Currently, among the most affected nations are the US (32.6 million infected, 580,000 deaths), India (21.4 million cases, 234,000 fatalities), and Brazil (15 million cases and a death toll of over 419,000).
The World Health Organisation has endorsed the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine for emergency use. With China's vaccine added to the list, there are now six shots with emergency use listing.
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday suggested that EU nations discuss the pricing of coronavirus vaccine licensing, in addition to patenting.
"We should … discuss widely the question of licensing and the price of licensing. But again this is something which will not bring within the next months or the next year more vaccines — and we need vaccines now," she told a news conference after an informal EU summit in Portugal.
EU leaders debated the US proposal to suspend vaccine patents as a way to increase global supply. Von der Leyen said the bloc was ready to go into that discussion but warned that the EU would look at it from a long-term perspective.
The commission chief also suggested that countries that already produce COVID-19 vaccines on a large scale should share their stock. The US has effectively blocked vaccine exports in a bid to meet the domestic demand.
The French government is working on a list of countries that its citizens can travel to this summer, Tourism Minister Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne stated on Saturday.
"As for the countries outside of the European zone ... there are countries where coronavirus strains are still very active, so we will work on the lists," Lemoyne said as aired by the Europe 1 broadcaster.
According to him, the countries will be divided into "green," "orange" and "red" depending on the COVID-19 situation. The minister stressed that Paris is working on the list together with European partners.
On April 29, President Emmanuel Macron announced a phased removal of COVID-19 restrictions in the country. On May 3, the government lifted restrictions on travel between regions and opened middle and high schools.
The second stage is set for May 19, when the curfew will be moved from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Cafes and restaurants will be allowed to open outdoor terraces; museums, theaters and cinemas will also resume their work. From June 9, the curfew will be pushed to 11:00 p.m., gatherings of up to 1,000 people will be allowed, and sports facilities will reopen. Starting June 30, the majority of remaining restrictions will be lifted.
In June, France will also reopen to foreign tourists traveling with health certificates.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday rejected calls for pharma companies to drop patent protections for coronavirus vaccines, saying this would not end supply shortages.
"I do not think that waiving patents is the solution to make vaccines available to more people," she told a virtual news conference, following an informal EU summit in Portugal.
The politician said intellectual rights protections were integral to pharma companies’ creativity and their power of innovation and guaranteed the quality of "highly sensitive" products, such as vaccines.
Merkel thus echoed other EU leaders who said patent waivers were not the way out. The idea was floated by the US administration. President Joe Biden on Wednesday backed a freeze on patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines.
Pope Francis on Saturday supported the idea of temporarily lifting intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines so that everyone has access to the drugs.
Earlier in the week, the administration of US President Joe Biden expressed its support for the initiative to waive vaccine patents in order to speed up production worldwide. A number of countries have since backed the idea.
"A spirit of justice mobilizes us to ensure universal access to a vaccine by temporarily suspending intellectual property rights. A spirit of unity will enable us to create a different, more inclusive, fair and sustainable economic model," the pontiff said in a video message to participants in the virtual charity concert "Vax Live: The Concert To Reunite the World."
The chiefs of the European Commission and the European Council have meanwhile doubted that the move would boost vaccine production in the short- and medium term. However, the bloc expressed readiness to discuss the idea.
"I call very clearly on the United States to put an end to export bans not only on vaccines but on vaccine ingredients, which prevent production," French President Emmanuel Macron said.
European Council President Charles Michel said on Saturday that lifting intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines is not the "magic bullet," but the bloc is ready to discuss it.
On Wednesday, the Biden administration threw its support behind the initiative to temporarily lift patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines in order to speed up production worldwide.
"On the intellectual property, we do not think, in the short term, that it is the magic bullet, but we are ready to engage on this topic as soon as a concrete proposal would be put on the table," Michel said before a working session of the two-day informal European Council meeting in Portugal's Porto.
He added that all EU leaders present at the Porto summit "agree that [they] need to do everything which is possible in order to increase everywhere in the world the production of vaccines".
According to the official, the EU leaders on Friday evening discussed three major virus-related issues, namely EU progress in vaccine production and distribution; green certificates; and international solidarity to increase vaccine production.
"We are totally committed [to shipments] through COVAX, for example, but also because in Europe we took the decision to make export possible for vaccines and we encouraged all partners to facilitate the export of doses," he said.
The Porto Social Summit, hosted by the Portuguese presidency and the EU, focuses on such topics as employment, skills and innovation as well as welfare state and social protection.
India's capital can complete COVID-19 immunization within 3 months if the monthly supply of shots rises to 8.5 million, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday.
"If we get adequate vaccine doses, we can complete vaccination within 3 months. There're 1.5 crore people [15 million] above 18 years of age in Delhi so we need 3 crore doses [30 million]. Out of this, Delhi Govt has got only 40 lakh [4 million] doses so far," he said as quoted by the Times of India on Twitter.
According to Kejriwal, if the Delhi government is given from 8 million to 8.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses per month, the city will be able to complete the vaccination rollout in three months.
Currently, Delhi stands at vaccinating 100,000 people per day.
"I request Central government to ensure adequate availability of vaccines to Delhi," the chief minister added.
Kejriwal also expressed his concern about children's health, as they can not be vaccinated at the moment, and appealed to experts and the central government to bring vaccines for children as soon as possible. He also reassured the public that the vaccination rollout is going in full swing.
The Times of India also reported that Kejriwal mentioned that the oxygen situation in Delhi was improving.
India is currently second in the world in terms of the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases. On Saturday, the country reported 4,187 new coronavirus-related deaths, marking the worst daily increase since the start of the outbreak.
Russia registered 8,329 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, down from 8,386 the day before, taking the overall tally to 4,871,843 the coronavirus response centre said on Saturday.
"Over the past day, 8,329 coronavirus cases were confirmed across 83 Russian regions, including 1,524 cases (18.3%) without clinical symptoms," the centre said, adding that the rate of increase was at 0,17%.
Moscow confirmed 2,765 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, down from 2,846 the day before. The Russian capital was followed by St. Petersburg with 726 new cases and the Moscow Region with 630.
The response centre reported 370 COVID-19 fatalities, down from 376 the day before, raising the country's death toll to 112,992.
Total recoveries increased by 8,255 over the given period, up from 8,022 the previous day, and reached 4,488,615 in total.
The Brazilian government has welcomed the United States' readiness to support talks on suspending patents for coronavirus vaccines in a bid to inoculate as many people as possible at the earliest.
The administration of US President Joe Biden expressed earlier in the week its support for waiving intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines and pledged to negotiate the issue within the World Trade Organization (WTO) framework. A number of countries have since backed the idea.
"The Brazilian government welcomes the readiness of the US for talks within WTO on a multilateral decision that will contribute to the fight against COVID-19, readiness to step up efforts ... to increase the production and distribution of materials and vaccines worldwide," Brazil's foreign, health, and economy ministries said in a joint statement late on Friday.
The Brazilian government has also recalled the need for cooperation between nations possessing vaccine production technologies and developing countries that have industrial facilities suitable for vaccine production.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday at the EU Social Summit in Porto that the patent waiver would not boost vaccine production in the short- and medium term. According von der Leyen, the more effective approach would be to step up vaccine sharing, increase vaccine exports and invest in increasing the capacity to manufacture the drugs globally.
The number of people, who have died of the coronavirus in India, has risen by 4,187 within the past day, marking the worst daily increase since the start of the outbreak, the Ministry of Health said on Saturday.
The death toll currently stands at 238,270 people.
The number of confirmed cases has increased by 401,078 to 21,892,676 within the same period of time.
More than 17.93 million people have recovered since the start of the epidemic.
India comes second in terms of the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, following the United States with more than 32.65 million patients.
