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ROME – Millions of Christians around the world were facing another Easter weekend under restrictions on Saturday due to coronavirus surges, but the United States was good news as it crossed the 100 million vaccine milestone.
Worrisome spikes in infections in many parts of the world, even as vaccine launches accelerate, have forced deeply unpopular restrictions to be reimposed.
Italy began a strict Easter lockdown on Saturday, and the entire country was considered a high-risk “red zone” during a time when families generally get together.
In Rome’s normally bustling Piazza Navona, where the famous Fountain of the Four Rivers is located, a scattering of dog walkers and cyclists could be seen enjoying the spring weather.
Shops selling basic goods were open on the winding streets nearby, but without the usual crowds.
“He’s getting annoying,” said a man who gave his name as Giovanni about the restrictions, while walking his dog.
New restrictions also went into effect on Saturday in France, where authorities are struggling to deal with a dramatic spike in cases that has overwhelmed Paris hospitals.
‘Feel alive again’
The restrictions had already been intensified in other European nations such as Belgium.
Germans protested by the thousands on Saturday amid a heated nationwide debate over tightening restrictions in the face of a third wave of COVID-19.
The protesters, few of whom wore masks, carried banners with the slogan “Let’s end the Covid dictatorship.”
The government scrapped plans for a strict Easter shutdown, but Chancellor Angela Merkel urged people to limit their social contacts before the breakup.
Across the Atlantic, new restrictions were also imposed ahead of Easter in Ontario and Quebec, Canada’s two most populous provinces.
And in the Philippines, a shutdown affecting more than 24 million people has lasted for another week as authorities deploy tents and healthcare workers to overwhelmed hospitals.
But there was a step towards normalcy in the Old City of Jerusalem, where a blockade marred Passover last year.
A modest crowd attended this year, as most of the major sites were opened thanks to Israel’s successful vaccine launch.
“Last year was very difficult. We felt like the city was dead,” said Lina Sleibi, a Palestinian Christian who sings at church services in the nearby West Bank holy city of Bethlehem.
Now, “you feel alive again,” he said.
‘Finish this job’
The pandemic has claimed more than 2.8 million lives worldwide.
But the United States, the worst-hit nation, became the first country to administer at least one injection to more than 100 million people, about half of its adult population.
President Joe Biden has promised to vaccinate the vast majority within weeks.
But infections are also continuing to rise in some parts of the US, and Biden urged Americans to continue wearing masks and taking other precautions.
“We need to finish this job,” he said.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have updated their guide to say that fully vaccinated people can travel without observing quarantines.
Vaccination campaigns have struggled to gain traction in much of Europe due to supply problems and questions about the AstraZeneca jab.
The Netherlands became the latest European country on Friday to stop vaccines against AstraZeneca for people under the age of 60 for fear of links to rare blood clots.
Britain and the British-Swedish firm itself have defended the safety of the jab, and the World Health Organization and the EU drug regulator have said the benefits so far far outweigh the risk.
On Saturday, the UK medical regulator said that of 30 people who suffered blood clots after receiving the injection in Britain, seven had died.
The 30 reports of thrombosis came after 18.1 million doses of the vaccine were administered in the country.
Paul Hunter, a medical microbiologist at Britain’s University of East Anglia, told AFP that he initially thought the link between vaccination and blood clots was probably a “random association.”
But as evidence from groups in separate countries increases, “the weight of evidence now points to Oxford-AstraZeneca actually being the cause of these adverse events,” he said.
Guinea-Bissau, in West Africa, launched its vaccination campaign with the AstraZeneca vaccine on Saturday.
Crisis in Latin America
One of the worst outbreaks of COVID-19 is devastating Brazil, which has reported more deaths than any other country after the United States.
It is the epicenter of a crisis unfolding in Latin America, where infections have soared beyond 25 million, probably driven by a more contagious variant first detected in Brazil.
Peru entered into an Easter blockade, Chile closed all borders, Ecuador announced new restrictions and Bolivia sealed the border with Brazil.
Argentine President Alberto Fernández announced Friday night that he had tested positive. He had the two-shot Sputnik V vaccine from Russia. -French Media Agency
