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Other Security News
COVID-19 Pandemic News

Other Security News

• Top Biden Adviser Suggests Russia Could See U.S. Response To SolarWinds Hack Within 'Weeks' RFE/RL 21 Feb 2021 -- U.S. national-security adviser Jake Sullivan has warned that the United States will respond within "weeks, not months" to a suspected Russian cyberattack, discovered in December, that targeted branches of the U.S. government and other key institutions.
• Russia Reports First Case Of H5N8 Bird Flu In Humans RFE/RL 21 Feb 2021 -- Russia has reported the first case of a bird-flu strain, H5N8, being passed from birds to humans.
• Russia confirms world's 1st case of human infection with A(H5N8) bird flu virus Global Times 21 Feb 2021 -- Russia has confirmed the first case of human infection with the avian influenza A(H5N8) virus in the world, a Russian sanitary official announced on Saturday.
• Guinea's Ebola Vaccination Postponed Amid Problems With Delivery Sputnik 21 Feb 2021 -- Ebola vaccination in Guinea is being delayed as the plane carrying a batch of vaccine doses was unable to land, the Guinea branch of the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

COVID-19 Pandemic News

• Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine Reportedly Shows 89.4% Efficacy Against Transmission of COVID-19 Sputnik 21 Feb 2021 -- The COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech pharmaceutical companies has demonstrated 89.4% efficacy against the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, Der Spiegel reported on Sunday, citing scientific research conducted by the Israeli Health Ministry.
• COVID-19-Related Violations to Dominate UN Rights Council Agenda VOA 21 Feb 2021 -- COVID-19's impact on efforts to combat gross human rights violations will be a major focus of the 46th regular session of the U.N. Human Rights Council.

United States

• White House Hopes Majority of Public Schools Will Be Reopened by April VOA 21 Feb 2021 -- The United States is struggling to reopen its public schools across the country amid the coronavirus pandemic, but the White House said Sunday it is hoping to have full-time, in-class instruction in a majority of schools by April.
• Key COVID-19 indicators in U.S. continue to fall People's Daily 21 Feb 2021 -- Key indicators of COVID-19 transmission in the United States continue to fall, but health experts warn the public not to let down guard as the country sees uptick in coronavirus variants infections.
• Governor Cuomo Announces Single-Day COVID-19 Positivity Rate Drops Below 3 Percent for First Time Since November 23 New York State 21 Feb 2021
• Governor Cuomo Updates New Yorkers on State Vaccination Program New York State 21 Feb 2021

China

• 15 COVID-19 patients discharged from hospital in Shanghai, 12 remain hospitalized Global Times 21 Feb 2021 -- Fifteen COVID-19 cases including 13 imported cases and two local cases were discharged from hospital on Sunday, leaving 12 local patients still hospitalized in the city, while Shanghai has been deemed low-risk for the epidemic since it downgraded its last medium-risk area to low-risk on Friday.
• Chinese COVID-19 vaccines contribute to global fight against pandemic People's Daily 21 Feb 2021 -- China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines arrived at Blaise Diagne International Airport, Senegal on Feb. 17, local time, making Senegal the first country in West Africa to receive massive doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
• Arrival of mainland-made vaccines strengthen Hong Kong's anti-epidemic work: HKSAR gov't official People's Daily 21 Feb 2021 -- Matthew Cheung, chief secretary for administration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, said on Sunday that the arrival of the first batch of mainland-manufactured COVID-19 vaccines in Hong Kong will not only strengthen Hong Kong's anti-epidemic work, but also help people to return to normal life.
• China approves clinical trials of 16 COVID-19 vaccines People's Daily 21 Feb 2021 -- China has approved 16 domestically made COVID-19 vaccines for clinical trials, six of which have entered phase 3, according to the latest data from the National Medical Products Administration.

Europe

• Italy Marks Anniversary of First Confirmed Locally Transmitted COVID-19 Infections in West VOA 21 Feb 2021 -- It was one year ago that Italy became the first country outside of Asia to confirm locally transmitted coronavirus infections.
• Matt Hancock defends lack of transparency over Covid-19 contracts Press TV 21 Feb 2021 -- Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, has defended not disclosing key details of Covid-19 contracts to the public despite a court ruling he acted unlawfully.
• Montenegro Starts Coronavirus Vaccination With Sputnik V Vaccines Donated by Serbia Sputnik 21 Feb 2021 -- The first doses of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine have been administered to three people in Montenegro, the Institute for Public Health of Montenegro (IPH) has announced.

Russia

• Russia registers 3rd COVID-19 vaccine Global Times 21 Feb 2021 -- Russia has registered its third COVID-19 vaccine CoviVac, following Sputnik V and EpiVacCorona, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced on Saturday.
• Russia Approves CoviVac, Its Third Coronavirus Vaccine RFE/RL 21 Feb 2021 -- Russia has approved its third domestically produced coronavirus vaccine, although large-scale clinical trials have yet to be completed.
• Russia Reports 12,742 New Coronavirus Cases, 417 Deaths SPA 21 Feb 2021 -- Russia on Sunday reported 12,742 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, including 1,602 in Moscow, taking the national tally to 4,164,726, Reuters reported.

India

• Centre writes to States Witnessing Spike in Daily New Cases India PIB 21 Feb 2021 -- India has been witnessing a rise in the active caseload over the past few days. India's total Active Caseload is pegged at 1,45,634 today. It now consists of 1.32% of India's total Positive Cases.

Iran

• Domestic COVID-19 vaccine to be 10 million doses per month: Official IRNA 21 Feb 2021 -- An official in charge of the vaccine production plan at the Executive Office of the Order of Imam Khomeini Hassan Jalili said on Sunday that the production capacity of the first Iran-made COVID vaccine COV-Iran Barekat will be more than 10 million doses per month.
• Health official advises Iranians to trust Iran-made coronavirus vaccine IRNA 21 Feb 2021 -- Iranians can trust the domestically-produced vaccine for COVID-19, said Minoo Mohraz, a member of the national committee for the fight against the coronavirus disease.
• Final report of COV-Iran Barekat vaccine to be presented in early March IRNA 21 Feb 2021 -- The head of the observation team of the clinical tests of COV-Iran Barekat vaccine said that the final report of last blood sample of the recipients of the Iranian-made COVID-19 vaccine will be presented after analyzing the last blood sample of the recipients to be taken on March 4.
• COVID-19 claims 74 lives in past 24 hours in Iran: Official IRNA 21 Feb 2021 -- Some 74 more Iranians have died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) over the past 24 hours bringing the total deaths to 59,483, Iran's Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said on Sunday.
• Trials confirm 90% COVID-19 protection of Iranian vaccines IRNA 21 Feb 2021 -- Iranian vaccines provide 90% COVID-19 protection, according to stage-by-stage trials conducted by Barekat Foundation, official in charge of manufacturing Iran Barekat vaccines said on Sunday.
• Iran-Cuba COVID vaccine may hit markets in April: Iran health official Press TV 21 Feb 2021 -- A senior Iranian health ministry official says a nation-wide immunization program against coronavirus involving an Iranian-Cuban vaccine could be rolled out in April.

Saudi Arabia

• MoH Inaugurates 10 COVID-19 Vaccination Centers in Madinah SPA 21 Feb 2021 -- The Ministry of Health has inaugurated 10 additional COVID-19 vaccination centers in Madinah Region.
• Health Ministry Spokesman: 315 New Confirmed Cases of COVID-19 Reported in Saudi Arabia SPA 21 Feb 2021 -- Official Spokesman of the Ministry of Health Dr. Muhammad Al-Abdulaali said in a press conference today that 315 new confirmed cases of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) have been reported in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; thus bringing the total number to 375,006 confirmed cases, including 2,451 active cases receiving necessary medical care. Of these, there are 508 critical cases, while the health condition of the rest is stable.

Taiwan

• Taiwan likely to lift current ban on foreign visitors next month CNA 21 Feb 2021 -- The government is moving toward lifting its ban on foreign visitors to Taiwan next month, the health minister said Sunday, two months after the ban was introduced in January to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in response to a new variant of the coronavirus.
• Arrivals from Brazil to be government-quarantined due to new variant CNA 21 Feb 2021 -- Taiwan will launch new quarantine rules for travelers from Brazil starting this week in response to arrivals from the country who have been confirmed with a new, seemingly more transmissible version of the COVID-19 virus that originated there.

Other Countries

• Chinese COVID-19 vaccines arrive in Colombia, Mexico Global Times 21 Feb 2021 -- The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines by China's Sinovac arrived in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, at around 2:45 pm local time, and was received by the Colombian President Ivan Duque Márquez, Vice President Marta Lucía Ramírez, other government officials and the Chinese Ambassador to Colombia, Lan Hu.
• China delivers COVID-19 vaccine aid to Belarus People's Daily 21 Feb 2021 -- The COVID-19 vaccine aid provided to Belarus by the Chinese government has arrived in Belarus.
• Iraq Reports 3,187 New Cases of COVID-19 SPA 21 Feb 2021 -- Iraq reported as many as 3,187 new cases of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) during the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 667,937.
• Malaysia to Start COVID-19 Vaccination Drive Early as First Doses Arrive SPA 21 Feb 2021 -- Malaysia moved up its COVID-19 inoculation drive by two days as the first batch of vaccines arrived in the Southeast Asian nation on Sunday, Reuters reported.
• Israeli Economy Reopening Following Coronavirus Shutdown VOA 21 Feb 2021 -- Israel has reopened many schools, malls and gyms that were closed for several weeks. Some venues, however, are open only to those with a "green passport," a document showing they have received both doses of the coronavirus vaccine. The opening comes amid reports that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine works better than expected.
• Mass COVID-19 Vaccination Begins in Australia VOA 21 Feb 2021 -- More than 1 in 5 Australians say they will "probably" or "definitely" not be vaccinated against coronavirus. New research has shown a spike in doubts over the vaccine as a mass inoculation program starts Sunday. A survey of about 3,500 people by the Australian National University found a "significant and substantial" increase in hesitancy since the same people were asked about getting the shot in August.