Beijing (AFP) – China has launched a digital passport certifying the health status of travelers, an initiative under study in the United States as well as in Europe where the controversy is swelling around the Russian vaccine against Covid-19, which will be produced from July in Italy.
In China, the “international travel health certificate” – a smartphone app that displays and authenticates passenger health data, such as Covid tests or their vaccination status – could help open borders further.
For the moment, the application is not compulsory and is reserved for Chinese people.
The United States and the United Kingdom are considering launching similar systems. In the European Union, the idea of a “green passport” will be presented by the European Commission on March 17th.
Until then, Europe wants to accelerate in the field of vaccination.
But, as the Sputnik V vaccine began to be examined last week by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), Russia strongly denounced Tuesday the remarks of an EMA official, who “advised against” member countries of the European Union to authorize this vaccine as a matter of urgency.
“It’s a bit like Russian roulette,” Christa Wirthumer-Hoche said Monday, citing insufficient data on those vaccinated.
“We ask for a public apology,” said the official twitter account of the vaccine’s creators, the Gamaleia State Research Center and the Russian Sovereign Fund (RDIF). “Such comments are inappropriate.”
Impatient with a process deemed too slow, several EU countries have already turned to the Sputnik V vaccine, such as Hungary, which began administering it last month, or the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which also ordered from Russia.
– Sputnik V produced in Italy –
The Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce said on Tuesday that the Sputnik V vaccine would be produced in Italy from July, a first in the European Union.
“Ten million doses will be produced between July 1 and January 1, 2022,” the press advisor to the president of the Chamber of Commerce told AFP.
As the EU seeks to regain control of vaccination campaigns, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday she expected “100 million doses per month” of vaccine to be delivered in the second quarter to the EU “and a total of 300 million by the end of June”, citing an increase in the rate of deliveries and the close authorization of new products.
She also warned that other EU countries could block exports of Covid-19 vaccines. Italy, which passed the 100,000 Covid death mark on Monday, did so last week for a delivery of the AstraZeneca product to Australia.
With more than 304.8 million doses of anti-Covid vaccines administered worldwide, some countries have started to ease their restrictions.
In the United Kingdom, health authorities announced on Tuesday the closure in April of field hospitals, set up in the spring in the face of the pandemic.
English schools reopened on Monday, starting with children aged 5 to 11, the first step to gradually come out of a third lockdown introduced in January.
In Germany, some restrictions were also lifted on Monday: bookstores, florists and driving schools, already reopened in some Länder, were again authorized to welcome visitors throughout the country.
Israel returned to an almost normal life this weekend thanks to new deconfinement measures.
– “Maximum mobilization” in France –
But other states are tightening the screw in the face of an upsurge in the epidemic.
In Finland, new restrictions came into effect on Monday, including the closure of bars and restaurants, while in Hungary, where schools and most shops and businesses are to close.
In the Netherlands, Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced the extension until March 31 of the measures in place, including a curfew after 6 p.m. which was at the origin of scenes of riots in the country.
In France, the situation has become critical again in the Paris region, where hospitals and clinics have been ordered to deprogram 40% of their least urgent medical and surgical activities.
“The confinement of Ile-de-France is not current,” however assured Tuesday the director general of health Jérôme Salomon, despite a “very strong tension” in hospitals. However, he called for “maximum mobilization” for six “crucial” weeks in the country.
In Latin America, the Covid-19 epidemic has crossed a new threshold with more than 700,000 deaths since December 2019, according to a count established Tuesday by AFP from official figures.
Brazil and Mexico account for two-thirds of the deaths in the region. The second most bereaved country in the world after the United States, Brazil has 266,398 deaths for more than 11 million cases. Mexico has 190,604 for more than 2.1 million infections.
Globally, nearly 117 million Covid-19 patients have been identified, including nearly 2.26 million deaths since the start of the epidemic.
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