The European Union is raising the tone in the face of AstraZeneca ... and Biden doubles the goal of the vaccination campaign

508 million doses of the Corona vaccine were used around the world ... and infections exceeded 125 million cases

A woman receives a dose of the Corona vaccine at the Newmarket Vaccination Center in Britain.

Reuters

Vaccination against "Covid-19" continued to accelerate this week, and the outcome exceeded half a billion doses worldwide, as the number of people infected with the Corona virus exceeded 125.12 million people, and while the European Union raised the tone in the face of AstraZeneca, the US President, Joe Biden, announced, Doubling the goal of the vaccination campaign in his country, at a time when Germany warned that the third wave of Corona virus could be the worst.

In detail, more than 508.3 million doses of the Coronavirus vaccine were used in at least 164 countries and regions, according to an AFP count based on official data until yesterday.

And the pace of vaccination is accelerating increasingly, as the first 100 million vaccine doses were used within two months, while the second 100 million were used within 20 days, the third within 15 days, the fourth within 11 days, and the fifth within eight days.

The most prominent other countries that have made significant progress in vaccination are the United Kingdom, the UAE, Israel, Chile, Bahrain, the United States, Serbia, Hungary, the Maldives and Malta.

As for the absolute numbers, the lead is for the United States, followed by China, then India (55.5 million).

The 27 European Union countries used about 65 million doses of vaccine, covering 10% of the population.

The countries of the most populous bloc accounted for about half of the doses.

The number of people infected with the Coronavirus worldwide exceeded 125.12 million people, while the total deaths resulting from the epidemic reached 2 million 875 thousand and 357 deaths, according to a Reuters census.

The census showed that HIV infections were recorded in more than 210 countries and regions since the first cases were discovered in China in December 2019.

On the other hand, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced that AstraZeneca will not be able to export any of its anti-virus vaccine doses manufactured on European soil outside the Union, before the latter receives the full delayed quantities of this vaccine, during a hypothetical summit Attended by US President Joe Biden.

During a press conference held in Brussels, where a European summit was launched Thursday, which was overshadowed by the crisis of late arrival of vaccines in the countries of the bloc, von der Leyen said, “In my opinion, it is clear that the company must first, and above all, compensate for its delay, to respect the contract that was made. It concluded with European member states, before they can participate again in exporting vaccines.

The European Union exported about 21 million doses of all vaccines to the United Kingdom, but in return it did not receive any doses produced outside its territory, despite the contract concluded with AstraZeneca to deliver doses from two British manufacturers.

The company explained that its contract with London requires it to give priority to British requests.

In the United States, Joe Biden, who joined the virtual EU summit, doubled the goal of the vaccination campaign during his first 100 days in office, putting it at the level of 200 million doses.

He promised that "we will have given 200 million doses by the 100th day."

In Germany, the head of the Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases, Luther Feller, said yesterday that the third wave of the Corona virus in the country could become the worst so far, and that it is not unlikely that the daily number of cases of the disease reaches 100 thousand.

The number of confirmed new infections with the Coronavirus in Germany has jumped in recent weeks, due to a new strain of the virus, more contagious known as B117, as well as due to the first steps to ease some of the restrictions of public isolation.

"There are clear indications that this wave will be worse than the first and second waves," Feller said, calling on people to stay home over Easter.

"We have some very difficult weeks ahead," he added.

The data of the Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases showed that the number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Germany rose to two million 734 thousand and 753 cases, yesterday, after 21,573 new infections were recorded.

For its part, Russia recorded 9167 new infections with the new Corona virus, and 405 deaths during the past 24 hours, which represents a decrease in the number of infections, and a slight increase in deaths, compared to the rates of the day before yesterday, 9221 cases and 393 deaths.

In a related context, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said that about a million people have been vaccinated in the Russian capital against the Corona virus, and that the vaccines have very good effectiveness, and there are no problems in their use.

Lula da Silva: The toll from Corona, "the largest massacre in the history of Brazil"

Former Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, declared that the outbreak of the "Covid-19" epidemic in his country represents "the largest massacre in the history of Brazil," considering that President Jair Bolsonaro should "apologize" for his management of the health crisis, in an interview published by Der Spiegel magazine German, Friday.

“Tuesday, 3,158 people died as a result of (Covid-19) in Brazil, it is the largest massacre in our history,” said Lula da Seva.

Our attention should not after today be focused on the elections next year, but rather on fighting the virus and vaccinating citizens, ”stressing,“ We ​​must save Brazil from (Covid-19). "

Berlin - AFP

India records the highest death toll from the virus in 5 months

Yesterday, the Indian Ministry of Health announced the registration of 59,118 new cases of the Coronavirus during the past 24 hours, in the highest daily death toll for more than five months, bringing the total number of infected people to 11,846,652 people.

The ministry stated that 257 new deaths were also recorded, bringing the total deaths in India since the start of the pandemic to 160,949 people, noting that 32,987 people recovered during the past 24 hours, bringing the total of those recovering to 11,264,637 people.

New Delhi - WAM

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