Washington (AFP)

The vaccination, which has already benefited more than half of adults in the United States, will be open to all on Monday, while several European countries are preparing to ease their health restrictions.

The huge current vaccination campaign in the United States continues at a brisk pace despite the suspension of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Tuesday following the discovery of six cases of women who developed severe cases of blood clots, including one fatal.

Some 50.4% of Americans over 18 have been able to benefit from at least one dose of the vaccine, and 32.5% are fully vaccinated, including seniors 65 and over, the main federal agency said on Sunday. public health of the country.

The suspension of Johnson & Johnson will not impact the pace of the campaign as it only accounts for a small portion of the vaccines used.

"There are enough vaccines for every American, it is quite indisputable," President Joe Biden assured Tuesday.

- Firmness line -

The situation remains more precarious in Europe, even if some countries, pressed by exasperated public opinion, are preparing to relax the health restrictions somewhat.

This will notably be the case this week to varying degrees in Switzerland, Belgium, Slovenia, Slovakia, Monaco, Portugal and Denmark.

The Netherlands and France, for their part, plan to reopen café terraces a little later, at the end of April and mid-May respectively.

In the Vatican, Pope Francis reappeared at his window in St. Peter's Square for his weekly prayer after several weeks of virtual broadcasting.

But in Germany, where a solemn national tribute was paid Sunday to the 80,000 dead of the Covid, the response to the crisis is a source of strong political tensions.

"The virus does not forgive half-measures, they only worsen it," warned Chancellor Angela Merkel, who stands on a firm line, to the chagrin of regional elected officials, including her own party.

Ignoring calls for unity, several thousand "anti-masks" also demonstrated Sunday in several cities of the country during the weekend and the police proceeded to arrests.

- Winter sports -

It was also Monday that came into force the "bubble" allowing nationals of Australia and New Zealand to travel without quarantine between the two countries, which both have a good record in the face of the pandemic.

Families separated for months were stamping with impatience before boarding to find their loved ones: "I am going to scream, cry, kiss, be happy, all these emotions at the same time", testified Denise O'Donoghue, before her flight to the Sydney Airport.

The two countries had been discussing this "bubble" for more than a year.

But its launch has been postponed several times due to the appearance of new sources of contamination in one country or another.

New Zealand in particular is also relying heavily on this initiative to save its winter sports season, which is about to begin.

Air New Zealand plans to increase its number of flights to Australia from four per week to around 20.

Several Asia-Pacific countries are working on similar "bubble" projects.

Taiwan and the Palau archipelago in the Pacific inaugurated one earlier this month, again with the hope of supporting their tourism industry hard hit by the pandemic.

- Take off the masks -

For its part and despite still very high mortality figures and a very contagious "Brazilian" variant, Rio de Janeiro reopened its bars and restaurants in early April and is preparing to do the same with its beaches on Monday.

The epidemic has killed more than 373,000 people in just over a year in total in Brazil, which has 212 million inhabitants, a toll largely undervalued according to experts.

In Canada, the government will deploy reinforcements to Ontario, its most populous province, to help it deal with a virulent third wave of Covid.

In Israel, where nearly five million people (53% of the population) have received two doses of the vaccine, residents have since Sunday been allowed to take off their masks in the street, a sign of a first "victory" against the coronavirus in the country.

"We are not yet done with the coronavirus because it can return," however warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The pandemic has killed more than 3 million people worldwide (at least 3,011,975 deaths), according to a report established by AFP from official sources on Sunday at 10 a.m. GMT.

burs-ahe / ybl

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