Paris (AFP)
New measures, new reports and highlights: an update on the latest developments in the Covid-19 pandemic around the world.
- Vaccines: more than 200 million doses -
More than 200 million doses of vaccines have been administered in at least 107 countries or territories, according to a count made by AFP from official sources on Saturday at 10:00 GMT.
Some 45% of the injections were carried out in the countries of the G7, which however host only 10% of the world population.
Its seven members (United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Japan) made commitments on Friday in favor of a better distribution of doses with poor countries.
They announced more than doubling their collective support for anti-Covid vaccination, to 7.5 billion dollars, in particular via the UN Covax program, led by the World Health Organization (WHO).
- A third vaccine registered in Russia -
Russia has registered its third vaccine, called "Kovivak" and designed by the Chumakov Center in Moscow.
This registration is the preliminary step to the final phase of clinical trials, but the government intends, without waiting for the conclusions of these trials, to put into circulation 120,000 doses by mid-March.
The country has already registered the vaccines Sputnik V, in August, and EpiVacCorona, in October.
Since January, it has been carrying out a massive vaccination campaign for its population, mainly with Sputnik V doses. This vaccine is also used in other countries, including Argentina, Algeria, Bolivia, Iran and Venezuela.
- New Zealand launches campaign -
New Zealand, a country often shown as an example in the fight against the coronavirus, is launching its vaccination campaign this Saturday with the doses developed by the American-German alliance Pfizer / BioNTech.
The first injections concern immigration officers and staff working in quarantine centers and air transport.
The country has recorded only 26 deaths (for 5 million inhabitants) since the start of the pandemic.
- Scandal in Argentina -
Argentina's health minister, Ginés González García, resigned at the behest of President Alberto Fernandez, after revelations that he was offering his friends to be vaccinated at the ministry without making an appointment in a hospital.
A similar scandal erupted in Peru, around the discreet vaccination of 487 personalities, including a former president, two ministers, civil servants, academics, businessmen and the apostolic nuncio, even before the start of countryside.
- Romania vaccinates the homeless -
Nearly 300 homeless people have received injections in Romania, one of the first countries in Europe, along with Denmark, to tackle immunization of this vulnerable category.
"These people are among the most exposed to the risk of contamination. For most of them, respecting barrier gestures is difficult," according to Secretary of State for Health Andrei Baciu.
- France: hardening planned in the south-east -
The French Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, asks the prefect and elected officials of the Alpes-Maritimes (Nice region, south-east) to take "additional measures" between now and Sunday evening, such as "accentuation of the cover- fire "or" partial or total confinement ", to cope with the outbreak of Covid-19.
- More than 2.45 million dead -
The pandemic has killed more than 2.45 million people worldwide since the end of December, out of nearly 111 million confirmed infections, according to a report established by AFP on Saturday at 11:00 GMT.
The United States is the country with the most deaths (495,804), ahead of Brazil (244,765) and Mexico (178,965).
These figures are globally underestimated.
They are based on daily reports from national health authorities, without including reassessments based on statistical bases.
burs-jah / ang / sr
© 2021 AFP