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Coronavirus: Latest global developments
PARIS, April 11, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:
– England to open for business –
Non-essential businesses such as hairdressers, beer gardens and gyms will reopen in England on Monday for the first time since January.
The United Kingdom, the European country with the most Covid deaths, has seen its situation greatly improve due to a successful vaccination campaign.
– France jabs open to over-55s –
France, which had a slow start to its inoculation rollout, will make vaccinations with the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson jabs available to all citizens over the age of 55 on Monday.
Antoine Flahault, an epidemiologist from the University of Geneva, warned that vaccinations alone are not enough to beat back France’s stubbornly high infections numbers.
“Stopping adult activities is important, but another major breeding ground is schools,” he said, calling for schools to stay closed after April 26, their current date to reopen.
– Sceptical Sicilians –
Up to 80 percent of people in Italy’s Sicily who have been offered the AstraZeneca vaccine refuse it out of fears over its safety, regional president Nello Musumeci says.
Public confidence in the Anglo-Swedish jab has been badly shaken by reports linking it to rare, but potentially fatal, blood clots, and by conflicting recommendations over its use.
– China mulls mixing vaccines –
China is considering mixing different Covid-19 vaccines to improve the relatively low efficacy of its existing options, says the head of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention Gao Fu.
The comments mark the first time a top Chinese expert has publicly alluded to the relatively low efficacy of the country’s vaccines, as China forges ahead in its mass vaccination campaign and exports its jabs around the world.
– Libya launches campaign –
Libya officially launched its coronavirus vaccination campaign this weekend, starting with Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah.
The north African country has so far received 200,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, alongside over 57,600 AstraZeneca shots, the latter delivered through the Covax programme.
– 2.9 million dead –
At least 2,929,563 people have died of Covid-19 around the world since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1000 GMT on Sunday.
The United States is the worst-affected country with 561,783 deaths, followed by Brazil with 351,334, Mexico with 209,212, India with 169,275 and Britain with 127,080.
BSS/AFP/BZC/2036HRS