Denmark, a passport of vaccinated persons for business travel
by Andrea Tarquini
04 February 2021-
EU, between January and November: 410 thousand more dead
From January to November 2020, there were 410,000 more deaths in the European Union than the average in the years between 2016 and 2019, an increase of 10%. In March 2020, the month of the first wave of Covid, the number of deaths increased rapidly in some European countries. or says Eurostat, European Institute of Statistics. In some parts of Europe, deaths were exceptionally high when compared with the average mortality of 2016-2019, Eurostat writes. The peak of additional deaths was recorded between March and April 2020, although countries across Europe were affected differently. In total, excess mortality in the EU was highest in April, with an increase of 25% compared to the average for the same month in the period 2016-2019. A new surge was recorded with the second wave of Covid, in August-September, with the excess mortality indicator in the EU reaching 8.1% in September, 17.4% in October and the 39.8% in November 2020.
Von der Leyen: “We should have focused more on vaccines”
“Last year we focused on developing vaccines as soon as possible, a process that usually takes 5-10 years. Perhaps, in parallel, we should have focused more on the problems associated with their mass production. We have them. undervalued “. He admitted it Ursula von der Leyen. “Even the industries have seen vaccines arrive earlier than expected, which is certainly positive, but then we need to increase production and start supply chains in time – added the president of the European Commission – Maybe we could have moved earlier”. “We must look to other sites and invest together in new production capacities – she said again, convinced that” the European approach is the right one “- better prepare now, you never know what will happen in twelve months. Also because there may be ups and downs: Pfizer / BioNTech had to slow down deliveries to expand production. Similar episodes may repeat themselves. ” And, he said, “in hindsight we should also have better explained to the citizens that the distribution process would be slow because it was a completely new procedure”.
AstraZeneca is effective on the English variant
The Covid-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford is also effective for the ‘Kent’ coronavirus variant currently circulating in the UK as well as variants previously circulating, according to a university study. The results were published in a paper and according to recent analyzes, vaccination leads to a reduction in the duration of spread and viral load, which can translate into reduced transmission of the disease, says the University of Oxford.
Germany, the situation is not yet under control
The coronavirus pandemic in Germany “is far from being under control” due to the spread of the new, contagious variants. The director of the Robert Koch Institute told reporters, Lothar Wieler. “The virus is not tired yet, on the contrary it has had another push,” Wieler said, referring to the English and South African mutations. These variants, added the director of the German institute, are not yet “dominant”, since the British one represents less than 6% of confirmed cases, but they are present in 13 of the 16 German Laender. In Germany there are more than 60,000 deaths and over 2.26 million infections due to the coronavirus pandemic. The data from the Robert Koch Institute speak of 855 deaths and almost 13 thousand new cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours.
United States, at least 618 cases of coronavirus variants
The United States has so far recorded at least 618 cases of coronavirus variants in 33 states, about 99% of which (611) are related to the English variant of the virus: the American Agency for Disease Prevention (CDC) has announced. , according to the Cnn. Florida is the most affected state, with 187 cases, followed by California (145). Additionally, five cases of the South African variant (two in South Carolina and three in Maryland) have been reported, as well as two cases of the Brazilian variant (both in Minnesota). In the United States the total toll of infections exceeds 26.6 million, the deaths are over 455,700. Yesterday almost 120 thousand new cases of coronavirus and a further 4,941 deaths related to the disease: this is what emerges from the counts of Johns Hopkins University, reports the Cnn.
Vaccini, Johnson & Johnson asks for the green light in the USA. Single-dose, more practical but less effective: what changes in the global race against Covid
by our correspondent Federico Rampini
05 February 2021-
Chloroquine, Bolsonaro apologizes: “Only a placebo”
Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, has for the first time turned around the alleged benefits associated with chloroquine, admitting that it may only be a placebo against Covid. The far-right leader, a staunch defender of the use of chloroquine enough to have taken it when he became infected with the coronavirus last July, apologized: “Patience, I apologize, at least I have not killed anyone,” he said during the speech from the vivo that he does every week on social networks. Since the pandemic hit Brazil in March last year, Bolsonaro has often recommended the use of hydroxychloroquine to fight Covid, a controversial antimalarial whose effectiveness has not been fully proven by science. The strenuous defense of chloroquine also cost him the work of two of his health ministers who did not consider it adequate in the fight against the new coronavirus
In Pakistan 1,300 new cases
Pakistan has recorded 53 deaths and 1,302 coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, the Asian country’s Ministry of National Health Services said today. Now Pakistan has had a total of 551,482 coronavirus cases, with 11,886 deaths. In the last 24 hours 1,684 people have recovered from the disease, bringing the total number of those healed to 507,502. The number of critically ill patients is 1,903. After receiving half a million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine from China, frontline health workers received the vaccines in Pakistan’s first phase of immunization.
Israel extends lockdown
Israel extended its third Covid blockade to Sunday, at which point the nationwide brakes will be relaxed. The decision was made following disputes between the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and its coalition partner, the defense minister Benny Gantz. The latest block was imposed on December 27, shortly after Israel began the fastest vaccination campaign in the world. From Sunday, authorized movements between cities and workplaces that do not receive customers can be reopened.
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