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While the European regulator pledged Tuesday to look into authorization applications for two vaccines in the coming weeks, U.S. health authorities recommend prioritizing health care workers and nursing home residents.
While the coronavirus pandemic has caused at least 1,468,873 deaths worldwide, hopes for a tunnel exit are becoming clearer.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced, Tuesday 1is December for receiving authorization applications on the continent from Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna for their respective vaccines, both with an efficacy rate close to 95%. The regulator is expected to decide on the US-German tandem vaccine on December 29 “at the latest” and on that of the American competitor by January 12.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron is planning “a first highly targeted campaign, with first generation vaccines”, reserved for the most vulnerable people in early 2021, followed by another “larger and wider population”, which will open ” somewhere between April and June “. “It will not be a mandatory vaccination strategy,” the head of state reiterated Tuesday.
Vaccine since December in the United States
Across the Atlantic, the United States Medicines Agency (FDA) has also been contacted by Pfizer / BioNTech and, since Monday, Moderna. If the green light is given, the two vaccines could be available as early as this month in the United States, a country that is paying the heaviest human toll in the pandemic with 270,450 deaths.
Vaccination against Covid-19 should be offered as a priority, in the first phase, to health professionals as well as to residents of nursing homes, an advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control advised Tuesday.
These two populations represent on the order of 24 million people in the United States, which is the approximate number of people who could be vaccinated in December, if the two vaccines being evaluated were actually licensed and produced in the promised quantities. . US nursing homes concentrated 40% of pandemic deaths in the country, or about 100,000 deaths.
Nasal spray
In addition, researchers at the American University of Pennsylvania are looking, in collaboration with the biotech company Regeneron, to develop a nasal spray that protects against Covid-19. The idea is to build on the principle of gene therapy by introducing genetic material through the nose and throat into the cells brought in response to produce powerful antibodies that would prevent coronavirus infections. The University of Pennsylvania and Regeneron plan to complete their animal tests by January before asking the FDA for the green light for human testing.
In Europe, where the rate of contamination has slowed, some countries are easing their restrictions. England exits a four-week lockdown on Wednesday to return to a regional approach that Prime Minister Boris Johnson hopes he can reverse in the spring thanks to the combined action of vaccines and mass screening.
The second confinement suffered by the United Kingdom, the most mourning country in Europe with over 59,000 deaths from Covid-19, is replaced at least until February, by a three-level alert system, which imposes restrictions locally depending on the severity of the epidemic.
“We must be realistic and we must accept (…) that the vaccine does not yet exist” in the deployment phase, which alone will allow for a return to normal life, Boris Johnson explained in the House of Commons on Tuesday. Commons, the lower house of Parliament. “Until then, we cannot afford to slow down, especially during the cold winter months,” he added, justifying the restrictive measures.
Among the flexibilities common in England, non-essential stores can once again welcome customers. Gyms can also reopen and resume religious services and weddings. Residents can now meet, up to six, and outside only if their region is affected by the highest alert level.
The Eiffel Tower will reopen
Shops reopened in Belgium on Tuesday, although partial confinement remains in effect.
A beautiful symbol, the Eiffel Tower, will reopen to the public in Paris on December 16.
Finally Ireland, the first in Europe to have opted for reconfirmation on 22 October, has begun to loosen the chains. Non-essential shops, hairdressers, sports halls, museums, cinemas and places of worship can reopen from Tuesday and, on Friday, it will be the turn of restaurants and pubs serving food.
With AFP
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