With 16.4 million first doses injected, France still hopes to be able to meet the 20 million primary vaccines against Covid-19 by mid-May, the campaign having been extended to all adults suffering from obesity or chronic illness.
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While the monitoring indicators for the coronavirus epidemic in France continue to improve, the government defends its vaccination strategy and in particular the opening of the campaign to all adults suffering from a chronic disease, likely to lead to a serious form of Covid-19, upon simple declaration.
The executive is still betting on 20 million first doses injected by May 15, a goal that promises to be increasingly ambitious.
In the rest of the world, the situation in India remains as worrying as ever, with more than 20 million officially declared cases, and a health system on its knees.
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Information to remember:
The target of 20 million primary vaccines by mid-May promises to be difficult to meet
The Scientific Council recommends the use of a "temporary and exceptional" health pass
India has passed the 20 million contamination mark
Covid-19: Véran defends the opening of vaccination
A vaccination open to all without saying it?
The Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, justified Tuesday, in the name of "common sense", the opening to injections for all adults on simple declaration of a chronic disease, at a time when the indicators of the Covid epidemic -19 improve.
"We made the choice of common sense", replied the Minister on Europe 1, questioned on the government's desire to open vaccination "to all", without officially announcing it.
"I could have asked four million French people," 18-50 year olds who are obese or suffering from chronic diseases, "to go to their doctor, to traffic congestion in medical offices in the midst of an epidemic wave, to ask them for a certificate according to which they would have a disease ", he developed, but" I trust the French ". "There may be workaround strategies but it will be at the margin," assured Olivier Véran, adding that it was up to "the medical teams in the centers (...) to take stock with the people who come to get vaccinated".
Since Saturday, vaccination has been open to all adults with chronic diseases exposing them to a severe form of Covid-19.
The Ministry of Health clarified that no medical prescription would be required.
The goal of 20 million first-time vaccinated on May 15 still achievable?
Finally, the government sees the date of May 15 approaching, for which it has promised 20 million first injections, a now ambitious milestone, 16.4 million first doses - and 6.9 million second doses - having been injected. nowadays.
"It will only be done with a very high level of mobilization on weekends and holidays", "but we will succeed in reaching this objective", we assure the Ministry of Health.
France expects more vials of the four authorized vaccines - 4.5 million doses per week in May and 6.9 million per week in June - a period during which the government hopes to remove the heaviest health restrictions, until the total end of the curfew on June 30.
By then, the terraces, museums and cinema will be able to reopen on May 19, before restaurants on June 9.
The Scientific Council recommends a "temporary and exceptional" health pass
A health pass ensuring that a person is vaccinated or has had a negative test can be used to facilitate the "return to normal life", provided that it is "in a temporary and exceptional manner," said the Scientific Council on Tuesday.
"The health pass, used on a temporary and exceptional basis, can allow the population a form of return to normal life by minimizing the risks of contamination by the Sars-CoV-2 virus", concludes the government council in a notice sent Monday evening to the government and made public Tuesday.
The Council also considers that its use does not dispense with the respect of wearing a mask when possible and sufficient ventilation of confined spaces.
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Slow decline in hospitalizations
The situation remains very tense in hospitals, with more than 5,500 Covid-19 patients in intensive care units on Tuesday.
However, a level moving away from the 6,000 mark exceeded on April 26.
But the continued decline in new cases of Covid-19 and the increase in the number of vaccinated gives hope for fewer hospital admissions.
A total of 243 people died from the coronavirus in hospital between Monday and Tuesday, against 311 the day before, bringing the toll to 105,387 dead in France.
Last week, 28,000 people tested positive on average every day from Monday to Friday, up from 36,000 the week before.
In the immediate term, the High Council of Public Health recommends "to open the windows at least 5 minutes every hour" in the places which receive the public, in particular the schools, and to measure the renewal of the air with CO2 sensors to better fight Covid-19.
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Towards a return to normal for vaccinated Germans
Germany will initiate a return to normal for people vaccinated against Covid, with the lifting of restrictions such as nighttime curfews or restrictions on private meetings.
Angela Merkel's government on Tuesday adopted an order relaxing for people who have received two doses the many bans in force for several months.
A quarter of Europeans first vaccinated
More than a quarter of the EU's population has received at least one dose of the anti-Covid vaccine, the European Commission greeted on Tuesday, and more than 9% of its inhabitants are now fully vaccinated according to an AFP count .
"Vaccination is accelerating in Europe: we have just passed 150 million vaccinations (...) We will have enough doses to vaccinate 70% of adults in the EU by July," tweeted Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European executive.
Chinese vaccine review
The European Medicines Agency announced on Tuesday the launch of a "continuous review" procedure for the vaccine from the Chinese laboratory Sinovac, which opens the way to a possible application for an upcoming authorization in the EU.
Sinovac's vaccine, which uses the classic inactivated virus technique, was authorized in February in China and then in Chile, Brazil, the Philippines, Ukraine and Turkey.
Over 20 million cases in India
India, overwhelmed by an outbreak of the pandemic that is suffocating its health system, has passed the 20 million officially recorded milestone.
In India, more than 350,000 new cases of Covid-19 were reported on Tuesday, a slight drop from the peak on April 30, with 402,000 infections.
The Asian giant has reached more than 222,000 deaths and nearly 20.3 million infections since the start of the pandemic.
An outbreak attributed in particular to religious and political gatherings authorized in recent months, as well as to the inaction of the government of Narendra Modi.
Hospitals are overwhelmed and short of supplies of oxygen, medicines, beds, despite international aid that is pouring in.
New goals for Biden
Joe Biden on Tuesday launched a "new phase" of the Covid-19 vaccination campaign in the United States, which must integrate adolescents and target more reluctant Americans, with a new target of at least one injection for 70% adults by the national holiday of July 4th.
The US president also announced a target of 160 million fully immunized Americans by the same date.
A request to extend the emergency authorization of Pfizer / BioNTech's vaccine for 12-15 year olds was filed in early April in the United States, and the decision of the American Medicines Agency (FDA) is expected within days to come.
Brazil: Bolsonaro incriminated by a former minister
A former Brazilian Minister of Health, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, assured Tuesday before a parliamentary commission of inquiry that he "expressly" warned President Jair Bolsonaro of the "serious consequences" of his denial of the coronavirus pandemic, which has kills nearly 410,000 in the country.
Luiz Henrique Mandetta was sacked at the end of March 2020, at the start of the pandemic, because he defended physical distancing in an attempt to stem contamination, an idea totally rejected by the head of state.
FC Barcelona: possible breach of the Covid protocol
LaLiga, the body that manages professional football in Spain, has opened an investigation for a possible violation of the Covid-19 protocols of the Spanish league, after the meal organized by the FC Barcelona players at the home of Lionel Messi.
Barça players, some of whom were accompanied by their companions, met on Monday at the home of their captain Messi, while meetings of more than six people are prohibited in private homes in Barcelona.
More than 3.2 million deaths worldwide
The pandemic has killed at least 3,214,644 people around the world since the end of December 2019, according to a report established by AFP from official sources on Tuesday.
The United States is the country with the most deaths (578,403), ahead of Brazil (411,588), India (222,408), Mexico (217,345) and the United Kingdom (127,539).
These figures are globally underestimated.
They are based on daily reports from national health authorities, without including reassessments based on statistical bases.