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The number of new coronavirus cases has risen in Europe after a six-week decline, the World Health Organization said.
“Last week, new cases of Covid-19 in Europe increased by 9% to just over a million.
“This ended a promising six-week decline in new cases, with more than half of our region experiencing a growing number of new infections,” WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge said at a conference on press.
“We are seeing a resurgence in Central and Eastern Europe. New cases are also increasing in several Western European countries where rates were already high,” he said.
“We need to get back to basics. We need to expand” the vaccine portfolio, he said.
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The WHO European region comprises 53 countries and vaccination campaigns have started in 45.
According to an AFP count based on official figures, 2.6% of the population in the European Union have received two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine and 5.4% have received one dose.
Germany and Belgium issue new recommendation on AstraZeneca jab
Germany’s vaccination authority approved the use of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine in those over 65, the Health Ministry said in a statement.
He added that the Permanent Vaccination authority recommended extending the period between receiving the first and second doses of the vaccine to a maximum of 12 weeks.
“This is good news for older people who are waiting for a vaccine. Now they can get vaccinated more quickly,” the ministry said.
“We will shortly issue a regulation that implements both recommendations.”
Belgium has authorized the launch of the AstraZeneca jab for more than 55 years there, starting “immediately”.
Both countries had previously said that there was insufficient data on the effect of the vaccine in older age groups.
Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said recent studies in Britain and Israel had shown that the injection gave that age group protection against Covid-19.
Belgium, a country of 11.5 million, has reserved 7.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca jab, the largest order it has made for any of the Covid-19 vaccines available.
With inoculation of people 65 and older beginning next week, there were warnings that relying solely on the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines would derail the process.
France, which had also limited the AstraZeneca jab to younger age groups, said earlier this week that it would also allow the vaccine to be given to those 65 and older.
Brazil reaches record number of deaths from Covid-19 for the second consecutive day
Brazil has registered a record of deaths from Covid-19 for the second day in a row, with 1,910 lives lost due to the pandemic.
With an increase in cases that are currently pushing health systems to the limit in many areas, Brazil has registered a total of 259,271 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health, the second highest number of deaths worldwide, after the United States. United.
“For the first time since the pandemic began, we are seeing a deterioration across the country,” the public health institute Fiocruz said before the latest figures were released.
“The situation is alarming.”
Brazil’s 24-hour death toll had just set a new record yesterday, at 1,641.
The sprawling country of 212 million people is having its deadliest week of the pandemic, with an average of 1,331 deaths per day.
Brazil has had trouble controlling Covid-19 at all times.
The far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, faces harsh criticism for downplaying the new coronavirus, circumventing expert advice on containing it with lockdowns and face masks, and for his government’s slowness in vaccinating the population.
Now, the situation has been aggravated by a rebound in cases derived from the festivities and the carnival season, when many people ignored the cancellation of official events to hold large gatherings and clandestine parties.
Experts say that the appearance of a new variant of the virus known as P1 in the city of Manaus, in the Amazon rainforest, is also the cause of the recent increase.
The variant is now present in 17 of the 27 states of Brazil and has been detected in more than two dozen countries.
Studies indicate that it is more contagious than the original strain of the virus and can re-infect people who have already had Covid-19.
Currently, intensive care units are over 80% full in 19 Brazilian states, according to Fiocruz.
That means the worst-hit states will have a harder time sending overflowing patients to neighbors.
Meanwhile, the country’s vaccination campaign got off to a relatively late start, in mid-January, and has been hit by shortages.
So far, Brazil is using CoronaVac developed in China and the Oxford University / AstraZeneca vaccine, both of which require two doses.
It has given a first dose to 7.1 million people and two doses to 2.1 million.
But it is very far from fulfilling the commitment of the Minister of Health, Eduardo Pazuello, to vaccinate the entire population before the end of the year.
“We weren’t ready,” said Isabella Ballalai of the Brazilian Society of Immunology.
“This was predictable. We knew there was a new variant and that there should have been a lockdown,” he told AFP.
Instead, in the absence of a national response from the federal government, Brazilian states and cities have resorted to partial containment measures.
In the latest example, Sao Paulo declared new “code red” restrictions on Wednesday, ordering non-essential businesses to close for two weeks starting Saturday.
The partial closure bans all “essential activities” in the state of 46 million people, but allows schools and churches to remain open, along with health services, supermarkets and public transportation.
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