World Health Organization regional director Hans Henri Kluge says vaccines are the ‘best way out of this pandemic’
Winter sports enthusiasts enjoy a break while respecting social distancing rules, on the terrace of a closed mountain hut in the Obertauern ski resort in Salzburg, Austria. Pic/AFP
The slow vaccination campaigns in many European countries are protracting the Coronavirus pandemic, according to the Europe office of the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO regional director Hans Henri Kluge said the vaccine roll-out was “unacceptably slow”, reports dpa news agency.
“Let me be clear, we must speed up the process by ramping up manufacturing, reducing barriers to administering vaccines, and using every single vial we have in stock, now,” Kluge said. “And as long as coverage remains low, we need to apply the same public health and social measures as we have in the past.” Ultimately, vaccines were the “best way out of this pandemic”, said Kluge. WHO Europe counts more than 50 countries as belonging to the continent. In this area, only 10 per cent of the total population have received their first jab, and 4 per cent are fully vaccinated.
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Accelerating vaccinations was now decisive, while the number of new infections in the European region increases in all population groups except people over 80, said Kluge’s office. With 1.6 million new cases and 24,000 deaths last week, the majority of countries in Europe are currently seeing a rise in infections which was very worrying, the office said.
S Korea to introduce vaccine passport
South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on Thursday that the country will adopt a “vaccine passport” this month to verify people’s COVID-19 vaccination status via smartphone application. While addressing an inter-agency meeting on the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chung said that people who get vaccinated will be able to feel a sense of return to normality only when the “vaccine passport or green card” systems are introduced, reports Xinhua news agency.
Bangladesh bans travellers from Europe, 12 nations
Bangladesh has imposed a temporary ban on travellers from Europe and 12 other countries after reporting a surge in COVID infections. The two-week ban will come into effect on Saturday and last until April 18, dpa news agency reported on Friday citing a statement from the CAAB as saying.
Italy extends curbs till April-end
Italy has extended a number of Coronavirus-related restrictions until the end of April, the government of Prime Minister Mario Draghi announced after a meeting. However, the state wants to reopen schools for younger children after Easter, dpa news reported.
US starts clinical trial of COVID variant vaccine
A new Phase 1 clinical trial has started in the US to evaluate Moderna’s investigational vaccine which is designed to protect against the B.1.351 Coronavirus variant, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced. The trial, led and funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine in adult volunteers.
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