May 6, 2021
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Newsroom, 06.05.2021, 14:10
CORONAVIRUS — More than 94 thousand people have received the anti-Covid vaccine in the last 24 hours in Romania, authorities have announced. Almost 2.1 million people across the country have received both vaccine doses since the start of the mass immunization. No previous appointment for vaccination will be required as of this weekend. Vaccination centers were opened on Tuesday in military hospitals across the country, for all people wanting to get vaccinated. Also, marathons, drive-through vaccination centers and vaccination in general practitioners’ units is now available. 1,564 new infections were reported in the last 24 hours. The number of new cases is on the decrease, and only the capital Bucharest and 8 counties are now in the yellow zone, with an infection rate between 1.5 and 3.
COVAX – The G7 Foreign and Development Ministers agreed on Wednesday, on the last day of their meeting in London, to donate more than 7 billion euro to COVAX, a programme that provides innovative and equitable access to COVID-19 diagnostics, treatments and vaccines. Under this programme, 1.3 billion doses of anti-Covid vaccine will be purchased and distributed to poor countries. So far, 1 billion doses of anti-Covid vaccine have been administered globally, of which only 50 millions to 120 developing countries, through the COVAX programme. In its weekly epidemiological report, the World Health Organisation said that India reports 90% of the infections and deaths in south-eastern Asia. The world’s second most populated country after China, India registers 46% of the global infections and 25% of the global fatalities. In Europe, Eastern Mediterranean, Africa and America, the infection rate has been on the decrease.
VACCINE – Canada approved on Wednesday the use of Pfizer/BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine in adolescents aged 12 to 15, being the first country to approve the vaccine for this age group. Health Canada said in a communiqué that the vaccine is safe and effective, after having made a thorough and independent scientific analysis of the available data. Since the onset of the pandemic in Canada, around 20% of the infections in this country have been reported in people aged below 19. Pfizer/BioNTech requested regulatory agencies in the United States and the European Union to expand the use of their Covid-19 vaccine to adolescents aged 12 to 15.
DEFENSE — The Romanian Defense Minister, Nicolae Ciuca, is today attending in Brussels the Defense Ministers’ Foreign Affairs Council. First there will be a meeting of the Steering Board of the European Defense Agency (EDA) and and then a meeting of the Board of the EU Satellite Centre (SatCen). The meetings will be chaired by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, the Romanian Defense Ministry announced. The Defense Ministers’ Foreign Affairs Council will focus on the Strategic Compass, on crisis management and on ways to improve the effectiveness of missions and operations. A working lunch, attended by NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg will also be held, to discuss operational efforts in areas of interest for both organizations.
DRILL – Some 15,000 military, including 10,000 Romanian and 5,000 from 17 allied and partner nations, are taking part, until mid-June, in the most complex training operation held since the start of the pandemic, namely a series of exercises known as Dacia 21 Livex, led by the Joint Forces Command of the Romanian Defence Staff. The participating countries include France, Germany, Italy, the UK, the Republic of Moldova, Spain, the US, Turkey and Hungary. The drills are aimed at consolidating national and allied defence and deterrence posture. According to the Romanian Defense Ministry, they confirm the Romanian army’s capacity to engage in defensive operations, and the constant availability of the NATO structures and the American strategic partner to rapidly dispatch in Romania credible capacities to face any aggressor.
TENNIS – The Romanian-German pair Horia Tecău and Kevin Krawietz are today playing fourth seeds Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Filip Polasek of Slovakia in the second round of the Madrid tennis tournament. On Tuesday, Tecău and Krawietz defeated the Finnish-French pair Henri Kontinen and Edouard Roger-Vasselin. Tecău won two doubles titles in Madrid, in 2016 and 2019, when he paired with Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands. (EE)
