Corona injuries around the world exceed 96.41 million cases

The European Union discusses the threat of mutated versions of "Covid-19"

Doctors with a Corona patient in the intensive care unit of Hospital de Sant Pau in Spain.

Reuters

European Union leaders discussed their strategy for the emerging corona virus, yesterday evening, where the discussion focused on how to avoid the renewal of border closures, as well as addressing mutated versions of Corona, in addition to accelerating vaccination campaigns and developing a unified certificate to prove receipt of the vaccine.

Meanwhile, the number of people infected with the virus worldwide has reached more than 96.41 million people, while the total deaths resulting from the epidemic have reached two million and 67 thousand and 198 deaths.

The leaders of the 27 member states of the European Union met yesterday evening at a new summit via video dedicated to combating the "Covid-19" epidemic, addressing the mutated versions of "Corona", and accelerating vaccination campaigns.

The ninth hypothetical meeting on the health crisis of heads of state and government of the European Union was held, at a time when several countries, such as Germany, tighten their measures to try to limit the spread of mutated versions of the emerging corona virus (British and South Africa), which are more contagious than the original virus.

With the emergence of the emerging corona virus mutations around the world, some countries have already taken decisions regarding short border restrictions or extending the existing ones.

To avoid future border closures, EU heads of state and government are trying to coordinate their efforts to accommodate the new dynasties.

This could include more stringent testing, more genome sequencing for positive cases, early detection of new strains, or the application of stricter quarantine rules.

There are also demands by some European Union countries to develop a "corona vaccine passport" that would allow the lifting of restrictions for those who received anti-virus vaccinations.

The Germans suggest that within the European Union, tests to detect disease and quarantine be imposed on travelers coming from areas where mutated versions of the virus are spread.

Paris said it supports health control measures at the internal borders of the European Union.

On the eve of the summit, ambassadors from the 27 countries reached an agreement on mutual recognition of antigen tests, a measure France was defending in particular.

In order to monitor the mutation of the virus, the European Commission urges member states to increase genetic sequence analysis, considering that the current level is insufficient.

It also called on countries to accelerate vaccination campaigns, by vaccinating 70% of the adult population by the end of summer, and 80% of health workers and people over 80 years of age by the end of March.

The 27 countries should make decisions about these ambitious goals, at a time when delaying the delivery of doses of the Pfizer-Biontech vaccine, one of the two vaccines licensed in the European Union, prompted countries such as Denmark to reduce their vaccination ambitions by 10% for the first semester of the year.

Greece is calling for a "unified" certificate of vaccination among the European Union countries, a proposal supported by the Commission and discussed during the summit.

Worldwide, the number of new people infected with the Coronavirus has reached more than 96.41 million people, while the total deaths resulting from the epidemic have reached two million 67 thousand and 198 deaths.

And HIV infections were recorded in more than 210 countries and regions, according to a Reuters count.

Yesterday, the National Health Commission of China announced the registration of 144 new cases of Coronavirus during the past 24 hours.

In Britain, the total confirmed cases of the virus reached 3.52 million cases, and the deaths were 93,469, according to data from Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News.

And in Moscow, the Russian health authorities announced yesterday that 612 deaths, 21,887 new cases of Coronavirus had been recorded during the past twenty-four hours, and that the total deaths thus rose to 67,832 cases.

The Kovacs mechanism provides 1.8 billion doses of vaccines to the poorest countries in 2021

The Kovacs mechanism, which is designed to ensure a fair distribution of the "Covid-19" vaccines, said yesterday that it aims to provide 1.8 billion doses to the poorest countries in 2021, and hopes to fulfill the supplies to the richest countries in the second half of the year.

But "Kovacs", which is co-led by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), the World Health Organization, and others, said that there are many unclear matters that affect the purchase and supply of "Covid-19" vaccines.

The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization said in an updated forecast to "Kovacs" that 1.8 billion doses will be provided to 92 eligible countries.

London ■ Reuters

Saving doses of the Corona vaccine from floods in Britain

British emergency services worked, during the early hours of yesterday morning, to prevent severe floods from damaging a storehouse of doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford Corona virus vaccine.

Emergency personnel were able to salvage the vaccine vials, which were stored in a warehouse in Wexham, Wales.

City council president Mark Pritchard told the BBC that the floods threatened an industrial zone where the vaccine developed by Britain was produced and stored.

Dozens of Wrexham residents were evacuated from their homes after flooding warnings were issued, as Wales was hit by a storm.

London ■ dpa

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Russia records 612 deaths and 21,887 new cases of "Corona".

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