Lack of oxygen, shortage of vaccines: India, but also Brazil and Ecuador are currently facing material deficiencies to stem the epidemic.
India also continues to break contamination records, while in the United States, Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine will soon be available for children over 12 years of age.
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India has passed 20 million cases of Covid-19
The pandemic continues to wreak havoc in the country with saturated hospitals.
In the past 24 hours, India has identified 357,229 new infections, bringing the total to 20.3 million, according to the Ministry of Health.
Deaths increased by 3,449 to reach 222,408 in total.
Many experts believe, however, that the actual number is much higher.
Read also: Do Indians die less from Covid-19 than the French?
The country of 1.3 billion inhabitants, hit by a second wave of great virulence, has identified eight million new infections since the end of March.
Hospitals are running out of oxygen, medicine and beds, despite the influx of international aid in recent days.
But it is in Australia that the anger is mounting: thousands of Australians are stuck in India, since Canberra has banned entry into its territory from India in the face of the surge in Covid-19 cases, including for its nationals.
In the United States, the vaccination campaign is in full swing
The United States, meanwhile, is expected to authorize Pfizer-BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 12 and older from next week, US media reported on Monday. According to CNN, Pfizer has requested emergency use authorization for its vaccine. “
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will need to change its regulations on emergency vaccine authorization, but the process should be straightforward,
” CNN reports.
While the Pfizer vaccine is currently licensed for people aged 16 and over in the United States, the extension to adolescents could open the U.S. vaccination campaign to millions more.
In Florida, all restrictions related to the pandemic were lifted on Monday.
"
It's the obvious thing to do,
" said Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, popular with Trump's traditional electorate, noting that nearly 9 of his state's 23 million people had now received at least a first dose of vaccine.
Those who think we still need restrictions "
don't believe in vaccines,
" he accused.
The time is also for relaxation in New York, which was the epicenter of the epidemic in its infancy, and which will reopen its subway lines 24 hours a day.
First step in relief in France, more than 5,600 patients in intensive care
A week after the start of the school year, schoolchildren and high school students also found their classrooms on Monday, a day marked by the end of travel restrictions, the first step in the gradual deconfinement of the country initiated by the government.
On Monday, the country saw a slight increase in the number of patients in intensive care, returned above the mark of 5,600 cases after several days of decline. The number of Covid patients in hospital is also up slightly, to 28,950.
A total of 311 people have died from the coronavirus in hospital in the past 24 hours, up from 113 the day before, bringing the number of deaths to at least 105,159 since the start of the epidemic in spring 2020.
In France, the rights of nursing home residents "
greatly hampered
" according to the Defender of Rights
The right to a “
private and family life
” was more hampered during the health crisis for the residents of nursing home than for the rest of the population, denounces Tuesday the Defender of the rights in its report.
Referrals and testimonies have increased in recent months due to the pandemic linked to Covid-19, denouncing in particular "
an increase, on the part of the management of establishments, of violations of the freedom to come and go of residents as well as their right to maintain family links
”, it is stated in the report which makes some sixty recommendations to guarantee their“
freedom
”.
To read also: Claire Hédon on nursing homes: "We are worried to see that these obstacles persist"
Brussels is preparing for summer
As the summer holidays approach, the European Commission on Monday proposed to allow entry into the EU for non-essential reasons not only for people coming from countries where the epidemiological situation is good, but also for those who have received the last recommended dose of a vaccine authorized in the EU.
The ambassadors of the 27 member states are due to consider this proposal on Wednesday.
Second dose not available in Brazil
The second most affected country in the world after India, Brazil is facing a shortage of China's CoronaVac vaccine as delivery is delayed.
In seven major Brazilian cities, including Porto Alegre, injections of the second dose have been suspended for lack of doses.
Ecuador bans the export of medical oxygen
Used to treat patients with Covid-19, oxygen is becoming the precious commodity countries are snatching up.
Ecuador has chosen to cap its price.
"
It makes sense that we give priority to the needs of our Ecuadorian compatriots, because it is a fundamental element in saving lives,
" said the president of the National Committee for Emergency Operations, Juan Zapata.
Concern over the Johnson & Johnson vaccine
The possible serious side effects of Janssen's vaccine are not reassuring.
Denmark, the first country in Europe to abandon AstraZeneca's vaccine against Covid-19 in April, announced on Monday to do away with that of Johnson & Johnson, despite green lights from the European regulator and the WHO for the use.
In Canada, the scientific committee advising the government on vaccination recommended Monday to reserve the use of this vaccine to people aged 30 and over, as a precaution.
More than 3.2 million dead
The pandemic has killed at least 3,203,937 people around the world since the end of December 2019, according to a report established by AFP from official sources. The United States is the country with the most deaths (577,489), ahead of Brazil (408,622), Mexico (217,233), India (218,859) and the United Kingdom (127,538).
These figures are globally underestimated. They are based on daily reports from national health authorities, without including reassessments based on statistical bases.
