Pfizer and Biontech are requesting an urgent license for their vaccine

Progress on the vaccination front ... and new restrictions in the United States against Corona

"Pfizer" has submitted an urgent license application in a major step towards providing protection from "Corona".

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Yesterday, Pfizer and Biontech submitted an urgent license request for their anti-Coronavirus vaccine in the United States, as the authorities intend to impose new restrictions to contain the epidemic, especially with the approach of Thanksgiving Day, including closing schools in New York, and a curfew in California.

The US Secretary of Health, Alex Azar, announced during a press conference yesterday at the White House that "Pfizer's partner, Biontech, announced her intention to submit an urgent license application to the US Food and Drug Administration."

He added: “We are expecting (Moderna) to submit a similar request, too, soon,” referring to the American company, which is also working to develop and distribute an anti-Corona vaccine on a large scale.

The director of "Biontech", Ugur Shaheen, said yesterday that it is "possible" to obtain a license for the vaccine for his company, and to start distributing it during the month of December in the European Union and the United States.

"We are working with all our energy," he told «AFP».

Later, Pfizer said that it had submitted a request to the relevant health authorities in the United States, yesterday, to approve the emergency use of the "Covid-19" vaccine, which is the first such request in a major step towards providing protection from the emerging corona virus.

For her part, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced that the Union could give the green light to start circulation of the two vaccines "from the second half of December, if the necessary measures are taken without problems."

The alliance «Pfizer / Biontech» and Moderna said, in recent days, that their vaccines are 95% effective, which was sufficient to spread optimism in the world, as governments have already reserved their quotas of millions of doses.

The doctor, Anthony Fauci, who is highly regarded at the scientific level in the United States, stressed the day before yesterday that "the speed of the process" of developing vaccines "does not undermine their safety, nor their scientific integrity."

This good news comes, while the number of "Corona" infections in the world has reached 56 million, and the number of deaths 1.35 million, since the outbreak of the epidemic, according to a toll prepared yesterday by the agency "Agence France-Presse".

And the epidemic in the United States entered a phase of "steady acceleration", according to the health authorities.

The day before yesterday, I counted 200,000 injuries in the country, within 24 hours, and more than 2,000 deaths, a threshold the country had not crossed for months.

Americans were called on to refrain from traveling during the Thanksgiving holiday on November 26, a time when families gather in the United States, and airports and roads are crowded.

And local officials, across the country, imposed new restrictions in order to contain the spread of the virus.

In California, as of today, 94% of residents are subject to a month-long curfew.

Accordingly, "unnecessary" movement is banned between 22:00 and 05:00 in the provinces most affected by the epidemic.

The state governor, Gavin Newsom, warned that "the virus is spreading at an unprecedented speed since the outbreak of the epidemic, and the coming days and weeks will be crucial to stop this escalation. We sound the alarm."

In New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered the closure of public schools, the day before yesterday, a measure that immediately sparked controversy, as a petition was raised demanding to keep them open, and demonstrations took place in front of the city hall.

The President-elect, Joe Biden, who is inaugurated on January 20, and who made fighting the epidemic a priority for the first phase of his mandate, announced that he would not impose a "general national lockdown", despite the escalation of the epidemic, explaining: "I think this will backfire."

He added, during a press conference in Wilmington, Delaware: "I will not stop the economy, I will stop the virus," at the conclusion of a meeting with state governors regarding the epidemic crisis.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization welcomed the decline in the number of daily infections in Europe, during the past week, by 10%, but deaths continue to rise, and caution remains present.

In Germany, the level of transmission is still "very high", although the measures imposed at the beginning of the month are "effective" and encourage "optimism", as confirmed by the health authorities, the day before yesterday.

In France, "the virus is transmitted at a lower speed," but "the health cost is still high," with 15,807 patients entering hospitals during the last seven days, as indicated by the Minister of Health, Olivier Ferrand.

Catalonia, in turn, is preparing to ease restrictions.

The region in north-eastern Spain announced yesterday the reopening of bars, restaurants and cinemas, starting next Monday, after nearly a month of closure.

In another good news for Europe, Denmark confirmed that the threat posed by the possibility of mink animals transmitting the Corona virus to humans "probably disappeared", in light of no new infections being discovered, two weeks after a warning was issued about a disturbing transmission of the virus through those animals, and the start of the extermination process to her.

For its part, the Irish government announced that it intends to start killing mink animals on their farms, as a preventive measure.

The virus continues to spread in all parts of the world.

Russia has crossed the two million mark, and recorded record numbers of injuries and daily deaths.

The number of deaths in Mexico reached 100 thousand, ranking fourth in the number of virus victims in the world.

India has crossed the nine million mark, and has officially registered 132,162 deaths.

But many experts believe the number is much higher, especially because of the small number of tests.

"World Health" suspends listing "remdesivir" in the list of "Corona" drugs

The World Health Organization said yesterday that it has suspended the inclusion of remdesivir, produced by Gilead Pharmaceuticals, from its list, which it calls the pre-qualification list, which includes all the official medicines used, as standard, as a treatment in developing countries, after it issued a directive warning against its use. With "Covid-19" patients, in hospitals.

"Yes ... we have suspended its inclusion in the list, the comment is an indication for countries that the World Health Organization, in line with treatment guidelines, does not recommend countries," said WHO spokesman Tariq Jassarevitch, in an e-mail response. By using the drug to treat (Covid-19) ».

He added that the organization is not aware of any international agencies providing this drug to low and middle-income countries.

"Sinopharm" announces the vaccination of one million Chinese against "Covid-19"

The Chinese drug giant, "Sinopharma", announced yesterday, through the "WeChat" application, that it has vaccinated about one million people against the Corona virus in China.

And CEO Liu Jing Chen was quoted as saying in an interview that the vaccine has already been used by about a million people through the so-called emergency program.

There have been no reports of serious side effects, "just a few minor symptoms," Jing Chen added.

For weeks, the official Chinese media have talked about vaccinating certain groups of the population, such as: health workers, or military personnel, diplomats, and government employees.

The statement stated that "Sinopharma" has already conducted international phase III trials of its vaccine in 10 countries.

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The Irish government announced that it intends to start killing mink animals, on their farms, as a precaution.

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