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 The daily average number of cases has fallen by 36% over the past
three months, according to a Reuters analysis, but the virus is
still infecting 50 million people worldwide every 90 days due to the
highly transmissible Delta variant.
By contrast, it took nearly a year to record the first 50 million
COVID-19 cases.
Health experts are optimistic that many nations have put the worst
of the pandemic behind them thanks to vaccines and natural exposure,
although they caution that colder weather and upcoming holiday
gatherings could increase cases.
"We think between now and the end of 2022, this is the point where
we get control over this virus ... where we can significantly reduce
severe disease and death," Maria Van Kerkhove, an epidemiologist
leading the World Health Organisation, told Reuters on Nov. 3.
Infections are still rising in 55 out of 240 countries, with Russia,
Ukraine and Greece https://tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi at or near record
levels of reported cases since the pandemic started two years ago,
according to a Reuters analysis.
Eastern Europe has among the lowest vaccination rates https://tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi
in the region. More than half of all new infections reported
worldwide were from countries in Europe, with a million new
infections about every four days, according to the analysis.
Several Russian regions said this week they could impose additional
restrictions or extend a workplace shutdown as the country witnesses
record deaths due to the disease.
On Monday Russia reported 39,400 new COVID-19 cases, including
nearly 5,000 in Moscow alone.
VACCINE INEQUITY
In Germany, too, despite much higher levels of vaccination, the
infection rate rose to its highest level since the start of the
pandemic and doctors said they would need to postpone scheduled
operations in coming weeks to cope.
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 By contrast, Japan recorded no
daily deaths from COVID-19 on Sunday for the
first time in more than a year, local media
said. Vaccinations have increased now to cover
more than 70% of Japan's population.
China, the world's most populous country where
the pandemic first began, administered about 8.6
million doses of COVID-19 vaccines on Sunday,
bringing the total number of doses given to 2.3
billion, data showed on Monday.
Several world leaders have stressed the need to improve vaccination
programs, particularly in the poorest countries.
More than half the world's population has yet to receive a single
dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to Our World in Data, a figure
that drops to less than 5% in low-income countries.
Improving vaccine access will be on the agenda of meetings of the
powerful Asia-Pacific trade group APEC, hosted virtually by New
Zealand this week. APEC members, which include
Russia, China and the United States, pledged at a special meeting in
June to expand sharing and manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines and
lift trade barriers for medicines.
"Together we are continuing to keep supply chains functioning and
are supporting trade in critical medical supplies – including
testing kits, PPE and now vaccines," New Zealand Prime Minister
Jacinda Ardern said on Monday.
The World Health Organization and other aid groups last month
appealed to leaders of the world's 20 biggest economies to fund a
$23.4 billion plan to bring COVID-19 vaccines, tests, and drugs to
poorer countries in the next 12 months.
(Reporting by Roshan Abraham and Rittik Biswas in BengaluruEditing
by Lisa Shumaker, Jane Wardell and Gareth Jones)
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