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According to a preliminary study by the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer, the Biontech Pfizer coronavirus vaccine is also effective against variants discovered in Great Britain and South Africa. A laboratory test showed that the two mutants had little effect on the effectiveness of the antibodies generated by the Covid-19 vaccine, Pfizer said. However, the South African variant was found to have fewer antibodies. Pfizer’s results are consistent with other preliminary results reported in recent weeks by various research groups from other pharmaceutical companies examining the effectiveness of available vaccines against the new variants.
+++ 07:16 SPD Vice Midyatli calls for a European vaccination summit +++
In view of the acute shortage of vaccines, SPD Federal Vice President Serpil Midyatli has called for a European summit on vaccines. “All manufacturers and suppliers have to meet with the European Commission to clarify as quickly as possible who still has what capabilities and who can quickly provide facilities for production, logistics and other things,” Midyatli said. The “vaccine crisis” can only be overcome by working together. “This hacking of contracts and who is to blame for it does not help anyone,” Midyatli said. He showed understanding for manufacturers, who initially mainly supply countries that ordered vaccines many months before the EU and would have paid a much higher price. “You don’t build additional production facilities overnight.” Advertisements, sometimes very short-term, from some manufacturers are not proof of great reliability.
+++ 06:58 Hair salons and fitness studios demand a clear perspective for reopening +++
Given the decline in the number of infections in recent weeks, the hairdressing and fitness sector demands clear prospects of reopening their businesses. “In the first stage, kindergartens and schools should reopen. In the next stage, hairdressers should be able to reopen,” the president of the Central Association of the German Hairdressing Trade, Harald Esser, told Funke newspapers. media group. The president of the German Health and Fitness Systems Employers Association, Birgit Schwarze, also called for a step-by-step plan for the reopening of companies in her branch. Last year, fitness studios developed comprehensive hygiene concepts that “worked well,” emphasized Schwarze. Many companies are now threatened with ruin after they first invested in hygiene measures, then they had to close “and now they do not receive the promised aid,” he criticized. Schwarze also stressed that the closure of the training facilities was having a massive impact on the health of the population.
+++ 06:42 China reports smallest increase in infections since Jan 8 +++
According to the authorities, China recorded the smallest daily increase in new infections in almost three weeks. The National Health Commission announced that 54 new cases were reported yesterday. That’s the lowest value since January 8, when 33 cases were reported. So far, a total of 89,326 infections have been confirmed in mainland China. 4636 people died.
+++ 06:10 Study: Few expect to start traveling before Pentecost +++
The pandemic has the German travel industry firmly in check. The winter package travel business is practically lost due to closures in many countries. Sales with advance reservations for the summer season at the end of December were 68 percent lower than the prior year period, which has not yet been affected by the crisis. This is the result of a Travel Data + Analytics (TDA) evaluation. According to the information, people refrained from booking for the Easter holidays in late March / early April. Few believed in December that travel would be possible again at that time, the analysis house said. Demand from traditional travel agencies and online travel portals will only increase from Whitsun. Most of the summer holidays were booked in July and August 2021. Greece and the Canary Islands topped the popularity chart.
+++ 05:02 Australia sends quarantined New Zealand travelers +++
Australia suspends quarantine free entry from New Zealand for another 72 hours. The authorities justify the measure as a measure to protect the Australian population. In New Zealand, two people recently tested positive for the South African variant of the coronavirus.
+++ 04:35 Lauterbach criticizes IOC chief for “stubborn perseverance” +++
SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach has criticized the International Olympic Committee’s adherence to Olympic plans and, in particular, IOC chief Thomas Bach. Lauterbach called it “very problematic” that he continues to assume that the Tokyo games will take place this summer. This “stubborn perseverance with the attitude that world-class sport is practically exempt from the pandemic is very difficult to convey and also frustrates many fans,” Lauterbach said in an interview with Sport1. Bach had previously rejected criticism of efforts to host the Olympics.
+++ 03:43 Russian vaccine delayed delivery +++
Russia will deliver the Sputnik-V vaccine to Latin America up to three weeks late. The reasons given are high demand and production bottlenecks. The state-owned private equity company RDIF and the Gamaleya Institute want to expand production capacities. Sputnik-V has commissioned Argentina, Bolivia and Mexico, among others.
+++ 02:54 PM calls for a vaccination summit +++
After Brandenburg Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke, Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Malu Dreyer also wants a vaccination summit. “Everywhere in Germany the vaccination streets are practically empty, because promised vaccines are not delivered as promised,” the SPD politician told “Spiegel”. At the summit, binding agreements on delivery of the corona vaccines must be made. “We need a clear and transparent vaccination plan for the next several months,” Dreyer said. Berlin Mayor Michael Müller, who is currently chairing the Prime Minister’s Conference, also suggested a summit with players from the pharmaceutical industry.
+++ 01:51 Rough guideline: Lower Saxony has a relaxation plan +++
The Lower Saxony state government has developed a plan to relax the crown’s restrictions, but only as a rough guide and in case the number of infections continues to decline. The plan goes from level 1 (low infection rate), where almost everything is possible again, to level 6 (increasing infection rate), in which almost nothing works, reports the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”. Public and private gatherings without restrictions of people, distance and masks, therefore, would only be possible again when the incidence of 7 days is less than ten. According to the report, the country will not make a final decision on how to proceed until after the next round of prime ministers with Chancellor Angela Merkel in early February.
+++ 01:09 Serious riots after the extension of the blockade in Lebanon +++
In Lebanon, protests against crown restrictions erupted for the third night in a row. In the northern port city of Tripoli, protesters fought street battles with police on Wednesday. According to the Lebanese news agency NNA, 226 people were injured. Since the government imposed a nationwide lockdown earlier this month, many of the city’s residents have lost their income. Tripoli was one of the poorest areas in the country even before the crown pandemic and its economic impact. The lockdown was originally scheduled for January 25 and was last extended until February 8. Currently, the coronavirus is spreading rapidly in the Mediterranean country of 6 million people.
+++ 00:23 Newspaper “Bild”: Seehofer should prepare entry bans +++
A drastic air traffic restriction to Germany could already be implemented next week. According to information from the newspaper “Bild”, the cabinet has instructed Interior Minister Horst Seehofer to prepare the corresponding order. Therefore, there should be entry bans for flights from risk countries where mutant viruses already exist. These include the UK, South Africa, Brazil, and Portugal. According to the report, it could also affect the Netherlands and Denmark.
+++ 23:32 1.24 percent positive in mass test in Slovakia +++
Slovakia has once again subjected a large part of the population over the age of ten to a massive corona test. Prime Minister Igor Matovic reported that 2.95 million of the 5.5 million residents participated in rapid antigen tests. 1.24 percent of the test results were positive. The tests conducted across the country in nine days were formally voluntary. But if you can’t show a negative result, you can’t even go to work until February 7. You can even test a negative test for nature walks. Police had announced strict controls since Wednesday in advance.
+++ 22:15 Vaccine dispute: EU and Astrazeneca end crisis negotiations without a solution for the moment +++
An online crisis discussion in the evening did not produce a breakthrough in the dispute between the EU and Astrazeneca. Therefore, weeks or months later, large quantities of vaccine will arrive for Germany and other EU countries. Astrazeneca said there had been “a frank and constructive discussion” about the complexity of increasing vaccine production and the difficulties. The company has pledged to work even more closely “to jointly chart a route for the delivery of our vaccine in the coming months.” EU Health Commissioner Kyriakides wrote on Twitter: “We will work with the company to find solutions and deliver vaccines quickly to EU citizens.”
+++ 21:50 Bundeswehr sends reconnaissance team to Portugal +++
The Bundeswehr has sent an investigation team to Portugal to look for ways to help in the fight against the pandemic (entrance at 17:43). Experts should clarify what local support is needed and what is feasible, confirms a spokesman for the Defense Ministry in Berlin in a “Spiegel” report.
+++ 21:15 Current data status in Germany: 15,272 new cases reported +++
The number of coronavirus infections reported in Germany has risen to 2,171,235. As can be seen from the information from state authorities evaluated by ntv.de, 15,272 new cases were added. The number of deaths related to the infection increased from 875 to 54,519. Around 240,833 people are currently infected.
The infection rate (R value) is given by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) as 0.76 (previous day: 0.85). This means that an average of 100 infected people infect another 76 people with Sars-CoV-2. The 7-day R-value is currently 0.87 (previous day: 0.88). According to the Divi Register, 4501 Covid-19 patients are currently being treated in intensive care in Germany, 2503 of whom are ventilated. Around 4,204 intensive care beds are still available in German clinics.
You can read more information about the most important corona data here.
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