Hospital pressure linked to Covid-19 continues to drop in France.
Encouraging figures which allowed the Minister of Education to announce the end of half-gauges in colleges.
The European regulator on Friday approved the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine for 12-15 year olds.
In France, just over 17,000 patients are hospitalized for Covid-19 according to the latest figures from Public Health France, published Friday evening. An improvement in the situation which led Jean-Michel Blanquer to announce on Europe 1 the end of the half-gauges for fourth and third students in all the colleges still concerned. Government spokesman Gabriel Attal, for his part, announced the forthcoming presentation of a plan detailing the organization of vaccination for the summer, especially on vacation spots.
While the European regulator has approved the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine for 12-15 year olds, the European director of the World Health Organization for his part warned on Friday that the Covid-19 pandemic could not end until 'after vaccination of at least 70% of the world's population.
The main information to remember
Hospital pressure continues to drop in France
Growth was ultimately negative in the first quarter in France
Jean-Michel Blanquer announces the end of half-gauges in colleges
European Medicines Agency approves Pfizer vaccine for 12-15 year olds
The epidemic continues to decline in France
The number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients rose to 17,200 on Friday, with 3,104 people in critical care, according to data from Public Health France.
Figures down compared to the previous day.
The number of hospitalized patients had exceeded 31,000 at the height of the third wave, in mid-April, had fallen below 20,000 on Saturday for the first time since October 27.
Vaccination is also continuing: 24,992,823 people received one dose (i.e. 37.3% of the total population and 47.6% of the adult population) and 10,578,349 two doses (15.8% of the total population). and 20.1% of the adult population), according to the Ministry of Health.
The Covid severely disrupted the economy in the first quarter
The French economy did not finally get back to the front in the first quarter, but the government and economists remain optimistic for the resumption of activity in the coming months, thanks to the advance of vaccination.
Gross domestic product (GDP) contracted slightly by 0.1% in the first quarter, according to a new estimate on Friday from Insee, which sharply revised downwards its previous assessment of 0.4% growth .
In question, a recovery in activity and investment in the construction sector much weaker than what INSEE had assessed.
A vaccination plan for the summer "in the coming days"
The Ministry of Health will present "in the coming days" a plan detailing the organization of vaccination for the summer, in particular on vacation spots, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on Friday.
He confirmed on Franceinfo that the government would "strengthen the vaccine endowment of centers which are in very heavily touristed places so that French people who have not yet been vaccinated and who are going on vacation can be vaccinated. they want it ".
Gabriel Attal, however, hinted that the possibility of getting vaccinated at his vacation spot may be limited.
More details in this article.
Pfizer vaccine approved by European regulator for 12-15 year olds
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Friday approved the use of the anti-Covid Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine for 12-15 year olds.
The product therefore becomes the first vaccine to be authorized for adolescents in the 27 countries of the European Union.
"As expected, the EMA Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use today approved the use of Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine for adolescents 12 to 15 years old," said Marco Cavaleri, vaccine strategy manager at EMA, during a press conference.
End of half-gauges for college students
"Due to the improvement in the health situation, from next week, gradually, the fourth and third of these departments will be able to return to the whole class", announced the Minister of National Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer on Europe 1. "It can be gradual. We must give the school principals time, all the teams, to organize themselves. I obviously let the school principals know this very morning since it is a decision that we were able to take last (Thursday) evening. "
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70% of the world's population vaccinated to end the pandemic
The Covid-19 pandemic will not be over until at least 70% of the world's population is vaccinated, World Health Organization director for Europe, Hans Kluge, warned on Friday, who is worried about the most high contagiousness observed for new variants of the virus, including the Indian variant.
"Do not think that the pandemic is over": the epidemic will not be over until at least 70% of the world's population is vaccinated, he said, calling for the vaccination to be speeded up and to remain vigilant then let the continent deconfine.
In the 53 territories of the European region according to WHO criteria, only 26% of the population received a first dose of vaccine.
In the EU, 36.6% have received at least one dose of vaccine, according to a count by AFP, and 16.9% are fully vaccinated.
Japan extends state of emergency, two months before the Olympics
On Friday, the Japanese government once again extended the state of emergency in force in the face of Covid-19, until June 20, almost a month before the opening of the Tokyo Olympics (July 23-August 8) .
"The number of new cases has declined since mid-May, but the situation continues to be uncertain," said Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
The state of emergency, which had already been extended by three weeks in May, currently concerns 10 of the 47 Japanese departments, including those of Tokyo and its suburbs, Osaka or Kyoto (west).
The Japanese government is criticized for its handling of the health crisis, the slowness of its vaccination program and its insistence on maintaining the Olympic Games, which involve the arrival of tens of thousands of athletes, officials and journalists from around the world.
On Wednesday, the Japanese newspaper Asahi, official partner of the Olympics and the second national daily newspaper in terms of circulation, called for the cancellation of the event, which it described as "a threat to health".
More than 3.5 million deaths worldwide
The pandemic has killed at least 3.51 million people around the world since the end of December 2019, according to an assessment established by AFP from official sources Friday in the middle of the day. After the United States (593,930), the countries with the highest death toll are Brazil (459,045), India (318,895), Mexico (222,657) and the United Kingdom (127,758).