- UK deaths reach 131; Moscow and St Petersburg study will involve 150 participants
- US will not lift travel restrictions ‘at this point’ due to spread of Delta
- Covid cases in US may have been undercounted by 60% – study
- No 10 cautious over declaring Covid turning point despite fall in cases
The Guardian brings the recent and live global coronavirus updates.
Vaccine cocktail
Russia has given the green light for clinical trials combining a British shot from AstraZeneca and Oxford University with Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine to go ahead, according to Russia’s state drug register.
The health ministry’s ethical committee had in May suspended the approval process for the clinical trials, and requested additional information.
According to the state drug register, five Russian clinics will hold trials that are set to finish in early March, 2022.
Both the AstraZeneca/Oxford and Sputnik V vaccines involve two doses — an initial shot and a booster– but Sputnik V uses different viral vectors for its two shots.
So-called viral vector shots use harmless modified viruses as vehicles, or vectors, to carry genetic information that helps the body build immunity against future infections.
Human trials of a Covid-19 vaccine combining the AstraZeneca/Oxford shot with Sputnik V had already been approved in Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates and Belarus.
UK caseload deceleration continues
A further 23,511 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases have been identified in the UK, the government has said, meaning daily reported cases have fallen for a seventh day in a row.
But the UK also saw the greatest day-on-day increase in death toll since 17 March, with a further 131 people dying within 28 days of testing positive. It brings the UK’s total to 129,303.
Separate figures published by the Office for National Statistics show there have been 154,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
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Source: The Guardian
