Three Latin American countries began their Covid-19 vaccination campaign on Thursday, while Europe is worried about the new strain detected in the United Kingdom, which is proving particularly contagious.
Just hours after receiving the first doses of the Pfizer / BioNtech vaccine from the American pharmaceutical giant, Mexico, Chile and Costa Rica began their vaccination campaign without delay.
“I’m a little nervous, but very happy. It’s the best gift we could receive in 2020! It will give me more security and courage to continue the fight against the invisible enemy”, testified Maria Irene Ramirez, a 59-year-old Mexican nurse, getting the injection at the Mexico City General Hospital.
It is also a member of the medical staff, a caregiver of 46 years, Zulema Riquelme, “very moved and nervous”, who received Thursday the first dose of the vaccine in Santiago, under the eyes of the Chilean president Sebastian Piñera. “You embody the hope of all”, greeted the Head of State.
Argentina, the second country to have approved the Russian Sputnik V vaccine after Belarus, has for its part received the first 300,000 doses of the vaccine from Moscow and should start vaccination next week.
In the United States, the country with the most deaths (over 326,000) and infected (over 18.4 million) in the world, President Donald Trump praised the “millions of doses” being distributed “of a safe and effective vaccine that will save millions and millions of lives “. “A real Christmas miracle,” added this skeptic of health precautionary measures.
– More contagious variant –
While the pandemic caused by the coronavirus, which has killed at least 1.73 million people, decelerated this week in North America and Asia, it has continued to gain momentum in Latin America, Africa and Europe .
The United Kingdom, where a new strain of Sars-Cov-2 has been detected, is the country where the epidemic is accelerating the most (+ 61%), among those having recorded more than 1,000 daily cases in the last seven days .
A study posted online Thursday, but not yet published in a scientific journal, confirmed that this new variant of the virus was “50% to 74%” more contagious than strains hitherto in circulation.
What to cause concern, especially since it was for the first time spotted in Germany, in a woman arriving by plane from London.
According to researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), who initiated the study, if even more restrictive measures are not taken, “the number of hospitalizations and deaths due to Covid-19 will reach higher levels in 2021 than those observed in 2020 “.
They recommend in particular that the vaccination campaign “accelerate significantly” to reduce the health record.
– 10,000 stranded trucks –
In the UK, the port of Dover is slowly emerging from isolation after a two-day hiatus. Traffic with France is only picking up in droplets and it will take “a few days”, warned London, to decongest the area.
Thousands of truck drivers are thus forced to spend Christmas Eve in Spartan conditions. And without knowing when they will be able to leave, because they are forced to present a negative test for Covid-19 in order to be able to embark on the continent.
France’s decision to impose restrictions on the UK was criticized by Brussels on Thursday, with the EU Transport Commissioner estimating that 10,000 European truckers were having difficulty returning to the continent.
Rail and sea links between the United Kingdom and France will continue to be provided during Christmas, however assured the British Minister for Transport.
But the UK is not done with the restrictions. Brazil announced Thursday to suspend all flights from that country.
French President Emmanuel Macron, suffering from Covid-19, no longer shows symptoms and can, for his part, come out of the seven-day isolation to which he had been forced.
– “Satisfactory tolerance” –
While the vaccination campaign is to open Sunday in the European Union, Italy, Austria and Ireland are reconfigured for the end of the year celebrations.
The most affected country in Europe (70,000 dead), Italy has entered a new phase of restrictions until January 6, with limited travel, even if family visits are tolerated on holidays.
The streets of Rome have not been deserted, however, with locals doing their last shopping for Christmas dinner.
A third confinement is also starting in Ireland, faced with an “extraordinary” growth in coronavirus cases, as well as in Austria, even though Vienna has authorized the opening of its more than 400 ski resorts in the country.
In France, the Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS) has given the green light to the use of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine “because of its effectiveness and its satisfactory tolerance profile”, the last regulatory sesame for the launch of the vaccine campaign Sunday.
In Israel, the authorities announced a third general confinement of at least two weeks, from Sunday, to curb an increase in coronavirus contaminations, a few days after the first vaccinations.
In the absence of generalized containment despite a second wave that hits it, Russia, the 4th most bereaved country with more than 53,000 deaths, for its part recorded records of new contaminations (29,935) and deaths (635 ) in the last 24 hours.
The pandemic has killed at least 1,731,936 people and infected more than 78.6 million people worldwide since the WHO office in China reported the onset of the disease at the end of December 2019, according to a report established by AFP on Thursday.
burx-jb / mba
By Jordane BERTRAND with AFP offices, © 2020 AFP
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