More than 25 million cases of Covid-19 contamination have been identified in Europe, where the new British variant of the coronavirus is increasingly worrying, while vaccination is due to begin this Sunday, December 27 in the EU.
Read also: Coronavirus: the outstanding questions for 2021
The 52 countries of the Europe region, which goes east to Azerbaijan and Russia, thus constitute the most affected area, ahead of the United States and Canada (19,188,172 cases), the Latin America and the Caribbean (15,024,469 cases) and Asia (13,617,004), according to a count made by AFP this Friday, December 25.
The Europe region was the first to cross the threshold of half a million deaths on December 17.
"Vaccines for all"
“
During this terrible year, we have seen the sacrifices made by so many people to protect and preserve life.
We must not waste these sacrifices,
”said the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“
Vaccines offer the solution to finally get out of this tragedy.
But it will take time for the whole world to be vaccinated
”.
According to the WHO, 61 vaccines have entered the testing phase in humans, of which 16 are in the final phase.
And 172 more vaccines are in development.
Read also: WHO is opposed to compulsory vaccination against Covid-19
For his part, in his Christmas message, Pope Francis called for “vaccines for all, in particular for the most vulnerable”, stressing that “
the laws of the market and patents
” should not make the difference. law in the face of “
the health of humanity
”.
The United Kingdom, where a new strain of Sars-Cov-2 has been detected, is the country where the epidemic is accelerating the most (+ 61%), among those having recorded more than 1,000 daily cases in the last seven days .
A study posted online Thursday, December 24, but not yet published in a scientific journal, confirmed that this new variant of the virus was "50% to 74%" more contagious than the strains hitherto in circulation.
According to researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), who initiated the study, if even more restrictive measures are not taken, "
the number of hospitalizations and deaths due to Covid-19 will reach higher levels in 2021 than those observed in 2020
”.
Read also: Story of a mutant: how the coronavirus evolved
On the other hand, for the moment, "nothing shows" that the new strain of the coronavirus identified in South Africa is more dangerous or contagious than its British cousin, assured the South African Minister of Health Zwelini Mkhize.
In her Christmas address, Queen Elizabeth II set out to instill hope, present “
even in the darkest nights
”, to Britons hard hit by the pandemic.
"
For many, this year is marked by sadness: some mourn the loss of a loved one, others miss friends and family, while they would like for Christmas a simple hug or pressure of the hand
", noted the 94-year-old sovereign.
"
If this is your case, you are not alone
".
The deployed army
The British variant was first spotted in Germany, in a woman arriving by plane from London, and in Lebanon, also on a London passenger.
After the announcement of his discovery in the United Kingdom, the concern had pushed dozens of countries - many of them still apply the measure - to cut their air, sea or land links with him at the beginning of the week, sowing the chaos in its supply.
Read also: In Calais, French road hauliers worried and angry
Thousands of truckers spent Christmas there in their trucks, stranded in the area of Dover, the main English cross-Channel port, awaiting a negative test for Covid-19 to embark on the mainland, which re-authorized traffic to this condition.
The British army has deployed 1,100 troops in the area to carry out tests and distribute food and water.
Thanks to this massive screening operation, more than 4,500 trucks have been able to leave the United Kingdom since Wednesday and more than 10,000 tests, including 24 positive, have been carried out, according to the British authorities.
More and more trucks coming from the English coasts disembarked this Friday evening in Calais, in the north of France: the management of this port assured that the situation would be “
totally resolved
” on Saturday 26 December.
Reconfinements
While the vaccination campaign is due to open this Sunday, December 27 in the European Union, Italy, Austria and Ireland have reconfigured themselves for the end of the year celebrations.
The most bereaved country in Europe (70,000 dead), Italy will be under restrictions until January 6, with limited travel.
Third containment also in Ireland and Austria, even if the opening of its more than 400 ski resorts has been authorized.
This Friday, December 25, Denmark closed its non-essential businesses and new restrictions came into force in Quebec, with mandatory teleworking and the closure of non-essential businesses until January 11.
Read also: After the reconfinement, out-of-home catering fears “the wall of debt”
In Latin America, Mexico, Chile and Costa Rica have started their vaccination campaign after receiving the first doses of Pfizer / BioNtech.
Argentina, the second country after Belarus to approve the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, has received 300,000 first doses and is expected to begin its immunization campaign next week.
The coronavirus has killed at least 1,743,187 people and infected more than 79.3 million people worldwide since the WHO office in China reported its appearance a year ago, according to a report drawn up by AFP this Friday, December 25.