India, the second largest epidemic area in the world, recorded an additional 39,070 cases of infection and 491 deaths, bringing the total to 31,933,553 and 427,892 respectively.
Experts believe that the actual number of infections and deaths in India is much higher than published data due to incomplete statistics.
India on August 7 urgently approved Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine to strengthen the vaccination campaign amid concerns about a new wave of infections.
`India expands its vaccine basket! Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose Covid-19 vaccine has been approved for emergency use in India,` the Minister posted on Twitter.
It is unclear when the US company’s vaccine will arrive in India.
Johnson and Johnson’s vaccine is the fifth to be approved in India, after Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield, Covaxin, Sputnik V and Moderna.
Sputnik has yet to scale up production, while Moderna has not yet exported any doses to India.
Medical staff take Covid-19 test samples for migrant workers in Chennai city, Tamil Nadu state, India on August 7.
The world currently records 202,924,626 cases of infection and 4,298,292, of which 182,276,969 people have recovered, according to real-time statistics site Worldometer.
US health officials are concerned that infections, hospitalizations and deaths will continue to increase if many Americans are not vaccinated, as new infections in the country continued to exceed 100,000 on August 7.
`Our forecast models show that without vaccination, we could go up to several hundred thousand cases per day, similar to the spike in January,` said director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It took the US about 9 months to surpass 100,000 daily cases last November, before reaching a peak of 250,000 cases earlier this year.
Hospitalizations and deaths are also rising, though still below peaks earlier this year.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the seven-day average death rate has increased from about 270 per day two weeks ago to nearly 500 people on August 6.
The situation is especially dire in southern states, which have some of the lowest vaccination rates in the US and have seen small hospitals overwhelmed.
Alabama and Mississippi have the lowest vaccination rates in the country.
Some people are afraid of vaccines because of bogus warnings on social networks and from unofficial sources.
About 237,000 people took to the streets across France on August 7 in the largest protest to protest the government’s plan to issue health passes, two days before the new regulations take effect.
To have a medical passport to enter restaurants, cafes, or take inter-city trains, people must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19, test negative, or have recently recovered from Covid-19.
But protesters, who held four consecutive demonstrations over the weekend, said the vaccine requirement for a medical pass infringed on civil liberties.
Demonstrations also took place in several Italian cities on August 7 to protest the application of new measures, which require evidence that pregnant people have been vaccinated with at least one dose and have recovered.
More than 1,000 people gathered in Piazza del Popolo in central Rome and shouted `No green card!`
The Green Card, an extension of the European Union’s (EU) digital Covid-19 certificate, will from August 6 become mandatory in Italy to enter cinemas, museums and sports venues.
Starting September 1, people need a green card if they want to take domestic flights and long-distance trains.
