VACCINE The EU has concluded a fresh
\nagreement with Pfizer\/BioNTech for the purchase of another 300 million doses of
\nanti-Covid vaccine, besides the 300 million already purchased, the head of the
\nEuropean Commission, Ursula von der Leyen has been cited by DPA as saying.
\nAccording to the EU official, 75 million doses would be delivered in the second
\nquarter of the year. The EU immunization campaign with the vaccine produced by
\nthe German-US consortium Pfizer-BioNTec kicked off in December. The EU has also
\napproved the Moderna vaccine and is waiting for the delivery of the first 160
\nmillion doses. The European Commission has attracted a lot of heat for the slow
\npace of the immunization campaign addressing its 450 million citizens. <\/p>\n
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EC The European Commission has again
\ncautioned the centre-right coalition government in Bucharest that it has to
\nkeep budget deficit at bay, after expenditures soared in 2020 whereas incomes
\nwent down against the background of the health crisis. ‘We are expecting from
\nRomania a robust 2021 budget’ the vice-president of the European Commission
\nValdis Dombrovskis said in a phone talk with the Romanian Finance Minister
\nAlexandru Nazare. The Romanian official has pledged that promoting investment
\nremains a priority and so does the use of EU funds. Minister Nazare has given
\nassurances that Bucharest is considering a gradual reduction of the deficit,
\nstarting this year so that it may reach 3% of the GDP in 2024. <\/p>\n
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COVID-19 Romania’s Health Ministry
\nwants to simplify procedures for setting up and authorizing the anti-Covid
\nvaccination centers across the country. According to Minister Vlad Voiculescu
\nthe government is working on amending legislation to set the regulations
\nconcerning the authorization and functioning of these centers. The minister
\nwent on to say that Romania must shortly have about one thousand suchlike points
\nable to immunize 150 thousand citizens a day. 76 thousand people have been
\nimmunized in Romania so far and experts believe that immunization comes a week
\nafter getting the second dose of the vaccine produced by PfizerBioNTech, the
\nonly one used in Romania so far. Roughly 5 thousand fresh Covid infections were
\nreported in Romania on Thursday after nearly 31 thousand tests had been
\nconducted. Most of the cases, 940, were reported in Bucharest. 11 people died
\nand 1106 are in intensive care. Out of the 658 thousand infected since the
\nonset of the pandemic in Romania, nearly 90% have been cured. <\/p>\n
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SCHOOLS Students might come back to schools
\nstarting February 8th, Romania’s Education Minister Sorin Cimpeanu
\nsaid at a meeting with representatives of trade unions in the field and of
\nassociations of students and teachers. However, the decision hinges on the
\nevolution of the pandemics, and the opening of schools and kindergartens will
\nbe done differently depending upon the infection rate in every region. National
\nexams are to be held face-to-face with the strict observance of the prevention
\nmeasures in place. <\/p>\n
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MEETING Romania’s
\npresident Klaus Iohannis is today holding talks with the Liberal Prime
\nMinister, Florin Citu, and with the ministers nominated by the National Liberal
\nParty in the executive, such as Defence minister Nicolae Ciuca, Foreign
\nMinister Bogdan Aurescu, Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare and Interior
\nMinister Lucian Bode. On Thursday the president held talks with the Prime
\nMinister and the ministers nominated by the USR-PLUS alliance. The coalition
\ncabinet in Bucharest, whose activity commenced on December 24th, also includes
\nthree UDMR ministers. <\/p>\n
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US In a video message posted on
\nTwitter, the outgoing US president, Republican Donald Trump, has declared
\nhimself ‘outraged by the lawlessness, violence and mayhem’ caused by his
\nsupporters who stormed the US Capitol. The new message was in stark contrast to
\nthe previous one in which he praised his supporters. Trump has also pledged a
\nsmooth transition for president-elect Joe Biden’s administration. Democrat
\nleaders have called on Vice-president Mike Pence to invoke the 25th
\namendment and remove Trump from power in the wake of the violent events on
\nJanuary 6th, in which 5 people were killed. Some senior members of
\nhis administration have resigned in the wake of the US Capitol riot in order to
\nprotest the violence. <\/p>\n
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(bill)<\/p>\n
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