Paris (AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday and several European leaders who had met him have quarantined themselves, while the vaccination is due to start on December 27 in the European Union, where restrictions continue.

The United States is in the process of authorizing a second vaccine against Covid-19, a week after recommending the authorization of that of Pfizer / BioNTech.

A committee of American experts meets again Thursday to evaluate the remedy developed this time by the American company Moderna, with first injections expected as early as next week.

Barring any surprise, the US Medicines Agency should give the green light shortly after this meeting.

The pandemic has killed at least 1.65 million people worldwide, and Europe on Thursday became the first region in the world to record more than half a million deaths from Covid-19, according to a count made by the 'AFP.

The 52 countries and territories of the European region (going east to Azerbaijan and Russia) had a total of at least 500,069 deaths (for 23,059,233 declared contaminations), ahead of Latin America and the Caribbean (477,404 deaths ) and the United States / Canada (321,287).

The French Prime Minister, Jean Castex, "considered as a contact case", has also "placed himself in isolation, although he does not show any symptoms of the disease", announced his services.

Several European leaders have also announced that they are quarantining themselves as a precaution after meeting the French president: the President of the European Council Charles Michel and the heads of Belgian government Alexander De Croo, Portuguese Antonio Costa, Spanish Pedro Sanchez (who was however tested negative) and Luxembourgish Xavier Bettel.

Russian President Vladimir Putin - who assured Thursday that he would be vaccinated against the coronavirus "as soon as possible" for his age group - wished a "speedy recovery" to his French counterpart.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also sent him their best wishes for recovery.

The announcement of Emmanuel Macron's contamination came as France unveiled its vaccine strategy on Wednesday: first vaccinations against Covid-19 "from the last week of December", but not before "the end of spring" for the non-priority population.

- More than half a million dead in Europe -

Across the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen announced Thursday that vaccination against Covid-19 will begin on December 27, 28 and 29.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) will look at the fate of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on December 21 - a week earlier than expected.

The Commission had specified that it would then give its authorization within two days of this green light.

Once again the epicenter of the pandemic since October, alongside the United States, Europe is tightening restrictions in an attempt to contain the pandemic while waiting for vaccines.

Germany entered partial re-containment on Wednesday, with the closure of all non-essential businesses and schools.

Faced with a second wave much less controlled than in the spring, the country recorded a record of infections in 24 hours, at more than 30,000, according to final data announced Thursday by the Robert-Koch institute.

In the UK, pubs, restaurants and hotels in London were forced to close on Wednesday for the third time since the start of the pandemic.

Several regions in the east and south-east of England will also be subject to the stricter local restrictions in effect from Saturday.

Poland has announced a partial confinement of three weeks from December 28 throughout the territory.

The government has banned all travel on New Year's Eve and announced the closure of shopping malls, hotels and ski resorts.

- Overwhelmed hospitals in Tokyo -

In Sweden, King Carl XVI Gustaf said Thursday that his country had "failed" against Covid-19, in a rare comment likely to reinforce criticism against the atypical strategy of the kingdom, which has at no time closed its bars , restaurants and shops.

In this country, again in difficulty in the face of the second wave, hospitalizations linked to Covid-19 surpassed their peak of April 20 on Thursday, with 2,509 patients treated.

In the United States, the most bereaved country in the world, record figures were recorded Wednesday with 250,458 new cases and 3,784 new deaths in 24 hours, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The country could have two vaccines from the beginning of next week if Moderna's is authorized, and thus accelerate the massive vaccination campaign.

The United States would be the first to market Moderna's vaccine.

In Japan, local health officials have warned that Tokyo hospitals are struggling to provide routine care amid a surge in the number of coronavirus cases, as the Japanese capital hit a new record of infections.

South Africa has passed the bar of 10,000 positive cases in 24 hours, reaching 21% positivity on Covid tests.

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© 2020 AFP