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Hello and welcome to our continued coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, with me, Alison Rourke.
Before we begin, here is a rundown of the top news so far:
- EU leaders appear to have given a lukewarm response to the European Commission’s plans potentially blocking vaccine exports to highly vaccinated countries. In a statement issued after the EU virtual summit, the leaders did not offer their support for the commission’s approach, instead saying that they had obscured “global value chains” and reaffirmed that “companies must ensure the predictability of the production of their vaccines and respect the contractual delivery times “.
- EU Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen called for support for the plan to block vaccine exports if necessary: ”While remaining open, the EU must ensure that Europeans get a fair share of vaccines,” he tweeted.
- German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that while the EU had to “provide [for] our own population “ the block would not damage the supply chains necessary for the production and distribution of vaccines.
- The president of France, Emmanuel Macron, took advantage of a press conference after the meeting to criticize the British media: “Every day when I read the press across the English Channel, they accuse us saying that it is the EU that is being selfish. This is false! ” he said.
- Joe Biden Has Doubled His Vaccine Target in his first 100 days in office, saying he wants 200m jabs delivered in that time.
- Brazil has registered more than 100,000 daily cases of coronavirus and nearly 3,000 deaths a day, as the Covid crisis continues to escalate.
- From Mexico Number of deaths from Covid-19 surpassed 200,000 on Thursday, making it the third country in the world to reach the devastating milestone as the country struggles with its vaccination implementation.
- Under the global Covax scheme, Iraq is scheduled to receive 336,000 doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine on Thursday.
- Turkey has started initial talks to acquire the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine.Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said Thursday. The minister added that the capital Ankara would receive a total of 100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of May.
- An epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health told a briefing that while newly vaccinated people had the right to celebrate, they should act as if they were not vaccinated for up to two weeks after their second dose.
- Emergency rules for coronavirus in the UK It will continue for another six months.
- Romania battles a wave of Covid-19 infections that threatens to overwhelm its hospitals as the government announces that Easter celebrations are planned to continue.
Updated
