in our country, it is voluntary, this is just a recommendation. People believe there will be some red books with stamps, and citizens having these books will obtain some additional rights and possibilities ... Of course, this will not happen", Matviyenko continued.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia registered 21,152 COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, down from 21,734 the day before, taking the tally to 3,633,952, the coronavirus response centre said on Wednesday.

"Over the past day, 21,152 coronavirus cases were confirmed across 85 Russian regions, including 2,452 cases (11.6 percent) that were detected among people showing no clinical symptoms", the centre said, adding that the cumulative case count has now reached 3,633,952, with the rate of increase falling to 0.59 percent.

"Russia's ministry of health has received a package of documents for registration of the third Russian vaccine for preventing the novel coronavirus disease, developed by the Russian Academy of Sciences' Chumakov Federal Scientific Institute for Research and Development of Immune-and-Biological Products", health minister Mikhail Murashko told regional health officials.