More police patrols monitoring the borders have appeared throughout Europe. The European Union has almost completely closed travel from most countries, including the United Kingdom.
Meanwhile, scientists have reported that the new British strain of coronavirus has mutated again, which could make vaccines less effective. Public vaccination is continuing, but some countries have banned the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine in older people.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the total number of cases worldwide since the beginning of the pandemic is 103.5 million, and 2.2 million people have died.
On Monday, the European Union tightened entry rules for people who are not citizens of the bloc’s member states. Now, only residents of states with minimal infection statistics and provided there have been no cases of infection with new strains – South African, British or Brazilian – can enter the territory of the European Union. Minimum statistics” means no more than 25 cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 people over a 14-day period. This is lower than in any other EU country. As a result, entry into the European Union will only be possible from a very limited number of countries, including Australia, New Zealand, China, Rwanda, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand.
France has significantly tightened controls at its borders. Japan was recently removed from the list. And China’s inclusion depends on the reciprocal willingness of the Chinese authorities to allow unrestricted entry for European citizens. Additional border measures remain at the discretion of each EU country. Germany, for example, has introduced even stricter entry rules than the rest of the European Union, while Belgium has banned the crossing of its borders in both directions until March. Exceptions will be made in cases where the movement of people is vital.
Austria is the only European country to ease the quarantine. Soon, shops, museums and zoos will gradually reopen. People living at different addresses will be allowed to meet again, but no more than two families at a time. Wearing masks in public places remains mandatory, and intensive testing of the population will continue.
British scientists are concerned that the so-called “British strain”, which recently emerged in the UK, is showing new genetic changes. According to them, recent analyses of a number of patients have shown evidence of another mutation – E484K – which is present in the “South African” and “Brazilian” strains. “This mutation may make existing vaccines less effective, but for now, vaccination should continue as planned, specialists say.
A campaign to distribute home testing kits for Covid-19 has been launched in the UK. The UK authorities have already taken a number of measures, most notably the launch of a mass testing campaign for Covid-19, in which special teams will go door-to-door in areas where the latest variants have been detected and test people regardless of whether they have symptoms of the disease. In the first phase, 80,000 people will be tested in eight areas of the country. British officials say the move will help control the spread of the new South African strain, which is considered more contagious.
Several European countries have already questioned the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca and Oxford University vaccine in older people. Last week, German epidemiologists recommended against the use of the vaccine in people over the age of 65. Today, Poland joined them, but the Polish authorities went further and effectively banned the use of the drug for older people. On Tuesday, the coordinator of the Polish vaccination campaign, Michal Dwurchek, stated that AstraZeneca will be administered to residents of the country aged 18 to 60. Regulators in France have made a similar decision, but have restricted the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine to people between the ages of 18 and 65. The French authorities say there is insufficient data to assess the vaccine’s effectiveness in older people. They are willing to reconsider their decision after receiving additional data from clinical trials.
Poland is the first EU country to ban the use of AstraZeneca in the elderly population. We explain quickly, simply, and clearly what happened, why it matters, and what happens next. The number of episodes. End of story. Podcast advertising. The Italian Health Agency approved AstraZeneca’s vaccine for all ages last Saturday, but as a recommendation, it advises people over 55 to consider other alternatives. However, the British authorities have come to the defense of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The majority of vaccinated elderly British citizens have been vaccinated with this particular vaccine, and according to officials, the results are more than satisfactory. Company AstraZeneca does not hide the fact that among the volunteers who participated in clinical trials of the vaccine, people over 65 years accounted for less than 10%. Only 450 people were over 70. By comparison, in clinical trials of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, the over-55 group accounted for more than 40% of all participants. On Tuesday, an unpublished study showed that even a single dose of AstraZeneca’s vaccine was 76% effective within the first three months. Contrary to the manufacturer’s recommendations, the UK authorities have decided to extend the interval between two doses to 12 weeks in order to cover as many people as possible with at least partial protection. The study authors believe this decision was justified in the context of a short-term vaccine shortage. The research also suggests that after vaccination, the number of positive COVID-19 tests among participants fell by half. This is the first encouraging sign that vaccination not only reduces the number of severe cases, but also slows the spread of the virus. Previously, it was not known whether the virus could still be transmitted after vaccination.
Specialists from the United States and Mexico, who have reviewed a large number of scientific papers dealing with post-COVID syndrome, have identified at least 55 complications that occur in individuals who have recovered from the coronavirus (the publication has not yet undergone peer review). Their analysis showed that as many as 80% of patients who previously tested positive for the coronavirus do not feel fully recovered and complain of various symptoms. And in some cases, the symptoms not only persist, but worsen. Scientists have identified the five most prominent manifestations of post-COVID syndrome. The researchers also looked at symptoms that were not reported in any of the papers they reviewed and concluded that the long-term effects of the disease include sudden weight loss, ear pain, eye problems, cold nose, severe sneezing, burning sensation in the windpipe, dizziness, increased heart rate, lung and shoulder blade pain, and a sense of disorientation in space.
Japan plans to extend the state of emergency in Tokyo and other regions for another month. Authorities note that the infection rate has begun to decline, but the desired result is still far off. This is because the police have not yet been given the authority to fine quarantine violators. All government directives have been advisory in nature. On Wednesday, the upper house of the Japanese parliament is expected to give a different status to the government’s quarantine measures.
Japanese authorities want to get tougher on quarantine violators. So far, they haven’t even fined them. Mass vaccination will begin in Japan in February. The country has procured about 500 million doses of vaccine, many times the amount needed for a population of 126 million. Japan is the last developed country in the world to begin the vaccination campaign.
Meanwhile, the president of the Tokyo Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games, Yoshiro Mori, confirmed Tuesday that the Olympics will go ahead this summer, regardless of how the coronavirus situation develops. “The question is no longer whether we will hold the Games or not. The main question now is how we will do it. It will be a new type of Olympics, that’s what we have to think about,” Mori said at a meeting of the organizing committee with representatives of Japan’s ruling party. The XXXII Summer Olympic Games were scheduled to be held in Tokyo in the summer of 2020, but were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The new dates for the event are July 23 to August 8, 2021. However, it has been decided that the name “Tokyo 2020” will not be changed.
The World Health Organization team investigating the causes of the pandemic in the Chinese city of Wuhan visited a local disease control center. The center focuses on animals, which can carry particularly dangerous infections. The experts spoke with hematologists at the center, and on Wednesday they will visit the Wuhan Institute of Virology, known for its research on bats. One of the alternative theories about the origin of the virus that caused Covid-19 is that it accidentally leaked from one of the institute’s laboratories, but there is no confirmation of this.
In the United States, masks are now mandatory in airports, train terminals, ports, bus stations, and all forms of transportation except for personal use. Meanwhile, Chinese police have arrested more than 80 people on suspicion of selling counterfeit vaccines. During the operation, more than three thousand doses of counterfeit drugs were discovered. On Tuesday night, new US President Joe Biden’s executive order on mandatory masks for all forms of transportation, including car-sharing, went into effect. The only exceptions are private cars and trucks when the driver is alone in the cabin. The rule applies to all passengers over the age of two. There are only exemptions for certain health problems. The United States, like many European countries, is facing vaccine supply disruptions. Thousands of people across the country are unable to get their second dose in their own cities and often have to travel far from home to get it. This creates difficulties for the elderly.