A first batch of the Sputnik V vaccine, which had recently been approved in India, was delivered from Russia. The delivery arrived in Hyderabad on Saturday, the state-owned Russian direct investment fund RDIF announced on Twitter. Information on the amount was initially not given. Russia has already flown ventilators, oxygen generation equipment and medicines to India. In India itself, vaccine production is to be ramped up in the coming months.
The USA and Australia are now stopping travelers from India. In the United States, the measure will come into force on Tuesday, according to a decree by US President Joe Biden. Foreigners who have been in India in the previous 14 days are then no longer allowed to enter. US citizens, diplomats, foreigners with permanent right of residence in the US and certain other groups of people are excluded.
In Biden’s order, it said the measure was taken on the advice of the US health authority CDC. “The Republic of India is responsible for more than a third of the new cases worldwide.” Several variants of the coronavirus were also circulating in the country.
Australian authorities went further: According to media reports, their own citizens entering from India face jail sentences of up to five years or heavy fines of up to 66,000 Australian dollars (around 42,000 euros). Around 9,000 Australians are currently waiting in India to travel home. Thanks to strict measures, Australia has so far got through the pandemic lightly.
Meanwhile, India reported another fire on a ward for Covid 19 patients on Saturday. At least 18 people were killed in the state of Gujarat. The cause of the fire has not yet been finally clarified. It was only in April that at least 13 corona patients died in a fire in an intensive care unit north of Mumbai.
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