On March 18, 2021, members of the medical staff check the information of a patient in the pneumology unit of the AP-HP Cochin Hospital in Paris, as the number of people hospitalized in the Covid-19 increases in the French capital .
CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT | AFP | Getty Images
More than a year after the outbreak of the coronavirus was declared a pandemic, Europe is still struggling with the virus amid a third wave of infections and enlargement measures.
At the same time, the explosion of vaccination of the bloc remains slow, hit by manufacturing problems and addiction, to the extent that European Union leaders are meeting this week to once again discuss the introduction of a possible ban on vaccine exports.
It comes as a handful of countries re-lock in to curb a third wave of infections, with France, Poland and Ukraine imposing tougher measures over the weekend that will last at least a few weeks.
A month-long partial exclusion was reintroduced on Saturday in Paris, as well as in 15 other regions in France, in an attempt to get on top of rising business numbers, mainly attributed to new, more contagious Covid variants.
The latest partial exclusion is less stringent than the previous one, but some have questioned the point of such a move, while others have said the new measures are confusing. There is still a curfew rule and interstate travel remains effectively banned. About 21 million people in France are affected by the new rules.
The country reported more than 30,000 new daily cases on Sunday, bringing the country’s total number of infections to more than 4.2 million. In France, more than 92,000 people have died so far.
Meanwhile, Germany’s largest economy Germany could be set to extend a national exclusion until April, as the country is also battling a third wave of Covid-19 affairs. Several states have reportedly called for the current restrictions to be extended because the incidence of Covid has exceeded 100 cases per 100,000 people. to prevent further spread.
The move would be a blow to Germany, which has begun to ease the closure measures, which could reopen schools in February and some non-essential stores to pick up customers again earlier this month.
Vaccine struggles
As many of the EU are experiencing increasing cases of coronavirus, the explosion of the vaccine remains slow and controversial.
EU leaders will meet virtually on Thursday to discuss whether vaccine exports should be blocked while supplies in the region remain scarce, and the vaccination program lags behind those in other developed countries.
The EU has been criticized for ordering coronavirus vaccines later than the UK and US, and has consequently had problems with supply, despite two of the vaccines it has approved for use – Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca University of Oxford shots – manufactured in the EU.
There are reports that the EU could impede the export of the AstraZeneca vaccine made at a Dutch plant – a step that could also jeopardize the UK’s hitherto successful vaccination. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to contact his European counterparts to try to resolve the impasse over vaccines.
The deployment of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine has faced several obstacles in recent weeks, with a handful of European countries suspending the use of the shot due to concerns over the possible link with the reports of blood clots.
The World Health Organization and the European Medicines Agency conducted safety reviews of the vaccine with the latter ruling last Thursday that it is safe and effective and that the benefits outweigh any risks.
The conclusion led to the reversal of the vaccine suspension from most (but not all) European countries that stopped using it, but the move could damage public confidence in the vaccine, which was already shaky. caused due to misplaced questions about the effectiveness of the shot in the older than 65.
Real-world data has since proven that the vaccine is very effective in reducing severe Covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths in adults. The vaccine received another boost on Monday when the results of a major US trial were published, showing that the AstraZeneca vaccine is 79% effective in preventing symptomatic diseases and 100% effective against serious diseases and hospitalization.
However, a YouGov poll published on Monday showed that the decision of some European countries to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine “greatly damaged the perception of the safety of the vaccine in Europe.”
The survey, which was conducted between 15 and 18 March in seven European countries (the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Denmark and Sweden), found that people are more likely to be unsafe than safe in France. Germany, Spain and Italy. It should be noted that the survey was conducted during the week when the safety references of the vaccine were questioned, and mostly before the EMA published its safety ruling on the shot.