Global cases of COVID-19 exceed 75 million

(Reuters) – Global coronavirus infections surpassed 75 million on Saturday, according to a Reuters report, as more nations around the world begin vaccinating against the virus.

The United Kingdom became the first Western country to begin immunization this month with the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNtech, followed by the United States, which has now approved a vaccine from Moderna.

There have been 18.65 million new cases in the last month, the highest reported for a period of 30 days since the start of the pandemic.

Europe remains the region with the most cases – 21.6 million cases – followed by North America with 17.9 million, Latin America with 14.5 million and Asia with 13 million.

In Europe, one million new cases have been reported in just five days, with Russia and France reporting more than 2 million cases since the coronavirus outbreak began. The United Kingdom and Italy both have about 1.9 million cases each.

The United States became the first country in the world to record more than 300,000 deaths on Monday. The nation reports more than 2,500 deaths a day, according to a Reuters analysis of data from the past seven days.

Hospitals in the United States have begun taking the first photos of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine.

The United States remains the country with the most cases – over 17 million since the outbreak – followed by India and Brazil, respectively. With only 4% of the world’s population, the United States has about 23% of all global cases.

Brazil on Wednesday set a record 70,000 new cases in a single day, joining the United States and India as the only countries to report more than 7 million total infections. With nearly 180,000 confirmed deaths, the South American nation has the second highest number of deaths in the world.

On Saturday, India surpassed 10 million coronavirus infections. India is set to deliver 600 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the most vulnerable in the next six to eight months.