EU confronts vaccine rollout woes

Brussels/Paris: Paris: Covid-19 has killed more than 2.5 million people worldwide since the pandemic began in December 2019, according to an AFP count based on official figures at 1730 GMT Thursday.

In total, 2,500,172 deaths and 112,618,488 cases have been reported. With 842,894 deaths, Europe is the hardest-hit region, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (667,972 deaths) and the US and Canada (528,039).

Almost half of the fatalities have occurred in just five countries: the US (506,232), Brazil (249,957), Mexico (182,815), India (156,705) and Britain (122,070). These figures are based on daily tolls provided by health authorities in each country and exclude later re-evaluations by statistical organisations, as has happened in Russia, Spain and Britain.

The world passed one million reported coronavirus deaths on September 28, a little over nine months after the first death was recorded in China in January 2020. It took just four more months, until January 15, to reach two million deaths.

But the pace of deaths has slowed since late January this year, with 66,800 last week or an average of 9,500 per day -- well below the deadliest week of January 20 to 26, when 101,400 deaths or 14,500 per day were registered.

The present daily figure is similar to that seen in early November. Over the past week, more than one-third of global deaths have come in Europe´s 52 countries and territories, although the figure has fallen 14 percent compared with the previous week, to around 3,400 per day.

Other continents have also seen falling death rates, with the US and Canada dropping 23 percent, to 2,150 per day, falling faster than Europe and Africa, which shed 13 percent to 378 per day.

Latin America and the Caribbean´s rate fell seven percent, to 2,720 daily deaths. In proportion to population, Belgium is the country that has suffered the most deaths at 1,900 per million, followed by the Czech Republic at 1,850, Slovenia (1,830), Britain (1,790) and Italy (1,600).

Earlier, EU leaders met on Thursday under pressure to speed up Europe’s coronavirus vaccine rollout and facing demands from some capitals for a continent-wide vaccine passport.

The video summit for the leaders of the 27-nation bloc comes a year into the Covid-19 crisis, as most of the EU is experiencing a second wave of cases — or a third wave for some — that stubbornly won’t diminish.

Brussels has warned six governments — including Germany’s — about unilateral border restrictions, while tourist-dependent countries are piling on the pressure to lift travel barriers in time for summer vacations.

Ahead of the videoconference, Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov called for “green passports” to be issued to allow Europeans who have been vaccinated to travel and socialise.

“We want to get back to normal as quickly as possible, have our old lives back and maximum freedom,” Kurz tweeted. “We therefore want an EU-wide Green Passport, with which people can travel freely, do business without restrictions and go on holiday, as well as finally enjoy gastronomy, culture, events and other things again.”

France and Germany, notably, are opposed, fearing a travel schism between a minority of vaccinated haves and a majority of unvaccinated have-nots. Greece has indicated it is ready to move faster than its EU peers, and has already struck a bilateral travel agreement with Israel, the world’s ‘vaccination champion.’

It is reportedly in similar talks with former EU member Britain, where bookings of low-cost flights to Greece, Spain and Turkey soared on Tuesday after London said curbs on foreign leisure travel could be lifted as early as mid-May.

In a related development, a senior World Health Organisation official on Thursday urged national authorities to make a priority of understanding the long-term consequences of coronavirus infections as some people show worrying symptoms months later.

“It’s a clear priority for WHO, and of the utmost importance. It should be for every health authority,” Hans Kluge, regional director for WHO Europe, told a press conference.