Vaccination obligation for gendarmes, vaccination defended by Pope Francis, new restrictions in Israel ...
Le Figaro
takes stock this Wednesday, August 18 on the latest information related to the Covid pandemic.
Read also Covid-19: with the Delta variant, is "herd immunity" unattainable?
The government expects a two billion euro budget for vaccines in 2022
The government is working on a budget of 2 billion euros for the vaccination against Covid in 2022, a source told AFP in Bercy, confirming information from RTL.
This budget is a working basis and will be presented as part of the Social Security Financing Bill in the fall, it was specified.
It provides in particular a third dose for populations at risk, such as those over 80 and the most fragile, according to RTL, and while uncertainty remains on the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read also France returns to growth despite a still delicate health situation
Vaccination obligation for gendarmes, incentive for police officers
The gendarmes assigned in the field or in contact with the public will have to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by September 15, while the police favor for the time being "
the incitement to vaccination
", according to internal documents consulted Wednesday by AFP. The gendarmes concerned by the vaccination obligation are "
military personnel, active and reserve, in public security missions, road safety, maintenance of order, judicial police and reception or performing services in the contact with the public or people outside the Gendarmerie
”, lists a note from the General Directorate of the National Gendarmerie (DGGN), dated Tuesday.
This note follows an instruction from the Armed Forces Health Service (SSA), dated July 29, making vaccination compulsory “
for any soldier serving (...) on metropolitan territory under an operational commitment decided by the 'staff of the armies or the direction of the national gendarmerie
”.
Read alsoFaced with Covid-19, the Cuban health system collapsed
Pope defends vaccination
Getting vaccinated against Covid-19 is "
an act of love,
" Pope Francis pleaded on Wednesday, calling on all believers to be immunized.
"
Thanks to God and the work of many, we now have vaccines to protect us against Covid-19,
" the Pope said in a video message intended to support a campaign to incite vaccination in the United States and in other countries in the Americas.
"SEE ALSO - Covid-19:" Helping to vaccinate the majority of people is an act of love ", pleads Pope Francis
The United States announces an anti-Covid vaccine booster campaign for all at the end of September
Americans vaccinated with Pfizer and Moderna sera will be able to receive a third injection eight months after the second, starting the week of September 20, health officials said on Wednesday.
"
The available data clearly show that the protection against infection with SARS-CoV-2 begins to decline over time after the first doses of vaccine
", justified in a joint statement of senior officials, including the director of the Prevention Centers and Disease Control (CDC) Rochelle Walensky and Acting Head of the United States Drugs Agency (FDA) Janet Woodcock.
Read also Covid-19: traders and donors awaiting crucial state aid
New restrictions in Israel
New health restrictions went into effect in Israel on Wednesday.
The obligation to show a vaccination certificate or negative PCR test to visit restaurants, hotels, museums and libraries and attend cultural and sporting events has been reinstated.
The Hebrew state last week began injecting a third dose of the vaccine in people aged 50 and over, despite the World Health Organization's (WHO) call for a moratorium on those doses of reminder to leave more vaccines available for poor countries, where the vaccination rate remains low.
Read alsoCovid-19: despite vaccines, Israel fears re-containment
New Zealand: towards an aggravation, according to the government
New Zealanders should expect new cases of Covid-19, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern warned on Wednesday, the day after her decision to confine the country after the appearance of the first locally-originated case in six month.
The archipelago has been praised abroad for its effective management of the epidemic which, so far, has only killed 26 people for a population of five million.
Read alsoAustralia, a decried fortress of zero Covid
Polynesia extends containment
In French Polynesia, the High Commissioner announced on Tuesday (Wednesday in Paris) an extension of the confinement to the whole weekend, while the incidence rate continues to increase, now reaching 2,614 cases of Covid per 100,000 inhabitants.
The president of the government of New Caledonia, a rare territory free from Covid-19, told him on Wednesday that the compulsory vaccination of the entire population was "no
longer a taboo subject
", given the risks of the Delta variant.
»SEE ALSO - In Martinique, funeral directors' activity is intensifying with the outbreak of Covid-19 cases
No F1 Grand Prix in Japan
The Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix, which was scheduled to be held in Suzuka (center of the country) on October 10, has been canceled for the second year in a row due to the health situation, organizers said on Wednesday.
More than 4.3 million deaths worldwide
The Covid-19 pandemic has killed at least 4,381,911 people worldwide, according to a report established by AFP. The United States is the most affected country in terms of both deaths and cases, with 623,322 deaths, ahead of Brazil (570,598 dead) and India (432,519 dead), according to official figures. Among the countries hardest hit, Peru is the one that deplores the highest number of deaths in relation 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 calculated from the figures officials.
