On Thursday, European Union leaders called for maintaining tight restrictions while speeding up vaccination campaigns in the face of the additional challenges of spreading more mutated versions of the Corona virus, the most contagious.
Pfizer and Moderna are working on developing their vaccines to counter mutated versions of the virus, while two new vaccines have appeared in China.
"The epidemiological situation remains dangerous, and new mutations pose additional challenges, so we must maintain strict restrictions while intensifying our efforts to accelerate the supply of vaccines," the 27 heads of state and government said in a press release after a video conference.
European Council President Charles Michel warned of "difficulties" that vaccination campaigns will face in the "coming weeks", at the conclusion of a summit with leaders of European Union countries dedicated to discussing dealing with the Corona pandemic.
"The current situation is difficult," said Michel at a time when vaccination campaigns in Europe are slowing down.
"But I want to send a message of optimism. We have the means for the European Union to play a major role to get out of this crisis in the coming months," he added.
The European Commission has urged 6 countries to offer explanations about the movement restrictions imposed, which it considers exaggerated, expressing fear that they may affect supply chains.
Ahead of the summit, a senior European official said, "Coordination is complicated, because officials consider the priority to be to protect their citizens" and expect "intense discussions" during the meeting.
The final draft of recommendations stated that European leaders want to re-emphasize "ensuring the unimpeded flow of goods and services within the single market."
With regard to the European Certificate of Vaccination, which aims to facilitate travel, the draft stipulated the possibility of "calling for a common approach" on its criteria and model, but without specific procedures.
Countries dependent on tourism such as Bulgaria, Austria and Greece agreed to the proposal of a "green passport" that allows vaccine recipients to travel and enter restaurants, and these countries began to think of their own procedures to allow tourists to enter the summer season based on the "green passport."
There is a sharp debate in Europe about providing free vaccines to the African continent, but a diplomat said that "making great promises to other countries while we are not succeeding in accelerating the vaccination of our citizens, is not on the table."
The European branch of the World Health Organization stressed that the long-term "Covid" disease, which mysteriously affects a large number of epidemic patients, should be given "of utmost importance", as its symptoms last for several months.
It is a very debilitating condition, and its symptoms include chest and muscle pain, fatigue, shortness of breath and brain disruption, said Martin Mackey, a professor at the European Observatory of Health Systems and Policies, who prepared a special report.
When 🇪🇺 EU leaders meet via video conference, they connect from their home countries
Today, they are discussing # COVID19 coordination, vaccines & travel measures.
#EUCO meetings are chaired by EUCO President, Charles Michel @eucopresident
More here👉 https://t.co/qU9tSwWy7D pic.twitter.com/7P0jCtHAh5
- EU Council (@EUCouncil) February 25, 2021
Epidemic explosion
French Prime Minister Jean Castex said that re-imposing the quarantine did not enable his country to control the virus, and that this measure would be the last solution.
He added that the modified British strain of the virus raises France's fear of an epidemic explosion due to its rapid spread, explaining that the epidemiological situation has increased in the past few days.
In terms of restrictions, France will request the presentation of a negative examination to detect corona in unprofessional movements on the border with Germany.
For its part, Britain lowered the alert level against the virus by one degree after it was at its peak, saying that the decline in the number of infections has reduced the threat facing the National Health Service of the state.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he believed all restrictions would be lifted by June 21, if the deployment of the vaccine led to a sharp drop in infections, hospitalizations and deaths.
Finland will tighten restrictions, close bars and restaurants for 3 weeks from March 8, and restore the distance education system.
New vaccines
And more than 2.5 million deaths have been recorded in the world so far, more than 842,000 of them are in Europe, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean, with about 668,000, and then the United States and Canada with about 528,000 deaths.
Meanwhile, the company "Pfizer" announced that it is experimenting with a third dose of the Corona vaccine to better understand the immune response against the mutated strains.
In turn, Moderna announced that it is working on a third experimental dose of the Corona vaccine, targeting a new mutated strain of the virus.
An extensive study revealed that taking two doses of the "Pfizer-BioNTech" vaccine reduced the number of cases showing symptoms of Corona by 94%.
The study also showed that the vaccine is effective in preventing the mutated British Corona virus strain.
In China, the authorities approved the general use of other vaccines produced by Cansino Biology and the Wuhan Institute of Sinopharm, bringing the number of locally produced vaccines approved in the country to four.
And the four Chinese vaccines can be stored in normal freezing degrees, which may make them a suitable option for developing countries that may find it difficult to distribute the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which require more cold.
On another issue, the "Act-Accelerator" program led by the World Health Organization announced that it is launching an "Oxygen Emergency Taskforce" to address the global oxygen shortage crisis, which needs about half a million patients. In low- and middle-income countries, 1.1 million bottles of oxygen per day.