Discussion on the European Union’s vaccination strategy – politics

The first plane bound for Mallorca took off in Hamburg on Sunday morning, after the Balearic island was no longer an area at risk from Corona. 153 passengers boarded the plane carrying flight number “EW 7588” to Palma de Mallorca on Sunday morning, a spokeswoman for Eurowings Airlines said. This means that the plane was fully booked.

In general, the spokeswoman said that the demand for Mallorca tours is very high. Four more flights were scheduled across Germany on Sunday – all fully booked. The spokeswoman added that larger machines than originally planned were used at two sites.

Due to high demand, Eurowings has established 300 additional Easter connections. According to the regulations of the Balearic Islands government, only passengers who have obtained a negative PCR test are permitted to board the plane. The Robert Koch Institute said Friday that Mallorca, the other Balearic Islands and other regions in Spain are no longer dangerous areas.

Netherlands: Riots during Corona protests

Shortly before the parliamentary elections in the Netherlands, a protest against Corona’s measures in The Hague led to riots. Dutch police said Sunday evening that about 20 people had been arrested. The police had ended the demonstration earlier because the participants did not abide by the Corona rules. Water cannons were also used.

The Dutch elect a new parliament from Monday. For the first time, parliamentary elections will take place over a period of three days. The reason is a corona pandemic.

Several thousand people protested against Corona’s measures in a central square in The Hague in the afternoon. Only 200 people were allowed to work. The protesters refused to obey police orders and refused to leave the square. Then the police evacuated the place.

Deputy European Union Commission admits to deletion in vaccine requests

The Vice President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, admitted that the European Union had failed on the vaccination strategy. “It is true that mistakes have been made in ordering vaccines in both Brussels and the member states,” Timmermans said. The daily mirror on sunday. “I am ready to make an assessment at the end of the epidemic. Then we can see what we did wrong and what we did right.”

Timmermans said that in the current situation, the first thing to do is “to ensure that the whole of Europe gets the vaccine.” The Vice President of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen added that the European approach “was also in the interest of the wealthiest countries” such as Germany, with regard to the request for a joint vaccine by the European Union.

The European Union Commission has ordered at least 1.4 billion doses of the four Corona vaccines approved in the European Union – which is, in fact, more than enough for nearly 450 million Europeans. However, the European Union Commission has long been criticized, among other things, for being accused of its hesitant actions and strategic mistakes when ordering vaccines. It is also believed that the distribution of vaccine doses between member states is unfair in some European Union capitals.

The head of the parliamentary group of the European People’s Party Weber calls on AstraZeneca to stop exports

After announcing another drastic cut in vaccine delivery from Astra Zeneca to the European Union, EPP leader Manfred Weber (CSU) called for consequences. “It creates the impression that other countries are preferable to the European Union,” Weber said. World on sunday. As long as Astra Zeneca does not keep its promises, “the European Union should impose a general ban on exports of the company’s vaccine doses into the European Union”.

British-Swedish manufacturer Astra Zeneca again announced huge delivery discounts on Friday. Instead of the last 220 million target packages, only 100 million should go to the European Union countries by the middle of the year. The group justified this with the export restrictions, among other things, without giving details.

The European Union has accused both the United States and the United Kingdom of not exporting any vaccine produced in the countries, unlike itself. A dispute broke out again with the British government in recent days, as London rejected it.

Austria does not want any further easing of coronavirus measures

Austria is waiting longer than that to ease Corona measures. On Saturday, the chancellery said in talks between the government and the federal states on Monday, contrary to previous announcements, that no decisions are expected to be made regarding the opening of restaurants or events. The government wants to continue monitoring the situation.

However, the opening steps will be implemented on Monday. Across the country, children and young people are again allowed to participate in small groups in sports and organized leisure activities. In the western federal state of Vorarlberg, where the incidence is below the age of 70, it is also possible to serve food and events with access tests.

Thus Austria is pursuing a regionally differentiated strategy. From some areas with a very high number of infections, it is only possible to leave the country with a negative Corona test. These include Wiener Neustadt, an important regional center south of Vienna. On Saturday, police began random checks of exit routes from Wiener Neustadt.

The number of new infections increased every day in Austria for about two weeks, the last of which was 3,023. The infection for seven days on Saturday was approximately 205.

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Italy spends Easter in seclusion

In Italy, strict rules must apply to lockdowns during the Easter holidays. This was announced by the country’s government. From April 3 to 5, the rules of the so-called red zone apply. Then only bars and restaurants are allowed to sell take away. People are only allowed to move within their area. According to the government of former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, visits are only permitted once a day and a maximum of two visits to another home.

As of Monday, the weekly incidence value for regions is also crucial. If it exceeds the maximum of 250 corona cases per 100,000 inhabitants, then the rules for the red zone automatically apply to an area – regardless of other measured values ​​such as the reproductive value (R value). The rules should initially be in effect until April 6.

The government of the country of nearly 60 million people wants to cope with the imminent third wave of infections with severe measures. For this reason, many Italians will have to give up travel during Easter. The media also reported that the reopening of cinemas and theaters may be on the edge of a precipice, which is scheduled to take place on March 27 in the current Corona decree.

The World Health Organization is also giving the green light to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine

The World Health Organization (WHO) has granted emergency approval to Johnson & Johnson for the Corona vaccine. The United Nations agency in Geneva announced on Friday that the US manufacturer’s product could be used in the international Covax program to supply poor countries. The WHO had previously listed vaccines from Biontech and Astra Zeneca.

During discussions about Astra-Zeneca, WHO experts confirmed that there is no causal relationship between the occurrence of blood clots and vaccinations so far. But you should continue to research the topic closely.

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said every new, safe and effective tool against Covid-19 is another step to controlling the epidemic. “But hopes for these tools can only be fulfilled if they are available to all people in all countries,” he added. Therefore, governments and pharmaceutical companies must now expand production.

Johnson & Johnson was approved by the European Union Commission on Thursday based on an EMA recommendation. Since the vaccine is vaccinated with only one dose and requires less cold storage than other products, it is particularly suitable for developing countries. About 500 million boxes have been secured for the Covax program.

The European Union Commission has already requested doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for 200 million people. Germany will get 36.7 million of this. Deliveries to the European Union are due to start in April, and 55 million packages are due to be distributed by the end of June. However, there are concerns that the company may not be able to deliver on time due to complex supply chains. However, the manufacturer assured that it would adhere to the agreements.

The Novavax vaccine is 96 percent effective according to a study

The American pharmaceutical company Novavax has announced that its vaccine is 96% effective against the original coronavirus and 86% against the British variant. According to the company, the numbers were collected in a study conducted by Novavax in the United Kingdom. This means the company is one step closer to approving the vaccine.

The company said the vaccine could be approved for use in the US as early as May if US authorities find data from the UK sufficient.

Austria criticizes vaccine distribution in the European Union – References to “Bazaar”

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is strongly critical of the distribution of vaccines against Corona virus in the European Union. On Friday, he said the distribution of drugs among EU member states was unfair and goes against the stated goal of fair participation. Because there are marked differences in vaccination progress between member states, he and other heads of government have compared national deadlines. The result: “The deliveries are not made according to the population key.”

“When I shared this information with some heads of state and government yesterday, not many people believed their eyes and ears,” Curtis said. “These delivery schedules clearly contradict the political goal of the European Union, that is, all member states should get their share of per capita vaccination doses.” This was decided at the European Union summit in January.

However, it appears that at the same time and in clear contradiction to this, other agreements have been concluded with pharmaceutical companies in a steering committee of health officials. “This body’s contracts are confidential, so I don’t know it myself,” Curtis said. “But there are indications that there should have been a so-called bazaar where additional agreements were concluded between member states and pharmaceutical companies.”

Pfizer and Biontech want to produce more cans than planned

Pfizer and Biontech want to produce up to 20 percent more doses of a jointly developed Corona vaccine in 2021 than originally planned. Instead of the two billion doses targeted, it should now be 2.3 to 2.4 billion, says Pfizer President Albert Burla. Worldwide, up to 20 percent more cans could be produced than is assumed. Borla even expects 3 billion cans for 2022.