A view of a COVID-19 vaccination center in Gostinny Dvor, a huge exhibition place in Moscow, Russia on July 12, 2021. (PAVEL GOLOVKIN / AP)
WASHINGTON – Russia reported 11,515 new daily coronavirus cases on Thursday, authorities said, the highest such figure since April 13.
Forty-one people in Russia died of coronavirus over the last day, the country's anti-COVID-19 taskforce said in an update.
Russia has recorded 18,565,551 cases of COVID-19 since April 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic in the country.
Russia said earlier this month it was ending all restrictions to combat the spread of COVID-19, including the requirement to wear masks, citing a steady decline in deaths from the virus.
However, it did not rule out re-introducing restrictive measures if the situation deteriorates.
In this Feb 2, 2021 photo, a health worker holds a vial with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine against the novel coronavirus at the vaccination center in Freising, southern Germany (CHRISOF STACHE / AFP)
Pfizer
Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech SE said on Wednesday they had started a mid-stage study of a modified COVID-19 vaccine which targets both the original as well as the BA.2 Omicron subvariant.
Pfizer said the vaccine is in an initial proof-of-concept study to gather more data.
Together, the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants are estimated to make up nearly 95 percent of the circulating coronavirus variants in the United States for the week ended July 23.
The US Food and Drug Administration last month asked vaccine manufacturers to target BA.4 and BA.5, the two currently dominant Omicron subvariants, for a potential fall season booster dose.
US President Joe Biden delivers remarks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington DC on July 27, 2022. Biden has had two negative COVID-19 tests and no longer needs to isolate after recovering from infection, his White House Doctor Kevin O'Connor said Wednesday. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
US
US President Joe Biden had tested negative for COVID-19 after five days of treatment, his doctor said on Wednesday.
US President Joe Biden, 79, will discontinue his isolation measures, according to the latest memo from White House physician Dr Kevin O'Connor
Biden, 79, will discontinue his isolation measures, according to the latest memo from White House physician Dr. Kevin O'Connor.
"His symptoms have been steadily improving, and almost completely resolved," O'Connor wrote.
Biden will wear a mask for "10 full days any time he is around others," the doctor continued, adding that the US president "will increase his testing cadence."
ALSO READ: French lawmakers vote bill ending virus mandates on Aug 1
Fully vaccinated and twice boosted, Biden had been taking Paxlovid, an antiviral therapy produced by Pfizer and given to patients with COVID-19.
The White House updated Biden will deliver remarks from the Rose Garden in the morning.