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The Netherlands became the latest country to suspend use of the COVID-19 vaccine, following reports from Denmark and Norway of potential serious side effects from the vaccine. The Dutch government said it would suspend use until March 29.
The move follows a clash between police and anti-lockdown protesters in The Hague, a day before the three-day general elections. Police arrested 20 people, used water cannons against protesters after they broke COVID-19 blocking measures.
Irish Health Officials It recommended stopping the use of the COVID-19 vaccine after reports of blood clotting and lower platelet counts in Norway and Denmark.
Dr. Ronan Glynn, the country’s deputy chief medical officer, said the suspension was recommended as a precaution as there was no conclusive link between the vaccine and possible side effects.
AstraZeneca He said Sunday there was no evidence of an increased risk of blood clots from his vaccine, following a review of safety data for people vaccinated with his vaccine.
“A careful review of all available safety data from more than 17 million people vaccinated in the European Union and the UK with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis or thrombocytopenia, in any defined age group, gender, lot, or in any particular country, “the company said.
Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Iceland have suspended use of the vaccine, while Austria stopped using a batch of injections last week.
Brazil reported 1,127 new deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. Brazil recorded 12,818 deaths from the virus this week, pointing to a resurgence as bad as last year.
Brazil has now registered 278,229 deaths from COVID-19.
America’s leading virologist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, He said Sunday that former President Donald Trump should make an effort to persuade his supporters to get vaccinated. Fauci said it would be a “game changer” if Trump used his “incredible influence” among Republicans.
Fauci made the comment after a poll showed Trump supporters are more likely to refuse to get vaccinated.
DW has an overview of other major COVID developments around the world.
Europe
In an interview published on Sunday with Germany Daily mirror newspaper, the vice president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, said that “it is true that mistakes were made when ordering vaccines in Brussels, as well as in member states.”
The roll-out of COVID vaccines in EU countries has been hampered by delivery bottlenecks, regulatory issues, and bureaucratic hurdles. The EU has been criticized for strategic errors in ordering vaccines.
The Dutch politician said that the EU’s priority is to ensure that “all of Europe receives a vaccine.” After the pandemic, the EU can assess “what we did wrong and what we did right,” he added.
The commission has ordered at least 1.4 billion doses of the four EU-approved COVID vaccines. However, vaccine manufacturers such as AstraZeneca have had to reduce their planned deliveries due to production problems.
In the latest setback, AstraZeneca has announced that it will deliver just 100 million of the 220 million expected doses to EU states by mid-2021.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said that she expects many more doses to be available from April.
The German Economic Institute (IW) estimates that GermanyThe winter lockdown has cost the economy more than 50,000 million euros in the first quarter of 2021, according to the Picture on sunday Newspaper.
In total, the pandemic has cost Germany’s gross domestic product € 250 billion, according to IW calculations.
A German health care union warns of a shortage of intensive care (ICU) nurses as more workers consider switching to other jobs.
According to the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI), about 32% of specialist nurses said they are thinking of changing jobs.
“We have to stop this flight from the nursing profession,” DIVI President Gernot Marx told Germany’s Funke Media Group on Sunday.
“We need to improve the working conditions and attractiveness” of intensive care nursing, he added.
COVID in Germany has exhausted the capacity of intensive care stations. According to DIVI, currently just over 3,800 intensive care beds are free in Germany.
Meanwhile, state elections are held in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate on Sunday. Due to the coronavirus, a record number of votes will be cast by mail. Those who present themselves to the polling stations will be subject to strict hygiene regulations.
On Sunday, Germany’s Robert Koch Institute for Disease Control reported 10,790 new cases of COVID.
IrelandThe Vaccine Task Force recommended temporarily suspending the launch of AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccine. The decision comes after several EU countries also stopped giving the injections last week over concerns about blood clots.
Ireland’s deputy chief medical officer Ronan Glynn said the recommendation was “precautionary” following a report from the Norwegian Medicines Agency describing “four new reports of serious blood clotting events in adults after vaccination.”
Asia
Singapore said on Sunday that it hopes to start reopening its borders to tourists in late 2021 and could allow travel with Australia even earlier under a “travel bubble” that could start in July.
The travel bubble would allow vaccinated people to travel between Singapore Y Australia.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a television interview that Singapore was also discussing the use of “vaccine certificates” with other countries.
“As the vaccine is released, not just in Australia but in other countries, we will reopen more bubbles,” he said.
Authorities in Pakistan They are imposing a partial lockdown on areas of Punjab as a third wave of COVID grips the country’s largest province.
Authorities have already fined dozens of wedding salons and restaurants for violating the new restrictions.
wmr / mm (AP, Reuters, AFP, dpa)
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