Romanian hospitals fill up amid vaccine refusal

India is the second country to reach the milestone figure, after China did so in June. However, officials are worried over a gap between first and second doses.

The intensive care unit in Moscow's Hospital Number 52 feels the pressure as Russia records daily surges in both cases and deaths caused by the coronavirus infection. On Friday Moscow reported 8166 new cases and 79 deaths which brought the capital's COVID-19 deaths rate to 30573. Moscow will reintroduce COVID-19 lockdown measures from Oct. 28 with supermarkets and pharmacies the only shops allowed to stay open.

The Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, is set to become the first state hospital in Africa to perform robotic-assisted surgery, following the launch of the state-of-the-art Da Vinci X-I surgical robot.⁣⁣ The four-armed robot will aid surgeons in carrying out complex surgeries on patients in a less invasive and shorter period of time.⁣⁣

BioNTech and Pfizer and said their vaccine is highly effective among children in the 5-11-year age group. Follow DW for the latest.

After testing on more than 800,000 children in Malawi, Ghana and Kenya, the WHO has recommended the use of a vaccine against malaria, a disease that kills nearly 400,000 people every year, mostly children under five. The jab is effective against one of the parasites that transmits the disease and reduces the risk of severe cases by 30 percent, which is enough to save tens of thousands of lives. Associated with other methods, it could drastically reduce the number of sick people each year. Could it even contain the epidemic? Our correspondents report.

The African Union has secured more than 100 million vaccine doses with partial help from the United States. Meanwhile, China will begin vaccinating children as young as 3 years old. Follow DW for more.

In Kabul's main children's hospital, the crumbling of Afghanistan's health system can be seen in the eyes of the exhausted staff who have remained in the city, ekeing out their fast-diminishing stocks of medicines. As crowds of mothers and sick and malnourished children fill the waiting rooms of the Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital, medical staff are squeezing three babies into a single incubator and doubling up in infant warmer beds. Nurses who once took care of three or four babies each, are now having to look after 20 or more to make up for the absence of staff who fled the country when the Taliban seized power in August.

A new lockdown has come into effect in and around Moscow. Only a third of the Russian population is fully vaccinated. Experts blame a widespread distrust of the authorities. Why do so many Russians remain skeptical?

As Africa struggles to stem vaccine inequity, biotechnology giants BioNTech and Moderna have announced plans to build factories on the continent.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn has urged states to reopen vaccination centers as pressure grows to administer booster shots. Meanwhile, the world has passed five milion COVID deaths. DW has the latest.

Tens of millions of working Americans will need to be vaccinated or tested weekly for COVID-19 by early January under new government rules. Companies that fail to comply could be fined thousands of dollars.

Mikheil Saakashvili's partner said he has been transferred to "the most dangerous place for his life." He has been on hunger strike since his arrest upon returning from exile on October 1.