Despite the news coming from India about the recent wave of new infections of the Coronavirus (Covid-19), positive and bright stories about international and humanitarian cooperation to address Corona appear, and positive data;
Such as the European Union’s intention to allow the entry of vaccinated travelers from other countries, and indications of the decline of the epidemic in Germany, and others.
We start in Qatar, where Qatar Airways flew a convoy of planes loaded with medical supplies to India to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
The Qatar Airways said - in a statement issued on its website - that this morning, 3 Boeing 777 aircraft belonging to Qatar Airways for air freight to India, loaded with 300 tons of essential medical equipment and supplies that were collected from around the world, with the aim of supporting India's efforts in Fighting the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The three planes launched successively to the cities of Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi, as part of the Qatar Airways Cargo WeQare initiative.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al-Baker said, "After we all witnessed the great effects that the new wave of Covid-19 had on the Indian people, we had to be part of the global efforts to support health workers in the Republic of India."
The shipment includes personal protection equipment, oxygen supplies and other essential medical items (Qatar Airways website)
"As the world's leading air freight company, this has enabled us to assume an exceptional position that provided an opportunity for us to provide humanitarian support, transport aid and basic needs to countries that are in dire need of support, and undertake the process of logistical arrangements to achieve this," he added. We will pass it on today and in the coming weeks to ease the burden on healthcare workers and support affected communities in India. "
For his part, the Ambassador of the Republic of India to the State of Qatar, Dr. Deepak Mittal, said, "I would like to express our deep gratitude and appreciation for this kind gesture from Qatar Airways to transport essential medical supplies without any fees to India, and to support the efforts made to fight COVID-19."
The shipment includes personal protection equipment, oxygen supplies and other essential medical supplies, and includes donations from individuals and companies around the world, as well as current shipping requests.
Since the start of the epidemic, Qatar Airways has gained a global leader in efforts to combat Covid-19, by operating similar relief flights to China, and shipping vital supplies to Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai in February 2020.
This graphic design includes 9 of the most prominent symptoms of Corona, and to learn more about the symptoms of infection with the Indian strain of Corona virus, click on this link.
Indians are helping their country
We move to New York, where an Indian citizen named Jaspert Rai is striving to do her part towards her homeland, which she left more than 30 years ago, by "helping her people breathe," according to what was published by Bloomberg News Agency in a report prepared by two analysts They are Tod Gillespie and Kartikai Mehrotra.
The report stated that Rai (53 years) moved to live in Endicott, New York, and comes from Punjab (northern India), and established the "Sunray International" company, which manufactures oxygen concentrators.
At a time when India is currently the epicenter of the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, as about 3,500 deaths related to the "Covid-19" disease are recorded daily, along with the depletion of oxygen supplies, Rai hurried to help her countrymen deal with the worst crisis they face in modern history.
Rai said of her team of 100 employees, who will work to provide 30,000 oxygen units across India this May, a quantity that is several times what Sunray usually provides in a year, and amounts to 1,500 units - This is the most difficult time they are going through. "
India-born billionaires and executives are also flocking to help. Google, headed by Sundar Pichai, has pledged $ 18 million in cash assistance to the families of the victims, in addition to providing medical equipment.
Meanwhile, Microsoft - led by CEO Satya Nadella - has pledged to rely on the company’s network for essential supplies.
And in the United Kingdom, home to nearly 2 million Indians, aid has come from figures like steelmaker Lakshmi Mittal, who is helping to provide 210 metric tons of liquid oxygen per day in India.
He is also involved in providing aid to India by Karan Pelimuria, who helped secure corporate support as the first Indian president of the Confederation of British Industries.
International aid continues
Promised international aid continues to arrive from more than 40 countries, and New Delhi on Sunday received a French cargo plane carrying 28 tons of medical equipment, including 8 oxygen generators, each of which can provide the needs of a 250-bed Indian hospital, according to the French authorities.
"India helped us last year in French hospitals, when the need for medicines was enormous. The French people remember," said the French ambassador to India, Emmanuel Lenin.
A US military plane landed in New Delhi on Friday carrying medical equipment, followed by a German plane on Saturday.
Britain announced - for its part - that it would send a thousand additional respirators to this country, which has about 1.3 billion people.
The Kovacs program regains its vitality
The international COVAX program, which is facing difficulties in carrying out its activities, will receive 500 million doses of anti-Covid-19 vaccines, produced by Moderna, after concluding an agreement with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (Gavi), but most of the doses It will not be available before 2022.
And on Monday, Gavi - who oversees with the World Health Organization and the Coalition for Innovations in Epidemic Preparedness for the outbreak of epidemics - Kovacs - announced that Sweden, in turn, has pledged to "provide one million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine" (AstraZeneca).
34 million doses of the Moderna vaccine will be added to the Kovacs program before the end of this year, while another 466 million doses will be added in 2022, according to a statement, "Gavi".
The American company Moderna vaccine is given in two doses, even if there are new recommendations stating that one dose is sufficient if a person has been infected with Corona recently.
The agreement also includes future access to Moderna vaccines that were developed to respond to the mutated versions of the virus.
“The primary goal of Kovacs has always been to expand, acquire a variety (of vaccines) and adapt in the face of this constantly changing epidemic, including the threat posed by the new, mutated versions,” said Seth Berkeley, CEO of the GAVI Alliance. Direction. "
Commenting on the agreement with Kovacs, Moderna CEO Stephane Bansel said, "This is an important stage as we work to ensure that people around the world have access to our vaccine against Covid-19. We realize that many countries have limited resources to access Covid-19 vaccines."
Moderna plans to produce 3 billion doses in 2022, twice more than expected.
In addition to Moderna, the World Health Organization has licensed the vaccines for Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca, produced in India and South Korea, and Johnson & Johnson.
Allow entry of vaccinated travelers
On Monday, the European Commission proposed that travelers who have received the full dose of COVID-19 vaccines, approved by the European Union, be allowed to enter the bloc's countries.
The Commission stated that it "proposes to allow entry into the European Union not only for people coming from countries where the epidemiological situation is good, but also for those who received the last recommended dose of vaccines approved by the European Union."
The proposal states that travelers will have to have completed the vaccination process at least 14 days before their arrival in the bloc's countries.
Member states can extend this permission to include people who have received the vaccines approved by the World Health Organization urgently, according to what was reported by the Commission.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen indicated a week ago that American tourists who had received vaccinations would be allowed to enter the European Union in the coming months.
The European Union is preparing to launch European health certificates that it hopes will be implemented by the end of next June.
And until this is implemented, it is expected that the bloc countries will be able to accept health certificates issued by countries outside the Union, according to the commission.
The epidemic has receded in Germany
We conclude from Germany, where the President of the German Hospital Association, Gerald Gass, told the newspaper "Bild" that the stability of the number of new cases of Covid-19 in Germany increases hopes that the burden will not increase on the intensive care units.
"Most of the hospitals in Germany are witnessing a slight decline (in the number of injuries) for the first time," the newspaper quoted Gass as saying.
He added, "We are looking for the numbers of new infections to stabilize for about two weeks so that we get rid of the worry about the huge increase in the number of patients who need intensive care."
Bild said that 5,019 coronavirus patients are currently undergoing treatment in intensive care units across Germany, down from a peak of 5,106 on April 26, amid the third wave of the epidemic in the country.
Gas said the pressure on hospitals and personnel was still too high.
Health officials said on Thursday that continuing vaccinations in record numbers would help the infections subside, but they warned it was too early to feel relief as hospitals remained overcrowded.