Latin America had a contrasting day on Monday: Colombia crossed the threshold of 100,000 deaths linked to the coronavirus epidemic and Cuba unveiled high efficacy figures for its vaccine candidate Abdala, the first in the region.
While a health improvement has allowed certain countries in the world such as France and Japan to relax their anti-Covid measures, the epidemic is doubling elsewhere, in particular in Russia, Indonesia and Brazil.
Colombia, on Monday, exceeded the number of 100,000 dead and recorded a new record of deaths in 24 hours with more than 600 dead, said the Ministry of Health.
In proportion to its population, the country of 50 million is the fourth country with the most deaths from the pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the sixth with the most infections, according to a tally from the AFP.
“More than 10,000 deaths could have been avoided if we had not had these rallies in the past six or seven weeks,” Colombian President Ivan Duque said in a public statement, referring to the three weeks of protests against his government. .
Conversely, Cuba, one of the least affected countries in the region with less than 170,000 cases including 1,170 deaths for 11.2 million inhabitants, welcomed on Monday that its candidate-vaccine Abdala displays superior efficacy. 90% against disease.
“Abdala, CIGB’s Cuban vaccine candidate, shows 92.28% efficacy after three doses,” state-owned pharmaceutical group BioCubaFarma, on which the Center for Genetic and Biotechnological Engineering (CIGB ).
– Despite the embargo –
Abdala, in the final phase of clinical trials, must receive official authorization from the Cuban authorities in late June or early July, but the vaccination of part of the population began in mid-May.
The news was announced in person to President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who then congratulated himself on Twitter: “Struck by two pandemics (the Covid and the blockade), our scientists from the Finlay Institute and the CIGB have overcome all the obstacles and gave us two very effective vaccines: Soberana 2 and Abdala “.
Saturday, the Finlay Institute of vaccination announced 62% effectiveness, after the injection of two of its three doses, for its candidate Soberana 2, which must also receive the official green light soon.
Their next approval will make them the first anti-coronavirus vaccines developed and produced in Latin America, despite the difficulties denounced by researchers due to the American embargo, in force since 1962 and reinforced under the Trump administration.
The Cuban government, which wants to vaccinate 70% of the population by August and all by the end of the year, says it is in contact with more than 30 countries about its candidate vaccines.
The country, even if it remains little affected by the disease, is facing a strong resurgence of the disease, with a new record of daily cases on Monday (1,561).
For its part, South Africa announced on Monday the first step to endow the continent with a production capacity for anti-Covid vaccines, but it will take time to materialize the project and while waiting “people continue to die” , warned President Cyril Ramaphosa.
– Italy soon without masks –
By contrast, several European countries are now experiencing a marked improvement on the health front. Thus Italy, one of the European countries most affected by the pandemic, is preparing to end the obligation to wear a mask outside.
“From June 28, we will end the obligation to wear the mask outside,” Health Minister Roberto Speranza said on his Facebook account, noting that the decision would apply to areas classified as ” white zone “, where the spread of the virus is lowest, currently all of Italy except the small Aosta Valley in the north.
This announcement came after a favorable opinion in the evening of the “Technical-Scientific Committee”, which advises the government on the pandemic, and while Italy recorded Monday only 21 deaths and 495 new cases of contagion in the space of twenty -four hours. Some regions recorded no deaths.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Monday the lifting on July 1 of the night curfew and that applied on Sunday, his country recording a drop in the number of cases and accelerating the vaccination campaign.
But while Europe has decided to reopen its borders to the Americans, the United States remains barricaded and refuses to give any timetable on a possible lifting of entry bans, often in force for 15 months.
“We look forward to seeing transatlantic travel resume as soon as science permits,” but “I am not in a position to specify a timeframe as this will largely depend on epidemiological developments” and “variants,” said Monday the spokesman for American diplomacy Ned Price, interviewed by AFP.
burs-ka / ybl
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