Denmark suspended the AstraZeneca vaccine on Thursday as the European Union (EU) prepares to approve Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus, a year since the WHO classified COVID-19 as a pandemic.
The suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine was decided “after reports of severe cases of clot formation of blood to people who have been vaccinated, “the Danish National Health Agency said, although it stressed that” at this time it cannot be concluded that there is a relationship between the vaccine and blood clots. “
The Anglo-Swedish vaccine is under close scrutiny following several cases of people who died after receiving it, but no causal relationship has been established so far.
On Monday, Austria announced that it had stopped administering a batch of laboratory vaccines after the death of a 49-year-old nurse who had succumbed to “severe bleeding disorders” within days of receiving it.
Four other European countries, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Luxembourg immediately suspended dose vaccination in this batch, which was delivered in 17 countries and included one million vaccines.
In a preliminary investigation, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) stated that there was no link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and death in Austria.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also said on Thursday that this vaccine is “safe” and “effective”.
The EMA, which has already approved two other vaccines, those from Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna, is expected to approve the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Thursday, which requires a single injection, unlike the others, which require two doses. .
In addition, this new vaccine can be stored for three months at the usual temperature in the refrigerator, which facilitates its distribution.
Regarding the Pfizer / BioNTech drug, a real-life study conducted in Israel and published on Thursday claimed that it is 97% effective against symptomatic cases and severe forms of the disease.
Vaccination is a major challenge against a virus that has killed at least 2,621,295 people worldwide, with more than 117,982,000 cases of infection, according to an AFP number.
The United States, the most affected country with more than half a million deaths, accelerating vaccination.
More than 93 million doses have been injected into the country, which has placed enough orders to receive vaccination for all American adults before the end of May.
“2021 will be very difficult” because of COVID-19
The situation is much less favorable in Brazil, which, on the contrary, seems to be sinking into a crisis. On Wednesday, the country recorded for the first time over two thousand deaths in 24 hours.
“We are in the worst moment of the pandemic in Brazil, the rate of contagion with the variants makes the epidemic even worse. The year 2021 will continue to be very difficult,” said Margareth Dalholm, pulmonologist and researcher at Fiocruz, for AFP. of public health.
“The situation in Brazil is very worrying. This reminds us that areas already severely affected by the virus are still very vulnerable to new infections,” added the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Carissa Etienne.
Vaccination started late in this huge country, which has already recorded 270,656 deaths. In addition, President Jair Bolsonaro downplays the pandemic and opposes closing stores to maintain jobs, he says.
The opposition and former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva have called on the population to be vaccinated and not to follow “any stupid decision” by the president or the Ministry of Health.
In Europe, the WHO has called for it to “do more” in the face of “an alarming situation”. Several “hotspots” continue to worry the European Commission, such as Tyrol in Austria, Nice and Moselle in France, Bolzano in Italy and parts of Bavaria and Saxony in Germany.
German health authorities on Thursday reported a sharp rise in infections, worried by a “third wave” in the country fueled by various variants.
France will evacuate patients from some regions to ease non-supply hospitals, especially in the Paris region.
In Italy, life expectancy has dropped by almost a year to 82.3 years due to the pandemic, according to official statistics.
Children “hungry, isolated, abused” in the COVID-19 pandemic
In a year, the pandemic will also it “pushed back” almost all indicators which measures the development of children and adolescents in the world, warns UNICEF.
“The number of hungry, isolated, abused, anxious children living in poverty and being forced to marry has increased,” said director Henrietta Fore.
Another six to seven million children could suffer from malnutrition in 2020, a 14% increase that could translate into more than 10,000 additional deaths a month, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
In Asia, where Cambodia announced its first coronavirus death on Thursday, the threat of COVID-19 did not stop hundreds of thousands of Indian pilgrims from bathing in the holy Ganges for a major Hindu festival.
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