BEIJING, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

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NEW YORK -- United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres received his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine here on Thursday, according to a report published on the UN official website.

The UN chief said on Twitter that he was fortunate and grateful to get the shot, and urged the international community to ensure that vaccines become available to everyone on an equitable basis.

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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brazil on Thursday reported 61,811 new COVID-19 cases, taking its nationwide tally to 9,058,687, said the Health Ministry.

The country also registered 1,386 more COVID-19 deaths in the previous 24 hours, raising the national count to 221,547, it said.

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BEIJING -- The Chinese mainland on Thursday reported 52 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 36 locally transmitted and 16 arriving from outside the mainland, the National Health Commission said Friday.

Of the locally transmitted cases, 21 were reported in Heilongjiang, 13 in Jilin, and one each in Beijing and Hebei, the commission said in its daily report.

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SEOUL -- South Korea reported 469 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Thursday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 77,395.

The daily caseload fell for three straight days, but concerns remained about cluster infections linked to a Christian missionary group in Daejeon, about 160 km south of Seoul, that has a nationwide network.

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BUENOS AIRES -- Argentine scientists are working with state funding to develop a vaccine against the novel coronavirus, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Roberto Salvarezza said Thursday.

"For a few months we have been supporting the work of two laboratories" -- the National University of Litoral and the National University of San Martin, which in conjunction with National Council for Scientific and Technical Research, "are developing a vaccine based on the use of a recombinant protein," Salvarezza told local radio.

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TEHRAN -- Iran reported on Thursday 6,527 new COVID-19 cases, raising the country's overall count of infections to 1,398,841, state TV reported.

Of the newly infected, 546 had to be hospitalized, Sima Sadat Lari, the spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said at her daily briefing.

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JERUSALEM -- Israel's Ministry of Health reported on Thursday 317 cases of COVID-19 infection despite receiving the vaccine.

The number of people vaccinated against the COVID-19 in Israel has surpassed 2.84 million, or 30.5 percent of its total population, since the vaccination campaign began on Dec. 20, 2020, the ministry said. Enditem

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