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Concerns over more infectious variants of the coronavirus continue to shape governments’ responses to the pandemic despite the number of infections stabilizing or declining as Europe grapples with a slow rollout of the vaccine.
The Dutch government extended a national lockdown on Tuesday until March 2, with a reassessment on February 23, in response to new strains of the coronavirus. The extension of the lockdown, imposed on December 19, comes despite a slight improvement in the country’s health situation.
Dutch primary schools and daycares will reopen on Monday, which means nearly 2 million young children will resume teaching in person.
In Germany, the federal and regional governments will meet on February 10 to discuss a possible extension of the current lockdown, which expires on February 14.
The country has seen a steady decline in infections since mid-January, but an increase in infections in isolated border areas has raised fears that more infectious forms are spreading.
Germany recorded 9,705 new cases on Tuesday, according to the Robert Koch Institute of Infectious Diseases, up from 13,198 a week earlier. Daily deaths, however, remained high.
Like other members of the European Union, Germany struggles with a low vaccine supply. Christian Drosten, one of the country’s top virologists, has warned that the lack of vaccine means Europe should not expect a substantial easing of lockdowns until early April.
Officials, however, predict an increase in vaccine deliveries in the second quarter of the year, when new manufacturing capacity is expected to come on stream.
Moderna Inc. will start producing its vaccine in France in March, Industry Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher said on Wednesday. Pfizer Inc. and BionNTech SE hired a French manufacturer to start producing theirs in April.
Infections in France have increased this year, although the pace of the increase has slowed this week.
French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged that everyone in the country will have access to a vaccine before the end of the summer. Four sites in France would start manufacturing vaccines before the end of the month, he said.
AstraZeneca’s vaccine will not be administered to people aged 65 and over, in accordance with the recommendations of the main French health advisory body, citing a lack of sufficient data on its effectiveness in the elderly. This decision risks complicating France’s vaccination campaign because it relied on the British vaccine to vaccinate more residents and people over 75 years old. Germany has taken the same decision and is establishing a new list of priority recipients for the AstraZeneca vaccine. Country guidelines differ from those given by the European Medicines Agency, which has cleared the vaccine for use in all adults in the EU.
Professor Alain Fischer, who heads France’s vaccine strategy, said Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine could be used in France if it is found to be safe and effective and “if it becomes available at European level”. Russia is currently in talks with the European Medicines Agency over approval of the vaccine in the EU.
Portugal, which is struggling with one of the world’s most serious epidemics, is receiving help from Germany. A German team of 26 health workers, including nine doctors, was due to arrive in the country on Wednesday, bringing in 150 additional hospital beds, 50 ventilators and other medical equipment.
Over the past week, Portugal recorded the world’s best-known per capita number of cases and deaths, according to data compiled by Our World In Data. In the last month alone, the country has recorded nearly 6,000 Covid-19-related deaths, almost half of the total recorded in the country since the start of the pandemic.
Scientists said the easing of anti-virus restrictions during the Christmas holidays and a more infectious variant of the virus helped explain the current crisis in Portugal. Portugal’s vaccination campaign is also struggling to keep pace with infections.
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