The European Medicines Agency (EMA) ruled on Wednesday that there was indeed a risk of blood clots linked to the use of the anti-Covid vaccine AstraZeneca.
While waiting for the vaccination, in France, the pressure is increasing.
Nearly 31,000 patients are hospitalized, including more than 5,700 in critical care services.
Follow the evolution of the situation live.
As the vaccination campaign accelerates in France, doubts re-emerge about the Swedish-British vaccine AstraZeneca.
The European Medicines Agency said on Wednesday that a "very rare" side effect of thrombosis existed, requiring modification of the vaccine insert.
For its part, France, which has more than 5,700 coronavirus patients in intensive care, is accelerating its vaccination campaign and embarking on the production of Pfizer / BioNTech.
Follow the evolution of the situation live.
The main information to remember
• More than 30,900 hospitalized patients including 5,700 in intensive care
• Blood clots should be added to rare side effects of AstraZeneca vaccine, EMA judges
• The Roland Garos tennis tournament is postponed for one week
• In Brazil, where the situation is catastrophic, Jair Bolsonaro does not want to hear about a confinement
AstraZeneca vaccine: The EMA recognizes a "very rare" risk of blood clots
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) first acknowledged on Wednesday that the AstraZeneca vaccine can cause very rare blood problems in some people.
This "possible link" justifies, according to her, that the risk is mentioned in the leaflet of the vaccine.
She added, however, that this was a "very rare" side effect and that the risk / benefit balance remained "positive".
The scientific committee overseeing the UK vaccination campaign has recommended limiting AstraZeneca use to those over 30, after 79 rare cases of blood clots were reported in the country, including 19 deaths.
For its part, Belgium has decided to reserve the use of AstraZeneca for those over 55, while Italy and Spain for over 60s.
France starts production of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine
As the vaccination campaign accelerates in France, vaccine production begins.
For the first time, Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines have been bottled in France by the Delpharm group.
An announcement welcomed by President Emmanuel Macron, even if there will be no immediate effects on the vaccination campaign.
More than 5,700 patients in intensive care
The number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care increased again on Wednesday, exceeding 5,700, according to daily figures from Public Health France.
There were 5,729 people in critical care units (which combine resuscitation, intensive care and continuing surveillance), up from 5,626 on Tuesday and 5,053 just a week ago.
The total number of people in hospital is also on the rise, with 30,904 coronavirus positive patients currently hospitalized in France, 265 more than the day before.
And 3,131 new hospitalizations have been recorded since Tuesday.
In 24 hours, 433 new deaths were recorded in hospitals, for a total of more than 97,722 people since the start of the epidemic (including 71,629 in hospitals).
The Roland-Garros tournament postponed for a week
The Roland-Garros tournament, which was to take place from May 23 to June 6, has been postponed for a week, said a source close to the organization, confirming information from the newspaper
L'Équipe
.
The tournament will take place from May 30 to June 13 in order to allow the organizers to welcome a larger number of spectators if the health restrictions linked to the coronavirus pandemic are eased.
In Brazil, Bolsonaro excludes any "national confinement"
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro ruled out any "national confinement" on Wednesday, despite the recommendations of many specialists and a benchmark health institute, the day after a new record of 4,195 deaths recorded in 24 hours.
Merkel advocates short-term confinement in Germany
The German government of Angela Merkel said on Wednesday it was in favor of the establishment of a strict national short-term lockdown to stem the rise in Covid-19 infections, which is putting the hospital system under pressure.
Due to the deterioration of the health situation "any call for a short and uniform lockdown is justified and a common approach at the national level would be appropriate here", told the press one of its spokespersons Ulrike Demmer.
More than 2.87 million deaths worldwide
The pandemic has killed more than 2.87 million people worldwide, according to a report established by AFP from official sources Wednesday in the middle of the day.
The United States is the country with the most deaths (559,066), ahead of Brazil (340,776) and Mexico (205,002), India (166,177) and the United Kingdom (126,882).
These figures are globally underestimated.
They are based on daily reports from national health authorities, without including reassessments based on statistical bases.