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A new light of hope to stop the coronavirus came this Monday with the announcement of another experimental vaccine with an efficacy of nearly 95%, although the reality for the moment for Europe and the United States is one of the restrictions ever earlier. of a second brutal wave of pandemic.
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has decided to isolate himself after coming into contact with a person who tested positive for coronavirus, while in the United States the spiral of infections has led Chicago, the third city in the country, to ask its inhabitants to stay. Home.
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Amid so much bad news, biotech company Moderna announced Monday that its covid-19 vaccine is nearly 95% effective, similar to the 90% effectiveness announced last week by the Pfizer / BioNTech alliance.
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This means that the risk of contracting the disease was reduced by 94.5% in the vaccinated group compared to the placebo group in its large ongoing clinical trial in the United States, based on an analysis of early cases.
In tests, 90 participants in the placebo group contracted COVID-19, compared with 5 in the vaccinated group. If this level of efficiency were maintained in the general population, it would be one of the most effective vaccines out there, comparable to that of rubella, 97% effective when two doses are applied, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC ).
The world eagerly awaits the arrival of a vaccine, but on Monday the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that this alone will not be enough to defeat the virus. “A vaccine will complement the other tools we have, not replace them,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at a time when coronavirus infections have surpassed 54.4 million worldwide, with more than 1.3 million deaths. , according to an AFP balance on Monday.
“WE HAVE NOT WON THE VIRUS”
The rapid spread of the virus in many parts of the world is leading governments to re-impose unpopular restrictions on social life, travel and business.
In a battered Europe, which exceeds 337,000 deaths and 14.6 million cases according to an AFP tally, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who contracted COVID-19 in April, said Monday he was in “good health” after having decided to isolate himself for having been in contact with a person who tested positive for coronavirus. The United Kingdom is one of the countries most affected by the pandemic in the world with almost 52,000 deaths and more than 1.3 million infected.
In Germany, where the second wave of the pandemic is also having a strong impact, Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday gambled to strengthen measures, including the mandatory use of masks in schools and the reduction of class sizes.
The government is now considering limiting social contacts and limiting them to “family members and a maximum of two people from another,” according to a proposal from Merkel’s office to be presented to regional leaders on Monday.
Germany imposed a partial blockade in November and, although the “first signs” of improvement were seen last week, “the number of infections is still too high,” according to authorities. In France, which has been reconfigured for more than two weeks, Health Minister Olivier Veran warned that although the severe measures have reduced the rate of infections, “we have not yet defeated the virus.”
SPIRAL OF CASES IN THE USA
Latin America and the Caribbean, which already has more than 12 million infections and more than 424,000 deaths, is the region with the highest number of deaths in the world, according to an AFP tally. Brazil, the second largest country in the world after the United States by death toll (165,658), held municipal elections on Sunday after being postponed for six weeks due to the pandemic.
For its part, the United States shows no signs of improvement after registering a million cases in less than a week, bringing the total to over 11 million cases. This epidemic is shaking the country, the world’s most grieving with some 250,000 deaths, where cities and states impose new measures and experts warn about family reunions on the eve of Thanksgiving holidays.
Chicago, the nation’s third largest city, has asked its residents not to leave their homes starting Monday as New York struggles to stem a second wave. President Donald Trump, widely criticized for his response to the pandemic, has been accused of further complicating efforts by refusing to move and cooperate with President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team.
BURST IN AUSTRALIA
Concerns about a resurgence of the virus are also found in other parts of the globe where the pandemic was believed to have controlled. In the Australian city of Adelaide (northwest of Melbourne), which hadn’t had an outbreak in seven months, a new outbreak of 17 cases related to a hotel used to quarantine travelers returning from abroad was detected. The authorities have suspended international air connections with the city, while other neighboring states have imposed new measures for those traveling from the south of the country.
And in Hong Kong, the government will limit the number of people in bars and restaurants from Monday to avoid a relapse of cases. The fragile and changing situation has not prevented the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, from showing this Monday “very very confident” that there will be spectators at the Tokyo Olympic Games, which will be held next year after postponing from pandemic.
AFP
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