If the Covid-19 epidemic is in sharp decline in France, caution remains in order because vaccination coverage is not high enough, especially among caregivers. Another cause for concern: other ...

Covid-19: from Russia to Latin America, a contrasting epidemic situation

Graves of Covid-19 victims at La Verbena cemetery in Guatemala City, June 17, 2021. AFP - JOHAN ORDONEZ

Text by: RFI Follow

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If the Covid-19 epidemic is in sharp decline in France, caution remains in order because vaccination coverage is not high enough, especially among caregivers.

Another cause for concern: Other countries face vaccine shortages as the Delta variant spreads around the world.

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All the lights are green in

France

The indicators are decreasing as immunization coverage continues to increase.

One black point, however: the vaccination of caregivers is slowing down, especially in nursing homes and long-term care units where barely 42% of the staff who supervise residents are fully vaccinated, according to the latest data from the health agency.

A situation criticized by the Minister of Health Olivier Véran who launched a "

solemn appeal

" to caregivers.

A call accompanied by a threat: that of making vaccination compulsory for health personnel, if the vaccination coverage of these strategic professions does not improve "

by the end of the summer

Contamination on the rise in the United Kingdom

This obligation has just come into force in the

United Kingdom

, faced with the same phenomenon, but where the epidemic is also experiencing a new rebound because of the Delta variant.

The country had not known such a number of daily contaminations for more than four months.

Compulsory vaccination in Moscow as well.

The epidemic is progressing there, but not the vaccination.

The Delta variant represents nearly 90% of new cases in the Russian capital, according to its mayor Sergei Sobyanin.

Vaccination is there made

imperative

for all professions brought into contact with the public.

Sergei Sobyanin announces new restrictive measures, including the ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people.

New measures could be taken soon, he warns, without mentioning for the moment the possibility of a new confinement.

►

To read also: Euro 2021: Moscow closes its fan-zone because of a resurgence of the Covid-19

Another capital, Lisbon, which is putting in place new restrictive measures while Portugal again faces an increasing number of contaminations.

Residents of the Lisbon region will no longer be allowed to move around on weekends.

Another example of the heterogeneity of the dynamics of the pandemic: while it was rather spared so far, Africa is undergoing a new wave.

Countries like the DRC,

Uganda

and Namibia have recorded their highest levels of contamination since the start of the health crisis, mainly because of the spread of the new variants.

► Read also: The WHO concerned about the growing expansion of Covid in Africa

Latin American countries, meanwhile, are facing their worst outbreak since March, with 43 out of every 100 infections reported worldwide in the region, according to a Reuters analysis.

The nine countries reporting the highest number of deaths per capita over the past week are all in Latin America: Bolivia, Chile and Uruguay where Covid patients are now between 25 and 40 years old.

Soaring deaths are straining the functioning capacity of crematoriums in developing countries

India and Brazil topped the list of countries with the highest number of deaths per day over an average of seven days and still face cremation issues and lack of burial space.

WHO warns of lack of vaccine doses

Another cause for concern, dozens of countries are unable to administer the second dose of anti-Covid vaccines, for lack of sufficient doses, which risks permanently destabilizing the vaccine campaigns, warned the WHO on Friday.

Too long an interval between two doses can facilitate the emergence of more dangerous or contagious variants.

Countries in sub-Saharan Africa are particularly affected, but also in Latin America, the Middle East and South Asia, in particular India's neighbors such as Nepal and Sri Lanka, which have to face a severe wave of infections.

Covax partners are trying to access a maximum of doses which are crucial for the period from June to September

Covid-19: from Russia to Latin America, a contrasting epidemic situation

Covid-19: from Russia to Latin America, a contrasting epidemic situation

Contamination on the rise in the United Kingdom

WHO warns of lack of vaccine doses

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