AstraZeneca acknowledges new difficulties in vaccine production in Europe

"World Health": The rates of decline in new infections with "Corona" are slowing down

Virus mutations, which are believed to be more likely to spread, have appeared in a growing number of countries.

A.F.B.

A World Health Organization report showed, yesterday, that the number that was recorded last week of new Corona virus infections around the world decreased by 11% to 2.4 million, but that the rate of decline was lower than that recorded in the previous four weeks, while AstraZeneca admitted the existence of new difficulties. Facing vaccine production in Europe.

In detail, the weekly decline in the number of new infections with Coronavirus has slowed significantly in Europe, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.

Weekly numbers rose in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

The Americas remained the only region in the world in which cases continued to decline by more than 10%.

The organization did not provide explanations for this development.

The report indicated that virus mutations, which are believed to be more capable of spreading, have appeared in an increasing number of countries.

The monitoring of the mutation, which was first discovered in Britain, was reported in 101 countries, while the so-called South African boom was reported in 51 countries, and the so-called Brazilian boom was reported in 28 countries.

On the other hand, the giant pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca, acknowledged the existence of new difficulties in Europe in producing the promised doses to the European Union, indicating that it will resort to production sites abroad to fulfill its promises to deliver vaccines to the European Union in the second half of the year.

A spokesman for the British-Swedish group told AFP yesterday evening that "AstraZeneca" "is working to increase production in its supply chain in the European Union", and will use "its energy in the world to ensure the delivery of 180 million doses to the European Union in the second half of the year." This year ».

"Half of the expected amount will be received from the existing supply chain in the European Union," the spokesman said, with the remaining quantity arriving from the company's sites in the world.

This announcement comes after controversy arose over the company’s inability to deliver the agreed quantities of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine to the European Union in the first quarter of 2021, which sparked tension between the European Union and the group.

The extraordinary European summit, scheduled for today, will be devoted by video link to the health crisis.

On the eve of this meeting, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, sought to show optimism in the conflict caused by AstraZeneca delaying delivery of the vaccine.

She said yesterday in an interview with the Bavarian newspaper, Augsburger Allgemeine, that "vaccine makers are our partners in this epidemic", and if there are issues that are still on the agenda, "we will generally resolve them amicably."

And she believed that "it is better to work with companies to improve global production" of vaccines.

Before the European Union approved the vaccine, in late January, the British-Swedish group allied with the University of Oxford in Britain angered EU leaders by announcing that they would not be able to deliver the promised doses of 400 million to the Union due to “reduced supply” at a European manufacturing site.

This issue led to diplomatic tension with Britain, which left the European Union, as Brussels implicitly accused AstraZeneca Group of granting preferential treatment to the United Kingdom at the expense of the European Union.

The UK government has vaccinated millions of people with the AstraZeneca vaccine since the end of 2020, but the company did not start delivering doses to the European Union until early February 2021, after the European Medicines regulatory agency recommended its use.

In Tokyo, the government punished 11 officials after a report said they were suspected of violating ethical guidelines by accepting generous invitations to, at times, dinner with the son of the prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, the Japanese broadcaster said in a report.

The report, published yesterday, stated that the sanctions would include cutting the salaries of some officials.

The scandal adds to the troubles of the prime minister, who has faced a barrage of questioning in parliament from opposition lawmakers in recent days about the problem, while trying to compensate for the decline in popularity of his government.

Soga's oldest son works for a satellite broadcasting company overseen by the Home Office, where these officials work.

According to Bloomberg News, according to a report issued by the ministry, Makiko Yamada, the secretary of public relations in the cabinet, who previously worked in the ministry, accepted an invitation to a banquet costing about 74,000 yen ($ 700) per person.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said yesterday that Yamada had voluntarily decided to return a portion of her salary.

The prime minister apologized, while stating that he was not aware of the food invitations at the time.

Soga, who boasted of one of the highest popularity rates ever recorded for a new prime minister when he took office in September, was subjected to declining support due to a series of scandals, as well as doubts about his handling of the Corona pandemic.

It is noteworthy that the Prime Minister does not have time to regain his popularity before the general elections, which must be held by October.

Suga's son has not been charged with criminal offenses, and he has declined to comment publicly in this regard.

- Japan punishes officials who accept invitations to attend banquets from the prime minister's son.

Follow our latest local and sports news, and the latest political and economic developments via Google news