The indoor mask obligation ends on Wednesday in Spain, Johnson & Johnson suspends sales forecasts for its vaccine, Warsaw refuses to accept and pay for new vaccine deliveries...
Le Figaro
takes stock this Tuesday, April 19 on the latest information related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Warsaw refuses to accept and pay for new vaccine deliveries
Poland refuses to receive and pay for new deliveries of anti-Covid vaccines, the Minister of Health said on Tuesday, indicating that his country still has 25 million unused doses.
Read alsoCovid-19: India disputes the 4 million deaths attributed to it by a WHO study
“
At the end of last week, we invoked the force majeure clause and informed both the European Commission and the main vaccine manufacturer (Pfizer, editor’s note) that we refused to receive these vaccines and that we also refused to make the payments
," Adam Niedzielski told the TVN24 news broadcaster.
“
This situation will lead to a legal conflict.
In fact it is already taking place
”, he added, indicating that the contract relating to vaccines had been signed “
between the Commission and the producers
” and that his country is not a direct party to this contract.
According to him, Poland, a country of 38 million inhabitants, still has 25 million doses of vaccines, while 67 to 70 million others have been ordered.
Currently, about 51% of Poles have been fully vaccinated, 59% have received a single dose, and the vaccination rate has dropped sharply, according to data from the Ministry of Health.
Read alsoCovid vaccines: unequal access linked to logistical problems, according to a specialist
The indoor mask obligation ends on Wednesday in Spain
The Spanish government on Tuesday approved the decree ending the compulsory wearing of masks indoors from Wednesday, except in transport, hospitals and retirement homes.
Spain will thus abandon one of the last restrictions in place since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, more than two years ago, thanks to "
a favorable epidemiological context
" resulting from a "
very high vaccination coverage
" .
, explained the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, at the end of the Council of Ministers.
“
We are moving towards a return to pre-pandemic normality
,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Twitter.
The mask will however remain compulsory in health centers, hospitals, retirement homes, as well as in public transport, according to the decree approved on Tuesday, which will come into force on Wednesday morning as soon as it is published in the Official Journal.
” SEE ALSO – Covid-19: we must not “let our guard down”, warns the WHO
After the airlines, Uber also makes the mask optional in the United States
Uber announced on Tuesday that drivers and passengers were no longer required to wear masks in its vehicles in the United States, following the example of American airlines which made the wearing of sanitary masks optional on their planes on Monday.
"
If you don't feel comfortable, you can always cancel your ride
," Uber notes on its site, pointing out that health authorities always recommend wearing a mask in the event of personal risks or a high level of transmission. of Covid-19 in the region.
»SEE ALSO – United States: a judge cancels the mask requirement for public transport
Johnson & Johnson suspends sales forecast for its Covid vaccine
The pharmaceutical group Johnson & Johnson (J&J) suspended Tuesday, when publishing its quarterly results, the sales forecast for its vaccine against Covid-19, whose demand is lower than that of serums from Moderna and Pfizer.
On Wall Street, the action of J&J yielded 0.37%, to 177.00 dollars, in electronic trading preceding the opening of the New York Stock Exchange.
Read alsoCovid-19: do you still need to get vaccinated?
In the fourth quarter of last year, the American giant had expected revenues of between 3 and 3.5 billion dollars in 2022 for its adenoviral vector vaccine.
By comparison, Pfizer has projected making about $32 billion this year from sales of its messenger RNA vaccine, co-developed with BioNTech.
Moderna estimated in March that sales of its Spikevax vaccine would earn it $21 billion.
In addition to less popularity than its rivals, J&J's Janssen vaccine has encountered a series of hiccups, including the rare occurrence of blood clots in some patients.
Read alsoCovid-19: the Valneva vaccine authorized in the United Kingdom
The toll of the Covid increases in Shanghai with 10 dead
The city of Shanghai announced Tuesday seven new deaths from Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing to 10 the total of deaths in the Chinese economic capital confined since the beginning of the month, where companies like Tesla have resumed work.
Read alsoBeijing denounces the “accusations” of the United States concerning the Covid-19 in Shanghai
With supply chains blocked by the restrictions, companies had to halt production in the metropolis of 25 million people after the lockdown was introduced.
Local authorities, like the rest of China and contrary to many countries that opt for cohabitation with the virus and lift restrictions, continue to follow a "
zero Covid
" policy in the face of the worst epidemic outbreak in China since the outbreak of Covid-19 at the end of 2019.
