As part of efforts to enhance global vaccination efforts

Moderna Provides 500 Million Doses of Its Coronavirus Vaccine to Kovacs

French walk down a street in Nice as lockdown restrictions relax.

EPA

Moderna has agreed to provide up to 500 million doses of its new anti-corona virus vaccine to the "Kovacs" mechanism of the World Health Organization, in an effort to boost global vaccination efforts. Thus, the American pharmaceutical company joins companies developing vaccines, including AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, to supply vaccines to Kovacs, which is facing setbacks as it tries to help low-income countries provide vaccines for their citizens.

The World Health Organization finally approved the emergency use of Moderna vaccine, which makes it eligible for the Kovacs mechanism.

The US pharmaceutical company will provide up to 466 million doses in 2022, and it is likely to provide doses that have been modified to combat virus mutations in the future.

In addition, the European Commission proposed, yesterday, to allow the entry of travelers who have received the full doses of anti-Covid-19 vaccines approved by the European Union to the countries of the bloc.

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 prior to their arrival in the bloc's countries.

Member states can extend this permission to include people who have received emergency vaccines approved by the World Health Organization, according to the UNHCR.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently indicated that American tourists who have received vaccinations will 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 take effect by the end of 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 European Union closed its external borders in March 2020 to "non-essential" travel, and since last June, it has put in place a list that is periodically reviewed for countries outside the Union in which residents can enter the Union.

In India, where the infection is accelerating greatly, the total number of cases of Coronavirus has approached 20 million, while hospitals are still crowded despite the influx of international aid.

According to recent data published by the Indian Ministry of Health, in the last twenty-four hours, the country recorded 370,000 new infections and more than 3,400 deaths, bringing the number of injuries to 19.9 million, and the number of deaths to 219,000.

Although this toll is very high, it promises, given the population, that it is less than that of Brazil or the United States.

Aid came from more than 40 countries, including France, Germany and the United States.

The aid includes, in particular, oxygen factories and respirators, and Britain promised to send a thousand additional respirators.

Pakistan, India's neighbor, closed its land borders with Afghanistan and Iran, and tomorrow for two weeks, 80% of its international flights will be suspended before Eid al-Fitr, which falls around May 13, an occasion that usually witnesses major gatherings and movements in the country.

Pakistan is facing a third wave of the epidemic, which has recorded about 800,000 infections, including 18,000 deaths.

The Corona virus has killed 3.2 million people in the world since the outbreak of the epidemic in China at the end of December 2019, out of more than 152 million confirmed infections, according to a census conducted by Agence France-Presse based on official sources.

Europe and the United States hope to return to normal life and stop the closures and restrictions during the summer, thanks to the acceleration of vaccination campaigns.

France began easing its measures with the end of restrictions on movement and the partial return of middle and high school students to schools, against the backdrop of a slow decline in the number of cases requiring hospitalization.

Students will divide their shifts between school and distance learning.

Returning to school is the first of four stages in the plan to end the closure measures announced by French President Emmanuel Macron.

The second phase begins on May 19, with partial reopening of shops, cinemas, museums, theaters and restaurants.

In Greece, with the start of the tourist season, outdoor patios for restaurants and cafes opened yesterday, after six months of closure.

• The European Commission proposes to allow the entry of vaccinated travelers to the countries of the Union.

• India records 370 thousand new infections ... and France and Greece begin to ease restrictions.

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