COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – The vaccination
\ncampaign continues in Romania, a total of 1.5 million doses of vaccines having
\nbeen administered so far. Over 890 thousand people have received the vaccines
\ndeveloped by Pfizer \/ BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Moderna. Another 3.432 new
\nCOVID-19 infections were reported on Saturday by the Group for Strategic
\nCommunication, taking the total number of infections close to 800 thousand. 90%
\nof people infected with COVID-19 have recovered, while some 20,300 people have
\ndied. 1,000 people are in intensive care.<\/p>\n
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COVID-19 IN THE WORLD –<\/strong>Worldwide
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COUNCIL – EU heads of state
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BUDGET –<\/strong> The
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POSEIDON 21<\/strong> -
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MOLDOVA – The first 21.600
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PLAN – The US House of
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":75903,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[36071,36069,35374,28997,28945,36063,36068,36072],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-104941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-2021-budget-laws","tag-american-rescue-plan","tag-covid-19","tag-european-council","tag-klaus-iohannis","tag-poseidon-21","tag-vaccination-passports","tag-vaccines-for-moldova"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nthe number of cases of Sars-Cov -2 infection has exceeded 113 million, and that
\nof deaths 2.5 million. According to worldometers.info, more than 89 million
\ninfected people have been cured. Meanwhile, European countries have opted for
\nvoluntary vaccination against Covid-19, although some of them, such as France,
\nthe United Kingdom or Hungary, are examining potential certificates or
\npassports to prove it, international news agencies report. In
\nGermany, coronavirus vaccination is voluntary and the government has stressed
\nthat there are no plans to make it mandatory. Vaccination is not mandatory in
\nFrance either. However, the government has launched an online consultation to
\nfind out citizens’ views on the possibility of implementing a vaccination
\ncertificate and whether it should be mandatory or optional. In the United
\nKingdom, which was the first country in the world to launch a mass vaccination
\nprogram against Covid-19, immunization is widely accepted by the population.
\nThe vaccination plan in Italy is also voluntary and started with the highest
\nrisk groups. For its part, the Austrian Government insists that vaccination is
\nand will be voluntary and that it has not yet been decided, for example,
\nwhether it can be a condition for carrying out an activity. The World Health
\nOrganization insists that the cure for the pandemic is to speed up
\nimmunization, and the available vaccines promise an effectiveness of about 90%.
\nIn another development, the European Medicines Agency on Friday announced the
\nantibody cocktail development by Regeneron can be used in treating COVID
\npatients. The United States adopted the product last year for emergencies,
\nPresident Donald Trump being one of the patients treated with Regeneron.<\/p>\n
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\nand government agreed to continue talks on the introduction of anti-COVID
\nvaccine passports, allowing for free circulation across the community bloc,
\nparticularly during summer. At the European Council virtual summit, they pleaded
\nfor a common approach. Member States relying on tourism, such as Cyprus and
\nGreece, have argued in favor of an accelerated adoption of vaccination
\npassports to save the summer season. After the videoconference, the Portuguese
\nPrime Minister expressed hope the European anti-COVID-19 vaccination
\ncertificated will be implemented by summer, while French President Emmanuel
\nMacron said such a document cannot grant special rights to people who’ve taken
\nthe vaccine. Representing Romania was President Klaus Iohannis, who’s called
\nfor a coordinated EU-wide approach, saying the vaccination certificate should
\nbe used for medical purposes only. President Iohannis has supported the quick
\nimplementation of the European mechanism for donating vaccines to third countries.
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\nRomanian Parliament’s committees on Saturday adopted the 2021 state and social
\nsecurity budget bills. The documents passed in the form presented by the
\nGovernment, and none of the 3,000 amendments were adopted. The opposition says
\nthis is an austerity budget, providing for no increases in salaries, pensions
\nand state allowances, while the power claims the allocations will help overcome
\nthe health and economic crisis caused by the pandemic. Labor Minister Raluca
\nTurcan said the social-security budget is higher than that of the past two
\nyears, and child benefits will be increased in two stages. According to the
\ncalendar established by the joint Permanent Bureaus, the joint sitting of the
\nChamber of Deputies and the Senate on the state and social security budgets is
\nscheduled for Monday. The bill will get the final vote on Tuesday. The budget
\nis based on a deficit target of 7.16% of the GDP, and an economic growth rate
\nof 4.31%.<\/p>\n
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\nSome 700 soldiers, 13 military ships, 9 aircraft, a pyrotechnic intervention
\nvehicle and a remote-controlled underwater robot will be deployed during the
\nexercise ‘Poseidon 21’ organized by the Romanian Naval Forces between February
\n26 and March 6. It is the first multinational exercise in the Black Sea this
\nyear, and involves the participation of forces and equipment from France,
\nGreece, Romania, Spain, USA and Turkey. Bulgaria had to cancel its
\nparticipation due to last-minute COVID infection cases reported among its
\nsailing crews. The NATO maritime command has authorized the participation of
\nNATO permanent anti-mine naval forces. The exercise will include training
\nagainst underwater threats, involving hydrographic mapping operations to
\nidentify and neutralize mines and IEDs, combat sequences to suppress air
\nstrikes, as well as towing damaged ships, at-sea resupplying and rescue
\nmaneuvers. <\/p>\n
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\ndoses of anti-COVID-19 vaccine donated by Romania have reached neighboring
\nMoldova. Moldova’s President, Maia Sandu, posted a message on her Facebook
\npage, writing this is the first batch of the 200,000 doses of vaccine, part of
\na generous donation promised by Romania to the citizens of our country. Thank
\nyou, Romania, president Sandu writes. She added that Saturday’s batch of
\nAstraZeneca vaccines will be used to immunize health and first line workers. <\/p>\n
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\nRepresentatives on Saturday passed, with a majority of votes, the 1.900
\nbillion-dollar American Rescue Plan proposed by Democrat President Joe Biden to
\nhelp the American economy recover after the COVID crisis. The law was voted at
\nthe end of a long debate where Republicans denounced certain measures they
\nconsider to be too costly and badly designed. The text has been submitted to
\nthe Senate, where the Democrats have prepared a legislative move allowing
\nthem to adopt the plan without the support of the Republicans. Among other
\nthings, the plan provides for the purchase of vaccines and medical equipment
\nand for the distribution of new financial assistance packages to American
\nhouseholds, local businesses and administrations that have been affected by the
\npandemic. The assistance also includes a direct payment of $1.400 to natural
\npersons, an unemployment allowance of $400 to be paid until August 29 and other
\nrelief measures for those who cannot pay rent until mid-March. (V.P.)<\/p>\n
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