This Wednesday, August 30, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved an adapted version of the Pfizer and BioNTech anti-covid vaccine to deal with infection through a very widespread subvariant of the virus in winter.
However, the World Health Organization (WHO) no longer considers covid-19 a global health emergency since the beginning of May, the virus continues to circulate in all countries, and new strains continue to emerge.
Some of the vaccines for Covid-19 that have been approved are: Pfizer, Moderna, Sputnik V and Astra Zeneca.
Thus, the EMA announced through a statement that it was “recommended to authorize an adapted vaccine (…) targeting the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant”.
The European regulator had recommended in June that the vaccines be updated to target the XBB strain of the virus that has become dominant in Europe and other parts of the world.
The new approved messenger RNA technology vaccine, called Comirnaty Omicron XBB.1.5, is intended to prevent covid-19 in adults and children from six months of age.
Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine against covid-19. It was passed
“As Omicron BB.1.5 is closely linked to other variants currently in circulation, the vaccine should help maintain protection against (…) those other variants,” according to the EMA.
North Korea reopens borders for its nationals after closure by covid
The state agency KCNA published that the State Headquarters for Emergency Prevention determined that “citizens abroad have been allowed to return home. Those who return will be under due medical observation in quarantine sites for a week.
He specified that the decision was made “in relation to the global relief of the pandemic situation.
Margaret Keating, 88, was the first person in the United States to receive a dose of the covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer.
With the latest announcement, a large-scale return of North Koreans by land is expected.” Pyongyang had gradually begun to show signs of lifting sanitary restrictions.
North Korea closed its borders in early 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic, preventing even its own citizens from entering.
The changes indicate that North Korea will modify its strict anti-Covid policy to gradually lift quarantine measures, Cheong Seong-chang, a researcher at the Sejong Institute, told AFP.
Also, Chinese and Russian officials participated in a military parade in Pyongyang in July, making them the first foreign dignitaries to visit the country in years.
Last week, a delegation of North Korean athletes attended a taekwondo competition in Kazakhstan, while the state airline Air Koryo made its first international commercial flight in three years.
Covid is no longer a pandemic, according to the WHO
The flight arrived at Beijing airport Tuesday morning, and AFP journalists observed two North Koreans, recognizable by wearing badges bearing the faces of former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, passing through the arrivals gate.
“During the summer and autumn travel season… the Chinese side has approved plans for passenger flights such as Air Koryo’s Pyongyang-Beijing and Beijing-Pyongyang routes,” the Chinese ministry said on Monday.
However, analysts clarify that the North Korean regime is not yet ready to fully open its borders. “First, North Koreans have not been vaccinated,” said Cho Hanbum, a researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification.
He added that Pyongyang could be frightened by the “collapse” of the Chinese medical system after its sudden decision in December to end its zero-COVID policy, which it had maintained for three years.
China recorded a massive spike in hospitalizations and deaths that some experts say would have left as many as 2 million dead in the weeks after the uprising.
The North Korean health system is one of the most deficient in the world and lacks anti-Covid vaccines, antiviral treatments or the capacity to carry out mass tests.
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2023-08-30 17:53:15
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