Deaths From COVID-19 Increasing in Europe, Stable and Falling in Middle East, WHO Says

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Pfizer announced this week that it will allow generic manufacturers to supply its experimental antiviral pill against the coronavirus to 95 low- and lower-middle-income countries

Europe was the only region where deaths from COVID-19 increased last week, the World Health Organization reported Wednesday in its weekly epidemiological update on the coronavirus. The 61 countries in the European region reported a 5% increase in new deaths, while the other regions reported stable or declining trends.

Meanwhile, infections have been falling in the Middle East. In Israel, new cases of the coronavirus have fallen to under 500 a day and are holding steady, with daily deaths from the disease at between 0 and 3.  Deaths in Iran in recent weeks have hovered slightly above 100, down from a high of nearly 700 deaths a day in late August. Deaths in Turkey were slightly more than 200 a day in the last week, after having under 40 daily deaths for several days in July. Saudi Arabia announced that there were two new deaths from the coronavirus on Wednesday, which is similar to the daily figure in recent days.

Pfizer this week filed an application for emergency use authorization for its experimental antiviral pill against the coronavirus with the US Food and Drug Administration. In clinical trials the oral drug, called Paxlovid, cut the chance of hospitalization or death for adults at risk of getting a severe case of the virus by 89%. It is not known how long it will take for USFDA regulators to rule on the application. Pfizer also has requested emergency use authorization in several other countries, including authorization of the treatment in United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. The company says it will manufacture some 50 million courses of the drug by the end of 2022.

The Israeli government inked a deal over the weekend with Pfizer to buy tens of thousands of doses of the antiviral pill, with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett saying it will be “another significant tool in managing the pandemic, together with vaccines for everyone and accessible tests for everyone.”

Pfizer also announced this week that it will allow generic manufacturers to supply the Paxlovid pill to 95 low- and lower-middle-income countries.

Israel on Sunday announced that it would delay allowing tourists who were vaccinated with the Russian Sputnik V vaccine to enter the country. Israel had originally announced that visitors who received the Sputnik V vaccine could enter the country beginning on November 15, but postponed that date until December 1. In addition to being vaccinated with the Russian-developed vaccine, the tourists are required to take a serological test to show that they have antibodies against the virus. Israel decided to allow Russian tourist in following a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi last month.

Finally, an Israeli study published this week in Nature Communications found that people vaccinated with two shots of the have a 51% higher chance of coming down with the coronavirus six months later compared to people three to four months after being vaccinated with two shots, showing that there is a decline in antibody levels and immune system compounds after four to six months, and making the case for a booster shot. The study also found that the age of the vaccinated person had no effect on the waning effectiveness of the vaccine.

Here are the latest COVID-19 numbers for the Middle East and North Africa as of 6:30 am Greenwich Mean Time (UTC±0) on Thursday.

Country

Confirmed Cases Deaths Recovered Active Cases
Afghanistan 156,739 7,297 134,750 14,692
Algeria 208,380 6,005 142,936 59,439
Bahrain 277,282 1,393 275,682 207
Cyprus 128,770 588 122,041 6,141
Djibouti 13,500 186 13,285 29
Egypt 346,808 19,707 289,533 37,568
Iran 6,057,893 128,531 5,734,181 195,181
Iraq 2,071,689 23,580 2,028,741 19,368
Israel 1,338,813 8,154 1,325,448 5,211
Jordan 901,999 11,291 857,202 33,506
Kuwait 413,068 2,463 410,332 273
Lebanon 655,174 8,606 625,313 21,255
Libya 366,238 5,332 322,611 38,295
Mauritania 38,358 811 36,733 814
Morocco 948,539 14,754 930,494 3,291
Oman 304,453 4,113 299,872 468
Pakistan 1,280,822 28,638 1,229,683 22,501
Palestinian Territories 427,373 4,499 420,069 2,805
Qatar 241,527 611 239,147 1,769
Saudi Arabia 549,339 8,820 538,412 2,107
Somalia 22,837 1,313 11,189 10,335
Sudan 40,238 3,099 32,905 4,234
Syria 46,703 2,682 27,963 16,058
Tunisia 715,911 25,325 689,705 881
Turkey 8,480,986 74,202 7,970,207 436,577
United Arab Emirates 741,148 2,144 735,816 3,188
Yemen 9,947 1,929 6,690 1,328
Total 26,784,534 396,073 25,450,940 937,521

Ben Zabelshansky contributed to this report.