The World Health Organization recommended the continued use of the British AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine in vaccination campaigns against the Corona virus, while a state of doubt and uncertainty about it continues in many countries.
The following are the latest developments related to the world's use of this vaccine and the global situation of the Corona virus:
The European Agency is convinced of the benefits of AstraZeneca
Today, Tuesday, the Director of the European Medicines Agency confirmed that the authority is "completely convinced" of the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine against the Coronavirus, after several European countries stopped using it due to fears that it could cause blood clots and other possible side effects.
"We remain fully convinced that the benefits of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine in preventing COVID-19 infection and the associated risks of hospitalization and death outweigh the risks of side effects," said agency director Emer Cook, during a press conference.
Cook stressed that "at the present time, there is no indication that vaccination caused these problems, as it was not mentioned in clinical trials, and it was not listed among the known or potential side effects," adding that the European Medicines Agency is dealing with the matter "very seriously." ".
She indicated that clinical trials showed "very limited numbers of blood clots", and that the agency's safety committee - based in Amsterdam - will meet Tuesday to evaluate the new information, and it is expected to reach a conclusion in a special meeting to be held Thursday.
In the same context, Sweden, Luxembourg and Cyprus decided in turn to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid-19 after talking about possible side effects, but without proving its relationship to the vaccine at this stage.
About 15 countries - including France, Germany and Italy - had temporarily suspended the use of the vaccine;
Due to serious blood problems detected in people who received the vaccine, such as blood clots or clots.
On the other hand, Thailand - which was the first country outside Europe to temporarily postpone the use of AstraZeneca - resumed vaccinations, and the Prime Minister received the first dose to encourage his citizens.
In parallel, the WHO's expert advisory group on vaccinations will meet Tuesday to review the safety of the vaccine, which was developed by the Swedish-British laboratory AstraZeneca with the University of Oxford.
AstraZeneca denies
The pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca denied that its vaccine was dangerous.
And she said - in a statement, reported by The Associated Press - that 17 million people have received the vaccine, and there are only 37 reports of problems reporting blood clots.
Agreement with the United States
On Tuesday, the Swedish-British pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca revealed an agreement with the United States to provide the country this year with up to 700,000 doses of antibody therapy currently being developed against Covid-19.
Delay in the report on the origin of Covid-19
And the World Health Organization announced Tuesday that the experts it sent to China to investigate the origin of the Covid-19 epidemic will publish their report, which was prepared with Chinese experts, "most likely" next week, and not this week.
"The report is not ready yet," Christian Lindmeier, spokesman for the organization, said during a press statement in Geneva.
"What we hear from the members of the mission is that the report will likely be published next week," he added.
200 million doses for the European Union
The European Commission announced Tuesday that the European Union will receive 200 million doses of the "Pfizer-BioNTech" vaccine, in the third quarter, after an agreement stipulates "to speed up" deliveries.
Examination to monitor virus mutation
And the Swiss Medicines Group, Roche, announced, on Tuesday, the launch of a diagnostic test, prepared to monitor mutated versions of the Corona virus.
This examination allows monitoring the mutations that appeared in Britain, South Africa and Brazil, and distinguishing between them.
Tanzania .. Rumors about the president's health
Tanzanian President John Magufuli has not appeared in public for 17 days, sparking rumors that he was hospitalized after seriously contracting Covid-19 due to his health problems.
The government threatened rumors about the president's health with imprisonment, but it remained silent about the president's health condition.
A very dangerous situation in Palestine
On Monday, Palestinian Health Minister Mai Al-Kailah described the health situation in her country as very dangerous, due to the outbreak of the Corona virus.
This came in her speech at the 54th session of the Council of Arab Health Ministers, which was held on Monday by virtually one day, and discussed the repercussions of Corona on the Arab region, according to a statement by the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Al-Kailah said in her speech, "The alarm has sounded in Palestine; the current epidemiological situation is very dangerous, and unprecedented since the beginning of the pandemic a year ago.
It indicated that the occupancy rate in Palestinian hospitals has reached 100%, in addition to the high number of critical cases that need intensive care and artificial respiration.
She emphasized that the Palestinian Ministry of Health is working to provide more treatment beds and medical equipment to be able to cope with the rapid spread of the epidemic, especially with the emergence of a large number of new infections, especially the British.
More than 2.66 million deaths
The Corona virus has caused the death of two million 661 thousand and 919 people, while infections have exceeded 120 million and 800 thousand worldwide, since the WHO office in China reported the outbreak of the disease at the end of December 2019, according to the French Press Agency.
The United States is still the country most affected by the epidemic, with 535,661 deaths, followed by Brazil (279,000 and 286 deaths), Mexico (194,000, 944 deaths), India (158,000 and 856 deaths) and Britain (125,000 and 580 deaths) .