Today, Sunday, two Yemeni officials announced the death of a minister in the government of the Houthi group, as a result of being infected with the new Corona virus.

While China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE intensified their vaccination campaigns, Britain responded to a European threat to prevent it from exporting the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The two Yemeni officials reported that the Minister of Transport in the Houthi government, Zakaria al-Shami, died today, Sunday, of his infection with the Coronavirus.

They added that Al-Shami was being treated in a hospital in the capital, Sanaa, which is controlled by the Houthis, along with Prime Minister Abdulaziz bin Habtoor and other officials who had contracted the virus.

On the communication sites, the Minister of Planning in the Houthi Administration, Abdulaziz Al-Kumaim, said that Al-Shami had died, but did not provide details.

And in China, where the virus first appeared in late 2019, a spokesman for the National Health Commission, Mi Feng, said today, Sunday, that his country had used 74.96 million doses in the vaccination campaign with vaccines against "Covid-19" until Saturday.

The number of doses used in the campaign had reached about 65 million doses as of 14 March, indicating an increase of 10 million doses in less than a week.

China aims to vaccinate 40% of its 1.4 billion people by the middle of the year.

An official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Mao Junfeng, said that China's vaccine production in a year can meet all the country's needs.

Two statements from Saudi Arabia and the UAE

Likewise, Saudi Arabia and the UAE announced today, Sunday, to expand their campaign to vaccinate from "Covid-19" to include all citizens and residents of the age of 16 years and over.

Riyadh said that the Ministry of Health will start vaccinating people aged 16 years and over with the Pfizer vaccine and those aged 18 years and over, citizens and residents, with the AstraZeneca vaccine, without providing further details.

Yesterday, Saturday, the Saudi Council of Ministers said that about 3 million vaccine doses had been distributed to 500 vaccination centers.

In the UAE, the Ministry of Health has urged all citizens and residents aged 16 years and over to register, starting today, Sunday, to be vaccinated against the Corona virus.

This step comes after the vaccination of 73% of Emiratis, residents and those with chronic diseases, to place the country second in the world - after Israel - in terms of the percentage of vaccination among the population.

British warning

For his part, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace warned Sunday that the European Union’s ban on the export of the vaccine “AstraZeneca-Oxford” would lead to “adverse results”.

This came a day after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen threatened to stop exports of AstraZeneca vaccines if the European Union did not receive its shipments first.

The minister considered on Sky News TV that this "would not only jeopardize the availability of a suitable vaccination program for its citizens, but for many other countries in the world as well, and would harm the reputation of the European Union."

In Germany, a government document stated that Chancellor Angela Merkel intends to extend the restrictions in effect due to the third wave of the epidemic.

The extension of the measures will be the focus of discussion at a meeting scheduled for Monday between the chancellor and the heads of the regions.

Germany is also considering subjecting all returnees from abroad to quarantine and "Covid-19" tests.

To tackle the third wave, European Union leaders are holding a virtual summit on Thursday and Friday, and the summit will focus on the European Union's response to the pandemic crisis.

A country that does not want a vaccine

While countries of the world are making strenuous efforts to obtain vaccines, Madagascar President Andre Rajoelina confirmed Saturday evening that he is in no hurry to vaccinate the country's population, stressing that he prefers treatment with "miracle" herbal tea to combat the "Covid-19" pandemic.

Amnesty International criticized these statements, saying they violated the rights of the people of Madagascar to benefit from the best possible care.

It is noteworthy that the new Corona virus has so far infected more than 122 million around the world, of whom about 2.8 million have died.

The United States leads the world in terms of deaths due to the Corna virus, with more than 541,000 deaths recorded so far, followed by Brazil with 292,000 and Mexico with 197,000.