Two coronavirus vaccines are set to become more accessible and convenient to use. US authorities have announced that Pfizer’s vaccine can be stored at a much higher temperature than previously thought, and Johnson & Johnson’s new vaccine, which provides full protection from infection after the first dose, should soon be licensed in the US and EU.
Meanwhile, Israel has announced that it has already vaccinated half of its population. According to Johns Hopkins University, the total number of people infected with the coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic is 113.1 million, and about 2.5 million have died from the disease. In recent weeks, however, the rate of infection has slowed, with fewer new cases and fewer patients in hospitals. However, experts warn of the danger of new strains of Covid-19, which are considered more contagious and less effectively protected by vaccines. Get the latest news on the coronavirus pandemic in our overview.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine can be stored in a regular freezer at minus 20 degrees Celsius for up to two weeks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday. Previously, the vaccine was thought to only remain effective at minus 70 degrees Celsius, which required complex equipment and made it difficult to transport and distribute. In the USA and Europe, most people are vaccinated against Covid-19 with this particular vaccine. Other common vaccines in the world are Oxford/AstraZeneca, Moderna, Russian “Sputnik V” and Chinese Sinovac.
Israel has vaccinated half of its population, including 35% who have already received their second dose, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein announced Friday.
The population of the country is 9.3 million. This includes Arab residents of East Jerusalem. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are not included in the vaccination campaign. Israel leads the world in the percentage of its citizens who are vaccinated. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to vaccinate all Israelis over the age of 16 by the end of March and to begin lifting quarantines in April.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is expected to be officially licensed in the U.S. on Friday and in the European Union on March 11. Unlike any other vaccine, it requires only one dose instead of two, which should speed up the process considerably.
The drug from Johnson & Johnson promises to speed up the vaccination program in the US. The company is expected to deliver three million doses to the U.S. as early as next week. “We will roll out as quickly as Johnson & Johnson’s capabilities allow,” said President Joe Biden.
In Japan, the state of emergency will be lifted at the beginning of March everywhere except Tokyo and the three surrounding prefectures, as announced by the Minister of Economy Yasutoshi Nishimura on Friday. This will happen a week earlier than originally planned, thanks to a decrease in the number of new Covid-19 cases.
In January, 11 of Japan’s 47 prefectures, including Osaka and Kyoto, declared a state of emergency due to the third wave of the pandemic.
France needs another nationwide lockdown as the number of infected people rises and clinics struggle, says Philippe Juvin, director of the intensive care unit at the Georges Pompidou hospital in Paris.
French hospitals cannot cope with the influx of patients. “I don’t understand what we’re waiting for,” he said in a television interview Friday. “The longer we wait, the more patients will die.” Dr. Juven’s speech was in response to the government’s statement on Thursday that a new lockdown was not on the agenda. The maximum the authorities are willing to do is to assess the situation within the next week and not to impose a lockdown on the weekend of March 6-7 in Paris and 20 other affected cities.
The 71st Berlin Film Festival, which opens Monday, will be almost entirely closed to the public this year. Only professional filmmakers and reporters will be able to watch the films.
“This is a huge blow,” says Scott Roxborough, the Hollywood Reporter’s European bureau chief and a Berlinale veteran. “The Berlin festival is the biggest in the world in terms of audience, it thrives on and exists for the public.” Unlike the more elitist Cannes and Venice film festivals, the Berlinale has always prided itself on its democracy and mass screenings in packed auditoriums.