New measures, new reports and highlights: an update on the latest developments in the Covid-19 pandemic around the world.
The situation in France
The number of daily deaths linked to Covid-19 has further increased in French Polynesia, with 54 deaths between Friday and Sunday, the Department of Health of this overseas community announced on Monday. Three hundred and eleven Polynesians have died from Covid-19 since the start of the epidemic, more than half of them in the past three weeks, due to the rapid spread of the Delta variant in a poorly vaccinated population. Co-morbidities, such as diabetes and obesity, are also very common.
To read : Covid-19 in Martinique: body-to-body against death
The Department of Health has identified 7,591 Polynesians currently positive for Covid-19 out of a population of 280,000 inhabitants. An underestimated number of cases, since most asymptomatic people are not tested. The local government is in fact focusing the efforts of caregivers on the treatment of patients and vaccination rather than on tests and estimates that the incidence rate, which exceeded 2,800 / 100,000 inhabitants last week, is no longer ” calculable”. The presidency of French Polynesia, which was a testing center until last week, has been transformed into a vaccinodrome from Monday to Saturday.
The number of Covid-19 patients hospitalized in critical care services is still above 2,000 patients, according to data released Monday by health authorities. With 235 people placed in intensive care in the past 24 hours (103 Sunday, 165 Saturday), critical care services are welcoming 2,215 patients on Monday (2,128 Sunday, 2,106 Saturday). This indicator, closely scrutinized by health authorities, had fallen below the 1,000 patient mark on July 7. The number of hospitalizations is still high with 11,007 patients (10,651 Sunday, 10,463 Saturday), including 943 in 24 hours. With 108 deaths in 24 hours, the number of deaths has now reached 113,480 since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic.
Pfizer’s Covid Vaccine Fully Authorized in the United States
The United States fully authorized Monday a first vaccine against Covid-19, that of Pfizer / BioNTech, a decision that could help convince some hesitant, but also push more institutions to impose vaccination, in a country where the Delta variant is raging. In the wake of the announcement, the Pentagon thus announced that all members of the American armed forces should in the future be vaccinated against Covid. The exact timetable for this measure, which concerns 1.4 million active soldiers, should be detailed in the coming days. Pfizer’s vaccine had been granted emergency authorization since December, and has already been injected into millions of people in the United States.
This full clearance applies to people 16 years of age and older, the U.S. Medicines Agency, FDA said in a statement. The vaccine continues to be available to children and adolescents aged 12 to 15 years under its conditional authorization. The FDA decision is “the gold standard,” US President Joe Biden said in a speech. “Those who were waiting for this full authorization should go get their dose now,” he pleaded. “I hope this authorization will help increase confidence in our vaccine,” said Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, in a statement. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll in June, about three in ten unvaccinated American adults said they would be more likely to receive an injection if any of the sera were fully approved by health officials.
The balance sheet in the world
The Covid-19 pandemic has made at least 4,430,846 dead worldwide since the end of December 2019, according to a report established Monday at 10:00 GMT by AFP from official sources.
The United States are the most affected country with 629,371 deaths, in front of Brazil (574,848 dead), India (434,756), Mexico (253,155) and Peru (197,879).
The WHO estimates, taking into account the excess mortality directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19, that the toll of the pandemic could be two to three times higher than that calculated from official figures.
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