More than 20 million people have received a first dose of vaccination against coronavirus in the United Kingdom, or about 30 percent. This was announced by UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock on Sunday. In the U.K., both the Astrazeneca vaccine and the Biontech and Pfizer preparation are being given up to 12 weeks apart to ensure as many people as possible can receive an initial vaccination as quickly as possible. The number of second vaccinations required for full vaccination protection in the country was recently still below one million. According…
Read MoreMonth: February 2021
Health Minister Anschober: Over one million fresh vaccine doses in March
Austria’s vaccination campaign picks up speed. More than one million vaccine doses will be delivered in March. Residents and employees of retirement and nursing homes were almost completely vaccinated as planned. This is also the main reason why the number of infections and deaths there has fallen sharply. Health Minister Rudi Anschober: “This is excellent proof that vaccinations work and are effective. This gives us great hope.” The statistical figures, which are published daily on the dashboard of the Ministry of Social Affairs, prove that the Länder are vaccinating as…
Read MoreSunday record with more than 2,100 new infections reported
A new Sunday record of new infections has been recorded today. The Interior and Health Ministries reported 2,123 new cases in 24 hours. Since the beginning of the year, there had never been more than 2,000 cases on Sundays. The last time a similarly high figure was recorded in Austria was Sunday, December 13, 2020, when 2,641 were reported. Now, the average daily increase in new infections – based on the past seven days – is more than 2,000 new cases per day at 2,009. The seven-day incidence per 100,000…
Read MoreCorona crisis: few Austrians still believe in a normal summer
Austrians show little optimism about normality in the summer in view of the ongoing Corona crisis.As the latest survey conducted in mid-February as part of the “Austrian Corona Panel Project” (ACPP) of the University of Vienna shows, only a few Austrians still believe in a normal summer. Nine out of ten Austrians (89 percent) believe that the crisis will not be over for more than six months. At the beginning of the pandemic, only about a third of respondents thought life would not be back to normal for more than…
Read MoreUSA approves Corona vaccine from Johnson & Johnson
Another Corona vaccine may soon be used in the U.S. and UK. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Saturday granted emergency approval to the vaccine from U.S. company Johnson & Johnson. U.S. President Joe Biden expressed his “enthusiasm” and spoke of an important stage in the management of the pandemic. In the UK, a report in the Telegraph (Sunday edition) said the approval process was “very likely” to start this week. The hurdles for emergency approval by the FDA are comparatively low. In simple terms, a drug or…
Read MoreRecord high: 2,457 new infections in Austria
On Monday, the government wants to announce whether there will be further relaxations and opening steps. The Corona figures make many negative. Since Wednesday of this week, more than 2,000 new infections with the corona virus have been reported daily by the Ministry of the Interior in Austria. This figure was particularly high on Thursday, with over 2,300 newly confirmed Covid 19 cases. In view of the planned Corona Summit on Monday, at which the government will reveal the further course of action until Easter, many are staring anxiously at…
Read More“Mutation pressure” and rising numbers dampen hopes for further easing
On Monday, the government plans to decide on how to proceed with the Corona pandemic. While business, sports and culture had recently pushed for further openings, however, no major easing is likely in sight in light of rising numbers. Corona infection numbers in Austria have risen significantly following recent relaxations, with the seven-day incidence already back up to 150. Thus, no major rollback of Corona protective measures is likely. Infection numbers in recent weeks significantly increasedThe fact that infection figures have risen significantly in the past three weeks was also…
Read MoreCzech government again declares state of emergency
Yesterday, the Czech government again declared a state of emergency due to the recently worsening coronavirus situation. It is to apply until March 28. Based on the re-imposed state of emergency, the existing restrictions may remain in force and additional tightening measures may be adopted. The minority cabinet of Prime Minister Andrej Babis did so in response to the renewed rise in the number of infections, which is pushing the country’s healthcare system to the edge of its capacity. The new state of emergency does not require the approval of…
Read MoreChancellor Kurz says what we need to prepare for
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is sticking to his words: normality should return by summer. However, he said, this does not mean that the crisis is over. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has already stressed several times that Austria could return to normal life by the summer of 2021. Kurz stuck to this assessment also on Saturday night: “With the vaccination, we will return to normality in the summer,” Kurz wrote at 6 a.m. on the short message service Twitter. However: the pandemic will “continue to occupy us with mutations,” the chancellor said. And…
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