Buenos Aires (AFP)

Latin America, the region most affected in the world by the Covid-19 epidemic, has placed itself in the starting blocks to urgently produce the next vaccine, whether it comes from Russia or Europe, so new health measures are popping up everywhere.

Argentina and Mexico will take charge of the production and distribution in Latin America, except Brazil, of the future vaccine against the coronavirus developed by the Anglo-Swedish laboratory AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, announced the Argentine president Alberto Fernandez in the night from Wednesday to Thursday.

AstraZeneca has signed an agreement with the Carlos Slim Foundation "to produce between 150 and 250 million vaccines for all of Latin America except Brazil, which will be available for the first half of 2021", the leader said at a conference Press.

The idea is to provide Latin American countries with a vaccine "at more reasonable prices", between $ 3 and $ 4 per dose. AstraZeneca's office in Mexico assured that vaccine production would be "without economic benefit" for the laboratory.

Mexico, the third most bereaved country in the world with 53,929 deaths, also announced that it has entered into new agreements with the American Janssen Pharmaceuticals and the Chinese CanSino Biologics and Walvax Biotechnology to participate in clinical trials from September with a view to 'a possible vaccine.

Latin America and the Caribbean is the region of the world most affected by the pandemic, with 225,596 deaths for 5,720,309 cases, according to a report established by AFP from official sources, Wednesday at 11:00 GMT.

- Brazil and the Russian vaccine -

In Brazil, the second most affected country in the world with 104,201 deaths, it is the State of Parana (south) which signed a memorandum of understanding with Russia on Wednesday to test and produce its new Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus, the effectiveness of which is however questionable.

Next week, a Brazilian task force will assess the results of Russian vaccine trials, carried out in phases one and two, which will be submitted by Russia, while phase three, the last before approval, is still ongoing.

To everyone's surprise, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that his country had developed the "first" vaccine against Covid-19 and was going to produce it as early as September, even though the tests were not completed.

The World Health Organization (WHO), for its part, said Wednesday it waited "impatiently" to be able to analyze the results of Russian clinical trials of the vaccine.

"WHO is in contact with Russian scientists and authorities and looks forward to studying details of clinical trials," the Geneva-based organization said in a statement.

- No smoking -

In addition to the vaccine race, many countries put in place various health measures, or even containment, on Wednesday, while the coronavirus has killed 745,783 people across the planet since its appearance in December, according to the latest report established by AFP Thursday at 12:30 a.m. GMT.

Germany added Bucharest and several regions of Romania to its list of areas considered to be at high risk of contamination with Covid-19 on Wednesday, forcing its Minister of Labor to cancel a visit to the Romanian capital.

In Spain, the province of Galicia (north-west) will from Thursday ban smoking in the streets and on café terraces if it is not possible to respect a safety distance of at least two meters between people. This measure, unprecedented in Spain, which has 28,579 deaths, aims to try to curb the transmission of the virus.

Turkey, for its part, has resolved to delay the start of the school year for schools and universities by one month, the number of cases of coronavirus contamination recorded every day being over 1,000.

"Schools will reopen with distance education on August 31," Education Minister Ziya Selcuk said, hoping for a gradual return to classes from September 21.

- Sunday confinement -

Peru, the third most affected country in Latin America after Brazil and Mexico, will reinstate Sunday confinement. Venezuela has extended the ban on commercial flights for a fifth consecutive month. His Minister of Communication, a close friend of President Nicolas Maduro, also revealed to have tested positive for the coronavirus, as did the governor of Sao Paulo in Brazil.

In New Zealand, so far modestly affected, there are plans to extend the three-day lockdown currently in effect in the largest city, Auckland, while Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has indicated that she is considering a possible postponement of the elections. September 19.

The United States remains the most affected country, both in number of deaths and cases, with 165,909 deaths for 5,191,689 cases, according to the count from Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday.

One of the epicenters of the epidemic, Florida, a very touristy state but also home to a high population of retirees, recorded a record 276 deaths in one day on Tuesday and another 212 on Wednesday, bringing the total number of deaths to 8,765.

This did not prevent a local sheriff from prohibiting the wearing of masks to his police officers as well as visitors to his police station.

"In light of recent events and considering the resentment and / or hatred against the police in our country today", people entering the police station should not wear a mask in order "to ensure communication clear and for identification purposes, "wrote this sheriff.

Burx-vmt / ybl

© 2020 AFP