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HEALTH-VIRUS
EU aims to boost vaccination rollout as variants spread
BRUSSELS, Feb 2, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – The European Union put on a brave face
Monday, defending its troubled vaccination programme and insisting that
renewed pledges of vaccine deliveries would make up for a production
shortfall.
Pharmaceutical giants have scrambled to ramp up production and deliveries
as Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks in Berlin with German political
leaders and vaccine makers, while anger grew over the EU’s sluggish
inoculation campaign.
The virus is known to have infected almost 103 million people so far —
with more than 2.2 million deaths — and countries are desperate to move
ahead with vaccinations and lift economy-crippling restrictions.
A new study showed that Covid-19 treatments and improved hospital care had
reduced death rates in intensive care by more than a third, but warned that
this progress might be stalling.
New, more contagious virus variants have also added pressure, with
Lithuania on Monday becoming the latest country to detect a case of a strain
that first emerged in Britain.
Britain, meanwhile, said it would increase testing for a variant first
detected in South Africa after nearly a dozen cases were confirmed.
Delays have dogged both the procurement and rollout of vaccines in the EU,
and Merkel has come under fire for allowing the European Commission take the
lead in securing vaccines for the 27-nation bloc.
But Germany’s BioNTech and its US partner Pfizer said Monday that
improvements in their production capabilities would allow them to speed up
supplies, pledging to send 75 million doses in the spring.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday that AstraZeneca
will also boost shipments of its vaccine to the EU — although it would still
ship less than foreseen in its initial agreement with Brussels.
The British-Swedish group had previously said it could deliver only a
quarter of the doses originally promised to Brussels for the first quarter of
the year, sparking outrage and accusations it was giving preferential
treatment to Britain.
Chemicals giant Bayer, meanwhile, announced that from 2022 it would produce
a coronavirus vaccine that fellow German pharmaceuticals company CureVac is
developing.
The pledges came hours ahead of the talks in Berlin, where Merkel said
there are “good reasons” the EU’s rollout had got off to a slower start, such
as avoiding rushed emergency approvals and lengthy negotiations with pharma
companies.
– Variants spread –
In the United States, a group of Republican senators met with President Joe
Biden to discuss an alternative to his $1.9 trillion virus relief plan,
arguing that a scaled-down approach could garner bipartisan support.
No agreement was reached, but Republican Senator Susan Collins described
the meeting as “frank and very useful.”
The moderate Republican from Maine is one of 10 senators pushing a $600
billion package to help steer the world’s worst-hit country out of historic
health and economic crises.
Tight restrictions remain in place in a number of countries to curb the
circulation of the coronavirus and its recent variants.
In France, border police turned away some passengers bound for non-EU
destinations as new rules took effect banning flights to and from countries
outside the bloc.
Only urgent reasons for travel are accepted, and border police require
written proof of a negative test before allowing passengers to board, as
Toure, a Malian national, found out when he tried to leave France for Bamako.
“I said that my mother, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, was ill but they
told me I needed proof,” Toure, who withheld his last name, told AFP at a
Paris airport.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire also warned restaurant owners that
they risked losing Covid-19 financial aid if they open in defiance of the
pandemic shutdown, following protests and reports that some eateries are
secretly serving customers.
Italy on Monday relaxed coronavirus restrictions in most of its regions,
with tourist landmarks such as the Colosseum reopening.
In Poland, museums, art galleries, libraries and shopping malls re-opened
as the country eased some restrictions, though most schools remained shut
along with bars, restaurants and hotels.
– ‘Make a difference’ –
Britain’s National Health Service said all elderly people living in English
care homes who are eligible have now been offered their first injection.
After the government called for 30,000 individuals to help administer the
Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca doses, volunteers lined up in a London
skyscraper, waiting to be taught how to administer the vaccine.
“When I had the opportunity to do something that made a difference, I
definitely wanted to jump at it,” documentary director Mike Day told AFP at
Canary Wharf in east London.
South Africa took delivery of its first shipment of coronavirus vaccines on
Monday, paving the way to mass inoculation in the continent’s worst-hit
country, as President Cyril Ramaphosa said they had “passed the peak” of the
second coronavirus wave.
Israel, meanwhile, extended its nationwide lockdown as the country presses
ahead with an aggressive vaccination campaign.
In Dubai, bars and pubs were ordered to close for the month after Covid-19
cases spiked.
India unveiled a massive spending plan focused on health care and
infrastructure, as the government sought to boost a coronavirus-ravaged
economy on course for its biggest annual contraction on record.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0847 hrs