A health worker administers a dose of the BioNTech/Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic set up inside the Derby Arena at Pride Park in Derby, Derbyshire on March 31, 2021. (OLI SCARFF / AFP)
PARIS / SANTIAGO / BRASILIA / WASHINGTON / BUCHAREST / HAVANA / QUITO / STOCKHOLM / BRUSSELS / NICOSIA / RABAT / SKOPJE / BAMAKO / ZAGREB / KIEV / MADRID / CAIRO / ROME / BERLIN / WARSAW / LISBON / ADDIS ABABA – Europe’s rollout of vaccinations against COVID-19 is “unacceptably slow,” the World Health Organization’s European head said on Thursday, raising concern that delays in giving shots could prolong the pandemic as cases of variants spread.
Only 10 percent of the region’s population have received one vaccine dose, and 4 percent have completed a full course, Hans Kluge said.
Europe was slower than Britain and the United States, not only to order vaccines last year from companies but also in approving them. Even once they were approved by the bloc, rates of vaccinations there have largely trailed behind British and US efforts.
Europe’s medicines regulator reiterated its backing of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, saying no particular group of age, sex or a previous medical history was especially susceptible to blood clotting after receiving the shot.
However, while repeating that the vaccine’s benefits outweigh risks, it cautioned that people should be aware of the “remote possibility” of rare blood clots occurring, and must seek immediate medical attention in case of symptoms.
"A causal link with the vaccine is not proven, but is possible and further analysis is continuing," the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said in a statement.
AstraZeneca delivered 29.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to EU member states in the first quarter (Q1) of 2021, "a few doses away" from the promised 30 million, a European Commission spokesperson said on Wednesday.
EU member states have received 67.5 million doses from BioNTech-Pfizer and 9.8 million doses from Moderna, said European Commission deputy chief spokesperson Dana Spinant.
The European Union has asked India to allow it to buy 10 million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine from Serum Institute of India, a government official told Reuters, the latest sign of growing pressure on Delhi to export more of its production to other countries.
The EU wants the doses from Serum, the world's largest vaccine maker, to offset supply shortfalls from AstraZeneca's European plants and speed up the bloc's vaccine roll-out.
READ MORE: Leaders pitch unity to head off future pandemics
Global tally
Coronavirus cases worldwide surpassed 128.79 million while the global death toll topped 2.81 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
UK
About 1.1 million people in Britain have reported having long COVID-19 symptoms over a four-week period ending March 6, figures from the British Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed Thursday.
Of the 1.1 million from private households, 674,000 people were thought to have symptoms that affected their daily life, with 196,000 estimated to have their ability to undertake everyday tasks limited a lot, said the ONS.
The ONS survey asked people if they had such symptoms as fatigue, muscle pain, and difficulty concentrating over a four-week period. The latest data include those who were self-reported, rather than clinically diagnosed.
Britain’s opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer has expressed scepticism about the use of so-called vaccine passports to allow people to access hospitality and entertainment venues, saying the “British instinct” could be against such documents.
The government is reviewing the idea of asking people to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination to access crowded spaces such as pubs or sports events to help with the reopening of some sectors of the economy.
Starmer said he would not make any formal decision on whether to support the initiative before studying government proposals but indicated there could be opposition to the idea from the public if death rates are near zero and hospital admissions are very low.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested last month that some pubs might require customers to produce vaccine certificates but said it may be up to individual venues to decide. He acknowledged there are “moral complexities” around introducing such rules.
Another 4,052 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,345,788, according to official figures released Wednesday.
The country also reported another 43 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 126,713. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.
Nearly 31 million people have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the official figures.
WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday reported in its weekly epidemiological update that new COVID-19 cases continued to rise for the fifth week in a row, with over 3.8 million new cases reported last week.
According to the update for the week ending March 28, new cases were repoted in all regions of the world, with specific surges in Southeast Asia, the Western Pacific and Africa, even though Europe and the Americas still make up 80 percent of the numbers.
The new and more contagious COVID-19 variants could be partly blamed for the increase as more countries are reporting them, the WHO said.
Furthermore, deaths also increased for the second consecutive week to over 64,000 last week, up by 5 percent compared to the previous week.
Globally, more than 127.6 million confirmed cases, including over 2.79 million deaths, have been reported to WHO, according to the WHO dashboard.
On the eve of the Easter holidays, the WHO Europe warned Europeans against making "individual" travel plans that could "affect more people than those close by" and could "also impact communities,”
"Many countries across the WHO European region are in the midst of a serious resurgence of COVID-19 cases, and at this point in the pandemic we cannot afford to drop our guard and give up any of the public health measures used so far," the organization said.
The WHO urged all Europeans planning to travel to "consider all related risks and ask yourself whether travel is an absolute necessity”.
In another development, the WHO on Wednesday recommended against using generic anti-parasite drug ivermectin in patients with COVID-19 except for clinical trials, because of a lack of data demonstrating its benefits.
Pfizer
Pfizer Inc and BioNTech said on Thursday their COVID-19 vaccine is around 91 percent effective at preventing the disease, citing updated trial data that included participants inoculated for up to six months.
The shot was also 100 percent effective in preventing illness among trial participants in South Africa, where a new variant called B1351 is dominant, although that rate was derived from a relatively small number of nine infections observed there, which were all in the placebo group, Pfizer said.
While the new overall efficacy rate of 91.3 percent is lower than the 95 percent originally reported in November for its 44,000-person trial, a number of variants have become more prevalent around the world since then.
Pfizer’s Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said the updated result, which includes data on more than 12,000 people fully inoculated for at least six months, positions the drugmakers to submit for full US regulatory approval.
The vaccine is currently authorized on an emergency basis by the US Food and Drug Administration.
ALSO READ: Pfizer says vaccine gives 100% protection to teens in study
Africa
India’s temporary hold on major exports of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 shot will undermine Africa’s vaccination plans, and could have a “catastrophic” impact if extended, the head of the continent’s disease control body said on Thursday.
India decided to delay big exports of the shots made in its territory by the Serum Institute of India (SII) to make sure it could meet local demand, two sources told Reuters last week.
The hold “will definitely impact our ability to continuously vaccinate people,” the director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, John Nkengasong, told a news conference in Addis Ababa.
The African Union had planned to vaccinate 20 percent to 30 percent of the continent’s population by the end of the year he said. “If the vaccines are delayed we are unlikely to meet our target,” he added.
That AU target primarily relies on supplies from the global COVAX vaccine-sharing facility, through which 64 poorer countries including many in Africa are supposed to get doses from the SII. COVAX aims to provide enough shots for African countries to inoculate at least 20 percent of their populations.
Americas
Countries in the Americas could see a worse surge in coronavirus cases than the previous surge last year, with Brazil, Uruguay and Cuba already suffering more, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the World Health Organization’s regional office, said on Wednesday.
Director Carissa Etienne said the end of the Southern Hemisphere summer, following holidays where people grouped together and spread cases, had prompted spikes. She urged citizens to stay at home and governments to think hard before lowering movement restrictions.
So far this year, over 19.7 million COVID cases and 475,000 related deaths have been reported in the Americas, she said.
Vaccines are rolling out – 124 million people have received one dose and 58 million have received two, PAHO said.
At present Brazil, Peru, Chile, and Paraguay are reporting the highest COVID-related death rates, and the recent influx in cases is overwhelming hospitals, PAHO said.
At least one of the three COVID “variants of concern” have been identified in 32 regional countries.
Risk for pregnant women, babies
Pregnant women and their babies are suffering worse outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic, and researchers are sounding the alarm for immediate action to avoid rolling back decades of global investment in safe maternity care.
Data from an analysis of 40 studies published during the last year across 17 countries found rates of stillbirth and maternal mortality increased by a third. Outcomes were worse in low- and middle-income countries, according to a report Wednesday in The Lancet medical journal.
Studies from individual countries suggested pregnant woman reduced their care-seeking because of the fear of infection, as well as reduced provision of maternity services.
The study also found significant harm to maternal mental health. Of the 10 studies included in the analysis that reported on maternal mental health, six found an increase in postnatal depression, maternal anxiety, or both.
The study did not analyse the direct impact of COVID-19 infection itself during pregnancy, but was designed to look at the collateral impact of the coronavirus pandemic on antenatal, birth and postnatal outcomes.
The meta-analysis included studies from countries including Botswana, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, India, Israel, Mexico, Nepal, the UK and the US.
Algeria
Algeria on Wednesday reported 131 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the North African country to 117,192.
The death toll rose to 3,093 after four more fatalities were added, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
The total number of recoveries increased up by 96 to 81,538, according to the statement.
Austria
Austria’s national vaccination panel recommended the unrestricted use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, for the time being.
The panel will discuss the recommendation again after the European Medicines Agency has reassessed data on any blood-clotting issues linked to the vaccine next week, it said in a statement.
Belgium
Belgian hospitals have been ordered to reserve 60 percent of their intensive care beds for COVID-19 patients as a third wave of infections takes hold, doctors said on Wednesday.
Infections have doubled in recent days from a daily average of about 2,000 cases over the past three months, putting pressure on hospitals.
As of Tuesday, the number of patients in ICU was up by almost a quarter from the last week – to 738 – with 2,867 people in hospital. Around 240 Belgians are admitted to hospital daily.
More than 22,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the country of 11 million people.
In fresh challenge to efforts to contain the surge in infections, a court ordered the government on Wednesday to lift restrictions on people's movement within 30 days or face a fine after rights campaigners said an extension of curbs in February was illegal because it was not communicated publicly.
Belgium is appealing against the decision, meaning nothing changes for now.
READ MORE: Virus variant sends deaths spiraling in Brazil
President Jair Bolsonaro said that “only without a lockdown policy it is possible to return to normality.”
In another development, Brazil's health regulatory agency Anvisa on Wednesday approved the emergency use of a vaccine developed by Janssen, the pharmaceutical arm of Johnson & Johnson.
Anvisa, however, rejected a request from the government to import doses of Covaxin, the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Indian laboratory Bharat Biotech, citing a lack of safety data and documentation.
Healthcare workers of the public Mobile Emergency Service transport a patient suspected of suffering from COVID-19 to the HRAN public hospital in Brasilia, Brazil, March 23, 2021. (ERALDO PERES / AP)
Brazil
Brazil has detected a new COVID-19 variant that is similar to the one first seen in South Africa, the head of Sao Paulo's Butantan institute said on Wednesday, as Latin America's biggest country notched another record daily death toll.
"It is a variant similar to that of South Africa, although there is no history of travel or contact with travelers from South Africa," said Butantan President Dimas Covas. "There is a possibility that it is an evolution of our P1 towards this mutation in South Africa."
Brazil recorded 3,869 fatalities in the last 24 hours, the health ministry reported. Total deaths rose to 321,515 and the country reported 90,638 new cases, pushing the total to 12.7 million, the second highest tally globally.
The health care system in the Latin American country is collapsing with 18 of 27 states reporting over 90 percent intensive-care beds occupied, the Fiocruz foundation reported.
Canada
The Canadian province of Ontario will return to a lockdown on Saturday, widening restrictions on stores, gyms, restaurants and hair salons for 28 days in an effort to get COVID-19 under control, CBC News reported, citing multiple sources.
The new rules to be announced by Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Thursday are intended to counter coronavirus’ spread in Canada’s most populous province, which includes the capital city of Ottawa, CBC reported.
Some regions, including the city of Toronto, are already operating under similar rules; Ford’s move would extend them to the entire province of 14.7 million people.
Ontario added 2,333 new cases of COVID-19 on March 30, bringing its total case count to 349,903, according to Public Health Ontario. More than 17,000 residents have been hospitalized because of the disease, and 7,366 have died from it.
The biggest hot spot is Toronto, the country’s financial capital. More than half of the cases reported on Wednesday were in Toronto and Peel, a suburban region just west of the city. New daily cases in the province have more than doubled since the first week of March.
Croatia
Croatia on Wednesday announced new measures to combat the spread of coronavirus as the number of new infections is on the rise again.
The new measures, which will enter into force on Thursday and will stay in place until April 15, include mandatory mask wearing in Zagreb, the country's capital, and in the central-southern Split-Dalmatia County. In Split-Dalmatia, bars and restaurants will have to close by 8 pm.
Indoor sports activities will be banned and sports events have been canceled in two southern counties.
Meanwhile, travelers wishing to enter Croatia are required to present a negative antigen test or proof that they have been vaccinated or infected in the past six months.
The Croatian National Institute of Public Health recorded 2,623 new COVID-19 cases – a 47 percent increase week-on-week – and 19 deaths in the past 24 hours. In total, Croatia has reported 271,632 infections and 5,947 deaths.
Cuba
Cuba will launch its own COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test kits by April, Jose Luis Fernandez Yero, a high-ranking official at the country's biopharmaceutical company Biocubafarma, said on Wednesday.
By doing so, the island will have the capacity to conduct some 30,000 PCR tests on a daily basis as of May, up from nearly 20,000 performed at the moment.
During a tour of production facilities in Havana on Wednesday, officials touted the medical gear that had enabled them to save money and keep the mortality rate from COVID-19 low even as other countries had struggled to import such equipment.
Cuba's Ministry of Public Health on Wednesday reported 1,051 new COVID-19 infections in one day, the highest daily tally, as well as three more deaths, bringing the accumulated totals to 75,263 cases and 424 deaths.
The ministry's national director of hygiene and epidemiology Francisco Duran noted that March was the month with the highest number of COVID-19 patients in the country, with 24,673 cases and 100 deaths.
He also pointed out that out of the new daily cases, 1,041 were transmitted within the community.
Cyprus
Cyprus's Minister of Health Constantinos Ioannou announced on Wednesday that all all students were return to classes on Friday after more than five months of suspension.
Ioannou said all students and school staff members must take a rapid coronavirus test before being allowed into schools.
He also announced that individual sports training will resume and up to seven people will be allowed in gyms and public swimming pools.
People will be allowed to go out for shopping, physical training and visiting relatives and friends three times on Saturdays and Sundays, but outings on workdays will still be restricted to two.
Ioannou said the cabinet decided to de-escalate restrictions gradually so as not to endanger public health.
Czech
The Czech Republic, which is fighting one of the worst outbreaks of pandemic in Europe, reported 5,779 deaths due to COVID-19 in March alone, making it the deadliest month since the beginning of pandemic.
Education Minister Robert Plaga proposed partially re-opening schools as of April 12. Other curbs will stay, however, as the pandemic outbreak is proving hard to control, the minister said.
Ecuador
Ecuador's Ministry of Public Health reported on Wednesday 1,430 new COVID-19 infections were registered in the past 24 hours, bringing the infection tally to 328,755.
Another 65 newly reported took the death toll to 11,977.
According to the ministry, the South American country has also recorded another 4,870 "probable deaths" from COVID-19, which have yet to be confirmed.
According to the daily report, the province of Pichincha saw 458 new cases, bringing the totals in the province to 114,664 cases and 2,494 deaths.
Volunteers wait with nurses to have their blood pressure measured after being injected with a dose of the Soberana-02 COVID-19 vaccine in Havana, Cuba, March 31, 2021. (RAMON ESPINOSA / AP)
Egypt
Egypt on Wednesday received 854,400 doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine as part of the global COVAX agreement, the health ministry said.
The shipment is part of 40 million doses that Egypt is set to receive via GAVI.
The AstraZeneca vaccine has received approval for emergency use from WHO and the Egyptian Drug Authority, the ministry spokesman said in a statement.
The shipment will be tested in the authority’s labs before the vaccination of medical workers, the elderly, and eligible groups of citizens with chronic diseases, he added.
Egypt had received its first 50,000 dose shipment of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine earlier this year, as part of its program to vaccinate health workers.
The country began vaccinating frontline medical staff against COVID-19 on Jan 24 and expanded its vaccination rollout to include the elderly and people with chronic diseases on March 4.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia registered 2,068 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the tally to 206,589 as of Wednesday evening, the Ministry of Health said.
The ministry said 24 newly reported deaths pushed the toll to 2,865.
Meanwhile, the total number of recoveries rose by 1,484 to 158,109, the ministry said.
Finland
The Finnish government is holding talks about how to restrict the spread of COVID-19, Prime Minister Sanna Marin tweeted on Wednesday after withdrawing a lockdown proposal from parliament.
The proposal to largely confine people to their own homes in areas with most infections was deemed too imprecise by the constitutional law committee of parliament.
"It would be impossible for residents to predict what is prohibited, allowed or punishable," committee chairperson Antti Rinne said, but acknowledged that the arguments for more restrictions were justified.
The Nordic nation of 5.5 million people has recorded 77,452 coronavirus infections and 844 deaths. There were 295 people hospitalized with COVID-19.
French President Emmanuel Macron is seen on a TV screen as he speaks during a televised address on new COVID-19 restrictions from the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, on March 31, 2021. (LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP)
France
France could hit the peak of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in seven to 10 days with the new restrictive measures announced on Wednesday by French President Emmanuel Macron, Health Minister Olivier Veran told France Inter radio.
“We could reach a peak of the epidemic in seven to 10 days if all goes according to plan”, Veran said.
“Then we need two extra weeks to reach a peak in intensive care units (ICUs) that could occur at the end of April.”
French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday ordered France into its third national lockdown and said schools would close for three weeks as he sought to push back a third wave of COVID-19 infections that threatens to overwhelm hospitals.
“We will lose control if we do not move now,” the president said in a televised address to the nation.
His announcement means that movement restrictions already in place for more than a week in Paris, and some northern and southern regions, will now apply to the whole country for at least a month, from Saturday.
Bed capacity in critical care units will be increased to 10,000, Macron said.
Macron said the vaccine campaign needed to be accelerated. So far just 12 percent of the population has been inoculated.
He said that from April 16, people over 60 will be able to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and from May 15 the age limit will be lowered further to make vaccines available to people over 50.
On Wednesday, France reported 59,038 new and 303 more deaths, bringing the country's cumulative tally to 4,644,423 and the toll to 95,667.
There were 5,053 patients in intensive care units, filling up the country's 5,100 resuscitation beds.
Germany
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier received his first dose of AstraZeneca Plc’s COVID -19 vaccine and urged citizens to get themselves inoculated as soon as possible.
“I trust the vaccines that have been approved in Germany,” Steinmeier, 65, whose position as head of state is largely ceremonial, said in an emailed statement. “Vaccination is the decisive step on the path out of the pandemic,” he added.
Germany this week halted the use of the Astra shot on people younger than 60 due to concerns about potential side effects.
The premiers of two southern German states badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic urged leaders in the rest of the country to reintroduce tougher lockdown measures to try to contain a third wave of infections, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Markus Soeder, Bavaria premier and a possible conservative candidate to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Winfried Kretschmann, the leader of Baden-Wuerttemberg, wrote in a joint letter that the situation was “more serious than many believe”.
Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg are among the German states that have seen the highest number of deaths in the pandemic, with 13,239 and 8,684 respectively.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 24,300 to 2,833,173, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Thursday.
The reported death toll rose by 201 to 76,543, the tally showed.
READ MORE: German states halt AstraZeneca vaccine for people under 60
Greece
Greece will ease certain lockdown measures even as new cases surge.
The country will allow non-essential shops to reopen from April 5 but only with online ordering and pickup, and appointment-only in-store shopping, Deputy Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias said Wednesday.
At weekends only, starting April 3, a maximum of three citizens or families will be allowed to move outside the municipality where they live for personal exercise.
Greece reported 3,616 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, the second-highest daily increase since the start of the pandemic. That followed Tuesday’s record 4,340 new cases.
Hungary
A year after COVID-19 arrived in Hungary, public hospitals have spent most of their resources fighting the virus and are currently battling its deadliest outbreak yet, unable to treat the growing numbers of people awaiting non-emergency procedures.
So with public hospitals closed to elective surgery, a quiet revolution in private health care is unfolding, led by a wave of investment in private hospitals and growth in health insurance.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban vowed to ease restrictions soon even as his nation has the world’s highest COVID-19 death rate and reported a big jump in fatalities. The first easing steps will include reopening stores days after Easter, followed by schools and then restaurants and hotels, he said.
“Infections are widespread and lockdowns or curbs can only slow the spread but they can’t stop them,” Orban said on state television, adding only vaccines can “kill” COVID-19.
Italy
All health workers in Italy must have coronavirus jabs, the government said on Wednesday, in a potentially controversial move aimed at protecting vulnerable patients and pushing back against ‘no-vax’ sentiment.
According to Wednesday’s decree approved by Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s cabinet, health workers, including pharmacists, “are required to undergo vaccination”. Those who refuse could be suspended without pay for the rest of the year.
“The aim of the measure is to protect as much as possible both medical and paramedical staff and those who are in environments that may be more exposed to the risk of infection,” the government said in a statement.
Meanwhile, according to the decree, everywhere in Italy would remain a tougher red or orange zone until April 30, giving time for the vaccines to work. This means that restaurants, bars and gyms will remain closed and much regional travel will be banned.
Italy reported 467 coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday against 529 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 23,904 from 16,017.
In total, Italy has registered 109,346 deaths linked to COVID-19 and 3.58 million cases to date.
J&J
A manufacturing error at a plant involved in COVID-19 vaccine production affected 15 million doses worth of an ingredient for Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) vaccine, according to two sources familiar with the matter, but the company downplayed the situation and said it met its most recent vaccine delivery target.
The issue, which occurred recently at a Baltimore Emergent BioSolutions Inc. facility, was first reported by the New York Times on Wednesday. It isn’t expected to change President Joe Biden’s expectation that the U.S. will have enough vaccine for all adults in May.
In a statement, J&J said a batch of drug substance failed its quality test.
A man receives a COVID-19 shot in Bamako, Mali, on March 31, 2021. (HABIB KOUYATE / XINHUA)
Mali
Malian Minister of Health and Social Development Fanta Siby received Wednesday her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, kicking off the country’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
According to the minister, a total of 21,406 health workers will be vaccinated in the capital city Bamako, the epicenter of the pandemic in the West African country, during this first phase of the campaign.
In addition, 52,614 senior citizens over 60 years old and 78,921 people with underlying health conditions are also eligible to be inoculated with COVID-19 vaccine in Bamako.
As of March 30, Mali had reported 9,998 positive cases of COVID-19, including 384 deaths and 6,800 recoveries.
Mexico
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday he would be vaccinated against COVID-19 next week.
“The doctors recommended that I get vaccinated,” he said during his regular morning news conference, without disclosing which day next week he planned to receive the shot.
Mexico on Wednesday reported 5,977 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 577 more fatalities, bringing the country's total to 2,238,887 infections and 203,210 deaths, according to data from the health ministry.
Moldova
The parliament of Moldova declared a two-month state of emergency on Wednesday in its latest step to deal with the worsening COVID-19 pandemic.
The move came after the health ministry reported a surge in new COVID-19 infections during the last few weeks.
In the past 24 hours, 1,871 new cases were registered in Moldova, bringing the caseload to 230,240, official data showed. Meanwhile, 45 more fatalities brought the death toll to 4,960 in the country with a population of some 3.5 million.
Since Nov 30, the country has been in a nationwide state of public health emergency in response to the pandemic.
Morocco
Morocco reported on Wednesday 676 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally in the North African country to 496,097.
The death toll went up by five to 8,818.
The total number of recoveries increased to 483,363 after 198 new recoveries were added, while there were 411 people are in intensive care units.
So far, 4,320,349 people have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine while 3,674,251 have received both doses.
Namibia
Namibia on Thursday welcomed the move by African Union to seal a vaccine supply agreement with Johnson & Johnson which will be manufactured in South Africa and distributed to all 54 member countries.
Namibian Minister of Health and Social Services Kalumbi Shangula described the AU vaccine initiative as coming at the nick of time.
"We are very thankful and welcoming to the AU vaccine initiative that will see the manufacturing and supply of 400 million doses to all countries in the continent. This will greatly assist our push to achieve head immunity," he said.
He said the AU vaccine initiative will supplement the donations from China and India to Namibia as well the country's expected delivery of the vaccine form the COVAX facility.
Nigeria
Nigeria hopes to receive up to 70 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine this year through the African Union (AU), its primary healthcare chief told Reuters, amid concerns about delayed deliveries of AstraZeneca shots.
Faisal Shuaib, who heads Nigeria’s National Primary Health Care Development Agency, told Reuters that Nigeria expects to initially receive 30 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in July through the AU.
Rolling out vaccines in developing nations such as Nigeria, whose 200 million-strong population is Africa’s biggest, is seen as key to stemming the global spread of the new coronavirus.
Nigeria, which has recorded 2,049 deaths from COVID-19 and began vaccinations this month, plans to inoculate 40 percent of its people this year and another 30 percent in 2022.
Shuaib said there was no evidence of adverse side effects in Nigeria and the AstraZeneca vaccine would continue to be used for eligible people aged 18 and above.
READ MORE: South Africa plans to vaccinate 200,000 people daily
North Macedonia
Health authorities in North Macedonia began on Wednesday mass vaccination of citizens with the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19, local media reported.
Health Minister Venko Filipce told local media that authorities will not administer the AstraZeneca jab to people below the age of 60, following the footsteps of countries such as Canada and Germany.
So far, more than 7,000 health professionals have received the vaccine against COVID-19 in North Macedonia.
On Wednesday, the health ministry reported 1,511 new cases and 32 more deaths, taking the cumulative tally to 130,022, including 106,979 recoveries and 3,781 fatalities.
Poland
Poland reported a record 35,251 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, according to Health Ministry data.
The death toll jumped by 621 cases, compared with 520 cases the week before. The country of 38 million has so far administered 6.27 million vaccine doses, including 2.04 million second shots.
Poles rushed to sign up for COVID-19 vaccinations on Thursday morning after the government unexpectedly opened registrations for people aged over 40 overnight, in a sudden shift that led to so many applications that an online system crashed.
Over 2 million Poles have so far received both shots of a vaccine, but the prime minister’s top aide, who has been put in charge of the vaccination programme, said slower rates of registration among older Poles meant the government had decided to widen access.
Portugal
The Portuguese parliament approved on Wednesday an extension of the mandatory wearing of masks in public spaces until June 13 to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
"The maintenance of the situation of public calamity due to the existing pandemic, which has determined the successive renewals of the state of emergency, strongly discourages the relaxation of the adopted measures," said the legislators.
Refusal to wear a mask in public spaces is liable for a fine of between 100 euros (about US$117.3) and 500 euros (US$586.2), according to a bill approved Wednesday.
Portugal recorded three deaths and 618 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the national totals to 16,848 fatalities and 821,722 confirmed cases.
Romania
The total number of people vaccinated against the coronavirus exceeded 2 million in Romania on Wednesday, reaching 2,015,307.
A total of 1,072,985 have received both shots of the vaccine, according to the National COVID Vaccination Coordination Committee.
Meanwhile, the number of side-effect reports stood at 10,507 since the start of the vaccination campaign on Dec 27, 2020.
The eastern European country is currently in the third phase of vaccination, the final stage for all residents who are willing to get vaccinated.
Official data showed that 6,156 new cases were registered in Romania in the past 24 hours, bringing the caseload to 952,803. Meanwhile, 129 newly reported fatalities took the death toll to 23,538.
People wearing face masks to protect against the spread of coronavirus walk in downtown Madrid, Spain, March 31, 2021. (MANU FERNANDEZ / AP)
Russia
Russia confirmed 9,169 new coronavirus infections over the last 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 4,554,264, the official monitoring and response center said Thursday.
Over the past day, the COVID-19 death toll rose by 383 to 99,233, while recoveries grew by 10,247 to 4,176,419.
Moscow, Russia's worst-hit region, reported 2,151 new cases, taking its total to 1,028,891.
More than 120.6 million tests have been conducted across the country.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that the risk of a third wave of infections in Russia remains, adding that keeping restrictions in place is necessary.
South Africa
Johnson & Johnson said on Thursday that South Africa's health regulator had registered its COVID-19 vaccine, paving the way for deliveries to start in the second quarter.
The registration of J&J's vaccine is a boost for the country worst affected by the pandemic on the continent in terms of recorded infections and deaths. South Africa is counting on J&J to supply 31 million doses of its vaccine.
Spain
Spain said Wednesday it would extend the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to essential workers over 65 years old to include previously excluded groups, while the infection rate surpassed the level deemed a "high risk" for transmission.
As measured over the preceding 14 days, the rate rose to 152 cases per 100,000 people from Tuesday's 147, health ministry data showed, exceeding the 150-case threshold for the first time since March 5.
The cumulative tally of cases rose by 8,534 on Wednesday to 3.28 million, while the death toll climbed by 154 to 75,459.
The rate of diagnosed COVID-19 infections is rising in most Spanish regions led by the more contagious variant first detected in Britain, Health Minister Carolina Darias said.
“We are at a crucial moment. There is an increase, a slow one but still an increase of the incidence, and a prevalence of the Britain variant,” she said at a news conference.
The minister added the government was expecting the delivery of more than one million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Thursday.
Sweden
A shortage of vaccines means Sweden expects to offer all adults a first dose of a vaccine against COVID-19 by August 15, later than its original plan of the end of June, officals said on Thursday.
“As the delivery forecast looks today, everyone over 18 should be able to have their first dose of the vaccine at the latest by August 15,” Marie Morell, health care chief of the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions told reporters at a news conference.
Health Minister Lena Hallengren said the delay was due to a shortage of vaccines and changes in recommendations over how the vaccines are used.
Sweden’s Public Health Authority has decided to halt inoculations using AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine while the European Medicines Agency reviews possible side effects from the jab.
“We are doing it out of precaution,” State Epidemiologist Anders Tegnell said in a statement late March 31. Sweden was giving the AstraZeneca vaccine only to people 65 years old and older.
In another development, the COVID-19 restrictions currently in force in Sweden will not be lifted as early as planned, the government said at a press conference here on Wednesday.
The announcement came as the number of confirmed COVID-19 infections surpassed 800,000 in the country. The country reported 8,441 new cases and 35 more deaths, bringing the tally to 804,886 and toll to 13,465, according to statistics released by the Public Health Agency on Wednesday.
In two regions of Sweden, the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants exceeded 1,000 in the past 14 days, according to the health authorities.
By Wednesday, more than 1.12 million individuals in Sweden, or 13.7 percent of the population, had received the first vaccine dose, and 486,038 had received both doses.
Ukraine
Ukraine registered a record daily high of 421 coronavirus-related deaths over 24 hours for the second day in a row, health minister Maksym Stepanov said on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Ukraine reported 407 deaths.
Stepanov said 17,569 new infections were reported over the past day and a record high 5,160 people were hospitalised.
Ukraine has reported a total of 1,691,737 coronavirus cases and 33,246 deaths.
Ukrainian Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said that Ukraine will receive its first batch of COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX facility by April 15, Ukrinform news agency reported on Wednesday.
"The first batch of vaccines is 360,000 AstraZeneca doses and 117,000 doses of Pfizer. According to COVAX, we should receive it (them) by April 15," said the minister on a local TV channel.
So far, Ukraine has administer 231,566 shots.
US
COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in the United States in 2020, behind heart disease and cancer, according to a new study of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published on Wednesday.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused approximately 375,000 deaths in the United States during 2020. The COVID-19 death rate was the highest among Hispanics, according to the study.
A more contagious strain of the coronavirus is now predominant in five US regions and accounts for a quarter of new cases nationally, the head of the CDC said.
The B.1.1.7 variant, first uncovered in the UK, makes up from 4 percent to 35 percent cases depending on the region, and 26 percent of cases nationally, Rochelle Walensky said at a press briefing Wednesday. US officials had warned it could become the predominant strain of the virus in the US by early April.
A new Phase 1 clinical trial has started in the United States to evaluate Moderna's investigational vaccine which is designed to protect against the B.1.351 coronavirus variant, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced on Wednesday.
The trial will evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine, known as mRNA-1273.351, in adult volunteers.
Venezuela
Venezuela has set limits on insurance payouts for COVID-19 patients, according to a document seen by Reuters on Wednesday, as the South American country experiences a second wave of the novel coronavirus.
In a notice sent to insurers dated March 16, the country’s insurance regulator told companies they would only be required to cover a maximum of 14 days of intensive care in private facilities and to pay out a maximum of US$25,000 per coronavirus patient.
Venezuela is experiencing a second wave of infections, which President Nicolas Maduro has blamed on the rise in cases in neighboring Brazil. The country has reported 157,943 cases of COVID-19 and 1,577 deaths, although doctors warn the true rate is higher due to a lack of testing.
