The Morning Report - March 5th
Vaccine woes strain European Union unity
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In a Facebook post Danish Statsminister Mette Frederiksen lauded the vaccine cooperation pact announced yesterday between Denmark, Austria, and Israel.
She stressed the pandemic has highlighted a “great vulnerability.” Frederiksen says we began the pandemic with a lack of protective equipment and test kits and now we are dealing with a shortage of vaccines.
She says the cooperation agreement will allow Denmark, Austria, and Israel to produce vaccines “ourselves” adding “and preferably on Danish soil.”
Frederiksen also said she was inspired by Austria reopening its schools in part by allowing the students to administer their own COVID tests. She says “it would be really good” if this is something that could be done in Denmark too.
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France is not happy about the vaccine research and development and production pact between Denmark, Austria, and Israel. It is viewing it as another sign that vaccination demand is tearing at E.U. unity. France’s foreign ministry says any solution to Europe’s vaccine needs must come from within.
It is not only Denmark and Austria as Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic have all bypassed the European Medicines Agency to make deals for Russian and Chinese vaccines that have not been approved for use in the E.U,
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Denmark’s National Health Board has updated its recommendations for the AstraZeneca vaccine and now recommends its use for anyone over 18 years of age including for seniors over 65.
It had initially restricted the vaccines use for seniors due to efficacy concerns. New studies out of the United Kingdom have appeared to put those to rest.
Sundhedsstyrelsen also says a 2nd AstraZeneca dose can be administered between four and 12 weeks after the first.
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Region Hovedstaden (Metro Copenhagen health authority) is beginning a test run in which family doctors will vaccinate about 1,000 seniors.
The seniors, aged 85 and over, across 24 municipalities in the capital region, will begin getting calls from their family doctor as early as today. Appointments will be made and vaccinations will begin next week.
Regional Council Chairman Sophie Hæstorp Andersen says,
“It is initially a trial scheme, but if it goes well, we will look at whether it is possible that other citizens can also be vaccinated by their own doctor.”
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The European Union and Italy have blocked a shipment of the AstraZeneca vaccine being sent to from Italy to Australia.
This is the first time the E.U. has used its new export control mechanism to prevent vaccine doses from being shipped out of the trading bloc.
The drug manufacturer has failed to deliver the number of initial vaccine doses it had promised.
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The COVID situation in the Czech Republic remains dire. Yesterday it recorded 14,554 new infections and 90 more virus deaths.
Hospitals in a second region in the country, the Karlovy Vary, have reached capacity as the Czech health system continues to teeter on the brink. A deal has been reached with Germany for 19 COVID beds and air transport for Czech patients. Discussions with other countries to take Czech corona patients continues.
E.U. member countries have agreed to send the country an emergency shipment of 100,000 vaccine doses.
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In nearby Hungary, infections rocketed upward again yesterday and virus deaths are also rising as it reported 6,369 new infections and another 143 corona deaths.
Hungary has tabled new restrictions in an effort to bring its infection curve down.
Most stores, with the exception of essential services like groceries, must close.
Service based businesses must also close, with the exception of health care, from March 8th until at least the 22nd.
Kindergartens and primary schools will also be shut down from March 8th until at least April 7th.
Gyms must close for at least two weeks.
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Infections continue to trend back upward in Poland. It registered 15,250 new infections and 289 additional corona deaths yesterday.
Poland has mandated medically approved face masks be used, outlawing things like scarves or bandanas to be worn instead.
It has also tightened border controls with the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Anyone entering Poland from either country must either be fully vaccinated, have a negative COVID test result no more than 48 hours old, or will be required to go into quarantine.
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Greece continues to see very high coronavirus numbers. It registered 2,217 new infections and 35 more virus deaths yesterday.
With an average of 316 hospital admissions per day in the last week, the strain is building on the Greek health care system. The Greek Public Hospitals union said this week as many as ten hospitals in the country have reached ICU capacity.
The latest COVID wave is being exacerbated by this week’s earthquakes, which struck central Greece.
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Estonia reported 1,420 new infections and eight more corona deaths yesterday as COVID numbers continue to surge in the Baltic country.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas is warning that new restrictions are coming if the numbers do not improve soon.
The vaccination effort in Estonia is also being complicated by Russia, which is offering Russian citizens in the country access to its Sputnik V vaccine if they can cross the border to get it, no easy task these days. About a third of Estonians are Russian citizens.
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In Brazil, the COVID situation is deteriorating rapidly as it continues to see some of its highest ever numbers of new infections and virus deaths.
Yesterday it reported 74,285 new infections while the coronavirus claimed another 1,786 lives.
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The United Arab Emirates remains one of the world’s COVID hot spots and cannot seem to wrestle its infection curve down.
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Cuba also continues to see COVID infections in numbers eclipsing any prior infection waves.
Yesterday it reported 807 new infections and another three corona deaths.
Cuba seems to be taking a somewhat novel approach to the pandemic seizing on the massive drop in tourists to fix up some of its most alluring beaches for when people might come flooding back.
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In Africa, three countries exceeded 1,000 new infections yesterday. While South Africa exits its variant driven second wave with 1,404 new infections yesterday, it is the opposite story in Botswana and Libya, where infections are marching upward.
Ethiopia’s infection curve also continues to rise.
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Israel, the world’s most vaccinated nation, is seeing infections jump up and down although they remain well below previous highs.
Yesterday the country logged 2,047 new infections and 10 more virus deaths.
