The vaccine pass has "
not fully fulfilled its objectives
" according to a Senate report, Elizabeth II cancels its commitments, Moderna plans to sell at least 19 billion dollars of vaccines in 2022...
Le Figaro
takes stock this Thursday 24 February on the latest information related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read alsoSanofi's anti-Covid vaccine finally ready
197 dead in 24 hours, 26,117 patients hospitalized in France
197 people have died in the past 24 hours, according to Public Health France.
26,117 people are currently hospitalized (compared to 26,680 the day before), including 1,352 since the day before.
2,656 patients are being treated in critical care - 150 of them entered it on Thursday.
Read alsoCovid-19, what you need to know this week: mid-March objective
Vaccine pass: objectives not "fully met", according to a Senate report
The vaccine pass has "
not fully fulfilled its objectives
" of relaunching anti-Covid injections, especially since government announcements have "
confused the message
", according to a report by a Senate inquiry committee published Thursday, which calls for its lifting "
without delay, but with caution
".
“
The announcement of the vaccination pass was followed by a definite increase in primary vaccinations between mid-December 2021 and the end of January 2022, but it did not make it possible to target the oldest unvaccinated people as a priority
” , judges this report on
the “adequacy
” of the measure to the evolution of the Covid-19 epidemic.
»SEE ALSO – Vaccination pass: When will the end be?
The increase in vaccination quickly faded at the beginning of 2022, partly under the effect of the wave of contamination due to the Omicron variant, which canceled or postponed the need to be vaccinated, recalls the Social Affairs Commission, endowed with the prerogatives of a commission of inquiry.
And "
the succession of sometimes contradictory announcements
" from the authorities "
contributed to blurring the message addressed to the population
", write the authors of the report, Chantal Deseyne (LR), Olivier Henno (UC), Michelle Meunier (SER).
The horizon of the lifting of certain restrictions from the beginning of February, linked to a health improvement, “
certainly contributed to limiting the main effect of the vaccination pass of encouraging unvaccinated people
” to receive an injection.
Read also“
We must turn the page
”: these French people who do not extend their vaccination pass
Elizabeth II, suffering from Covid, cancels her commitments
Queen Elizabeth II, who tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday, canceled two videoconference hearings scheduled for Thursday and plans no further engagements this week, Buckingham Palace said.
The hearings will be postponed and the 95-year-old sovereign "
continues to perform light duties
", added the palace, without further specifying her state of health.
Read alsoQueen Elizabeth II, suffering from Covid-19, cancels videoconferences
European regulator approves Moderna vaccine for ages 6 and up
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Thursday approved the use of the anti-Covid Moderna vaccine for children aged 6 and over, while serum was previously authorized from the age of 12 in the 27 countries of the European Union.
"
The EMA's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has recommended granting an extension of indication for the Covid-19 vaccine Spikevax (Moderna) to extend its use to children aged 6 to 11. years
,” the EMA said in a statement.
Read alsoCovid-19: Canada authorizes the Medicago vaccine, the first designed in the country
Moderna plans to sell at least $19 billion in Covid vaccines in 2022
The American pharmaceutical group Moderna has already received orders for 19 billion dollars of its vaccine against Covid-19 in 2022 and options for around 3 billion additional dollars, according to a press release released Thursday.
The company estimates that the virus "
will evolve into an endemic phase in 2022 and, therefore, (...) expects sales to be higher in the second half of 2022 than in the first half
", is it specified in the document.
The laboratory is currently in discussions for additional sales in 2022 but also in 2023, including a version of the vaccine more specifically intended to fight against the Omicron variant.
In 2021, Moderna generated $18.5 billion in revenue, including $17.7 billion from the sale of 807 million doses of vaccines.
The group, in deficit since its creation in 2010 until 2020, has reaped the benefits: it generated a net profit of 12.2 billion dollars last year.
Read alsoModerna's annual Covid-flu reminder "not before fall" 2023
Chinese emergency aid to Hong Kong
The Hong Kong government urgently authorized doctors and nurses from mainland China on Thursday to come and practice on its territory, fearing to see its health system overwhelmed by “
the enormous increase
” in new cases of Covid-19.
Like mainland China, the island adopted an extremely strict “
zero-Covid
” strategy, thanks to which it was largely spared the pandemic for two years, but the systematic placement in solitary confinement in units dedicated to infected patients, even asymptomatic ones, has overwhelmed hospitals with the arrival of the Omicron variant.
»SEE ALSO – Covid-19: Hong Kong announces aid of up to 19 million euros
Taiwan to reopen to business travelers
Taiwan on Thursday unveiled its plan to reopen its borders to business travelers from March 7 and reduce quarantine for all arrivals, easing restrictions in one of the few places that, along with China, continue to follow a “
zero-Covid
” strategy.
Read alsoAsia trapped in its zero Covid strategy
Calm in Canada, “convoy” in the United States
In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the end of emergency measures provided for in last week's emergency law to quell anti-sanitary measures protests that lasted three weeks.
In the United States, dozens of truckers and demonstrators opposed to the health measures implemented against Covid-19 formed a “
convoy
” in southern California on Wednesday which must cross the country to protest in Washington, 4200 km away. of the.
” SEE ALSO – Covid-19: dozens of Californian truck drivers form a new anti-sanitary restrictions “
convoy
” heading to Washington
Postponement of the vaccination pass in Guadeloupe...
The prefect of Guadeloupe indicated on Wednesday evening that he was postponing the application of the vaccination pass in this island of the French West Indies at least to March 28, instead of March 7, but that the final decision would be fixed for mid-March, while the government plans to abolish this measure by the end of March or the beginning of April, which is meeting with strong local opposition.
The vaccination pass has been compulsory in France for certain activities since January 24.
But the law provides that the prefects can define a local timetable for entry into force when the circumstances justify it.
Read alsoCovid-19: will the vaccine pass disappear “temporarily”?
... and end of the vaccination obligation in New Caledonia
New Caledonia on Thursday repealed the vaccination obligation, which had been decided at the beginning of September for sensitive sectors and the general population in view of the "
new health context
".
Caledonian elected officials had already twice postponed the deadlines for the deliberation on the vaccination obligation, voted unanimously on September 3 in this French territory in the South Pacific.
” SEE ALSO – Covid-19: “
We are more confident than ever about the end of this health crisis
”, assures Gabriel Attal
More than 5.91 million deaths worldwide
The pandemic has officially killed at least 5,914,829 people worldwide since the end of December 2019, according to a report established by AFP.
In absolute terms, the United States is the country with the most deaths (941,908), ahead of Brazil (646,419), India (512,924) and Russia (348,578).
Among the hardest hit countries, Peru has the highest death toll relative to its population.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, taking into account the excess mortality directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19, that the toll of the pandemic could be two to three times higher than that officially established.