A group of 300 scientists say wealthy nations' failure to provide the rest of the world with access to COVID-19 vaccines is a "reckless approach to public health" that results in conditions that allow for variants, such as the highly contagious omicron variant, to emerge.

In a letter to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the scientists said Britain's people and the National Health Service have been placed at risk because of Britain's global vaccination policy, according to a report in The Telegraph.

The scientists who signed the letter include a Nobel prize winner and a former National Health Service chief executive, The Telegraph reported.

Three billion people worldwide remain unvaccinated.

Meanwhile, more than 100,000 daily cases of the coronavirus were reported in Russia for the first time Saturday as the highly contagious omicron variant spreads throughout the country. The government's coronavirus task force reported a record high 113,122 new cases, a sevenfold increase from earlier in January.

The task force also reported 668 more COVID-19 deaths, increasing the country's death toll to 330,111, the highest by far in Europe.

Also read: Over 1cr teens vaccinated in India

In New Delhi, a curfew was lifted for the weekend, allowing restaurants, markets and theaters to temporarily reopen at half their normal capacity.

The Indian capital has been among the hardest hit areas in a third wave of infections led by the omicron variant. The weekend reprieve came after the city government imposed the curfew on January 4 and ordered schools and restaurants to close.

Nineteen COVID-19 cases were reported Friday among Winter Olympics athletes and officials in China, bringing their total number of cases to 36. (VOA/PR)

(Keywords: Vaccines, Covid, India, British, World, Covid-19, Nobel prize winner, former National Health Service chief executive)