The Latest Sri Lanka receives 1st batch of Sputnik V shots

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka has received its first collection of Russian vaccine Sputnik V.

A total of 15,000 doses were delivered in the early hours of Tuesday morning to a nation on the Indian Ocean island that is struggling to find the COVID-19 vaccine due to delays in getting it from neighboring India.

Sri Lanka has ordered 13 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine at Russia's Gamaleya Institute.

The Minister of Production, Supply and Regulation Chana Jayasuma, and officials from the Russian embassy were present at the country's largest airport to receive the vaccines.

Jayasumana said he hoped Sri Lanka would receive a total of 13 million Sputnik V doses from Russia in the future.

Sri Lanka is facing a shortage of 600,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to complete the second round of the vaccine program.

Under the first round, 925,242 people were vaccinated and currently, the Sri Lankan health department has about 350,000 numbers and as a result, there is a shortage of 600,000 doses as the island nation has so far not been vaccinated in India.

The number of COVID patients is growing rapidly across the country last week. The total number of positive cases in Sri Lanka has reached 111,753 with 696 deaths.

SEOUL, South Korea - Isolated North Korea warns its people to fight the long-term struggle against coronavirus, saying the spread of disease and mud vaccine programs in some countries shows that vaccines are not the real solution.

A column published in Pyongyang's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper came amid questions about when and how the drugs would arrive in North Korea.

The UN-sponsored program to distribute COVID-19 drugs worldwide said in February that North Korea could receive 1.9 million vaccines in the first half of this year. However, COVAX has always warned of a global shortage because the Serum Institute of India, licensed to manufacture the AstraZeneca vaccine, is putting its products on domestic demand as the HIV prevalence in India grows.

The North has demanded a complete record for the maintenance of COVID-19, but foreign experts are skeptical of the claim, due to poor health infrastructure and a poor border with China, which is a way of economic life.

Rodong has taken a prominent gun in India’s anti-virus campaign without naming the country. It said that one nation that had released the “vaccine that it used to expose when it publicly asserted that we were taking the virus as a failure,” was now facing an alarming increase in infections caused by a variety of infectious viruses after the decline.

"The conditions in other countries provide further evidence that policies are not the solution to the environment," the newspaper wrote.

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CANBERRA, Australia - The Australian Prime Minister said on Tuesday he was confident that flights from India would resume after May 15 following a temporary suspension of flights due to the COVID-19 crash.

Australians who have been in India for 14 days face a five-year prison sentence and a $ 66,000 ($ 51,000) fine under the Biosecurity Act when they return home during recess announced last week.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison told Nine Network television: "I hope we can re-launch those flights and bring people back home safely" on May 15.

Former Australian cricketer Michael Slater told Morrison on social media that the prime minister has "blood on your hands" due to the suspension of a trip from India.

Morrison dismissed Slater's post as "obviously absurd." The holiday was to reduce pressure on Australia's hotel reservation program for returning travelers, Morrison said.

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OLYMPIA, Wash. - More people will be allowed into indoor and outdoor viewing events as well as in-house services if there are proposed vaccinations for COVID-19, under a new leadership released by Gov.Washington Jay Jay Inslee on Monday.

The change - which is taking effect immediately - is affecting the capacity of sporting events, graduates and other regional events in the second and third phases of the state's economic recovery plan.

A vaccination card or other documentation proving the status of the vaccine will be required to access the vaccine components.

Whereas previously there were limited conditions where spectator events were allowed to reach up to 50% of the capacity, under the new direction, outdoor buildings may add vaccinated categories until the total capacity - including vaccinated or vaccinated classes - is 50% or 22,000 people, anywhere down . There may be less than 9,000 people who are not vaccinated at an outdoor event.

For domestic services, vaccinated units can be added until their total capacity is 50%, although the maximum number should not exceed 2,000 people, and the number of non-vaccinated spectators varies depending on the size of the room and the economy of the country.

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Announcing the COVID-19 "fully" epidemic without any immunization, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said on Monday he would suspend a state health order aimed at monitoring the spread of a disease that has killed nearly 11,000 people across the country.

Commenting on improved infection rates, fewer hospitalizations and widespread immunizations, Ivey said the current health system, which recommends that people adhere to health recommendations and requires specific measures to monitor the elderly and long-term care facilities by May 31.

The emergency declared as a result of the health threat will expire on July 6, he said in a statement.

“For more than a year now, the Alabamians, like people around the world, have sacrificed and adapted to the‘ normal ’temporary situation. ‘We’ve learned a lot since last year, and this has now become a managed epidemic.