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HEALTH-VIRUS
Poll points to AstraZeneca concerns as Europe protests grow
BERLIN, March 22, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – A poll unveiled Monday showed trust in
AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine has plunged in many European countries, as
the continent grapples with resurgent infections and Germany considers
extending restrictions into April.
Thousands of protesters angry at Covid-19 restrictions rallied in cities
across Europe over the weekend while several nations reimposed partial
lockdowns.
A memo from a group of Germany’s regions, seen by AFP, said the country’s
partial lockdown should be extended into April because of rising infection
rates driven by Covid-19 variants.
Travel needed to be cut to a minimum, with quarantines and negative tests
required for those re-entering Germany, the memo warned.
The prospect of further curbs will infuriate many, including 20,000
protesters who marched against existing restrictions in the Germany city of
Kassel on Saturday.
Police there used water cannon, batons and pepper spray to disperse the
crowds.
– Herd immunity by July? –
Protesters also marched in Amsterdam, Vienna, the Bulgarian capital Sofia,
and Switzerland over the weekend.
In the southern French city of Marseille, around 6,500 people took part in
a carnival parade, flouting the new restrictions that came into force this
weekend.
Offering glimmer of hope, the European Union’s internal market
commissioner, Thierry Breton, said that Europe could reach herd immunity by
July 14, pointing to the expected ramping up of vaccine deliveries.
But a new survey by British pollsters YouGov showed Monday that a majority
of people in the biggest European Union member states — including Germany,
France, Spain and Italy — now view AstraZeneca’s vaccine as unsafe.
This comes after several EU countries suspended the jab’s use earlier this
month, pending a review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) after dozens
of isolated cases of blood clots and brain haemorrhages.
However, views of the Anglo-Swedish pharma giant’s jab remain
overwhelmingly positive in Britain, where two-thirds of respondents said it
is safe.
Britain on Sunday warned the EU over its threat to halt exports of
AstraZeneca’s vaccines, in a row that has heightened post-Brexit tensions
between London and Brussels.
AstraZeneca has delivered only 30 percent of the 90 million doses it
promised the EU for the first quarter, infuriating European leaders and
complicating the continent’s already struggling rollout.
Brussels has accused London of operating its own de facto export ban to
achieve its vaccine success, a claim furiously denied by the British
government.
– India fears festival infections –
The coronavirus, which has killed more than 2.7 million people, has been
spreading faster recently, with new infections up globally by 14 percent in
the last week, according to AFP data.
The EU said Sunday that a summit scheduled for Thursday and Friday in
Brussels will not be held in person because of the accelerating third wave of
the coronavirus in Europe.
Residents in Poland, parts of France, and Ukraine’s capital Kiev were the
latest to face fresh curbs from Saturday.
Restrictions were also returning in parts of Asia.
Churches in the Philippines’ capital Manila will be closed, eating inside
restaurants banned and leisure travel outside the city curbed under new
rules.
And in northern India, the government warned that a huge Hindu religious
gathering could turn into a superspreader event, calling for increased
testing of the large crowds of — mostly maskless — pilgrims.
The annual Kumbh Mela festival, shortened from three months to 30 days,
attracted more than three million pilgrims in one day earlier this month.
– ‘We vaccinated, baby’ –
US authorities have, meanwhile, imposed a state of emergency and a curfew
in Miami Beach, Florida, to deal with crowds partying during spring break.
With approximately 13 percent of US residents vaccinated, many seemed
convinced that the pandemic is now under control in the world’s worst-hit
nation.
“Just go get your vaccine y’all, so that you could come out here and have a
good time like us because we vaccinated, baby,” Jalen Rob, a student from
Texas, told AFP.
But health expert Anthony Fauci stressed that people still needed to remain
cautious — or there may be more spikes in infections.
For the first time, the US administered more than three million doses of
Covid-19 vaccine for two consecutive days, according to official figures
published Sunday.
Hopes of ending the pandemic have been boosted with rollouts starting in
some poorer parts of the world as well, including the Palestinian
Territories, which was due to start giving out shots on Sunday.
Brazil said Sunday it was lifting its requirement for local authorities to
reserve half their coronavirus vaccine stockpiles for second doses, seeking
to accelerate its lagging immunization campaign.
And South Africa’s health minister said the government has sold a million
doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for distribution in 14 fellow
African nations.
The United Nations defended its decision to accept free Covid-19 jabs for
its staff in Kenya, even though the government there hasn’t finished
vaccinating its own vulnerable citizens.
The offer, confirmed by UN and diplomatic sources, comes as Kenya battles a
severe third wave of the virus and last week recorded its highest single-day
death toll since the pandemic began.
BSS/AFP/GMR/1007 hrs