Vaccination compulsory in Austria, super Green pass in France. The day after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement of the end of most of the anti Covid restrictions, counter-trend measures arrive from Europe. AUSTRIA – The Austrian parliament has approved the introduction of the compulsory vaccine against covid-19 and is the first European country to do so . The approval with the necessary majority of votes took place after hours of beating in the classroom. The measure will take effect on February 4.
In addition, Vienna is introducing a national lottery with prizes of 500 eurosto encourage those who have not yet vaccinated against Covid to immunize themselves: the government has announced, according to the Guardian. The government will also allocate 400 million euros for the ‘virtuous’ municipalities with the highest percentage of immunized. FRANCE – In France, the French “vaccination pass”, equivalent to the Italian super green pass, will come into force next Monday, January 24 , which will take the place of the “health pass”, which could also be activated without vaccination but with a negative buffer . Prime Minister Jean Castex announced it on live TV.
As for the timetable on the lifting of restrictions, expected after the breakthrough in the United Kingdom, on February 2 the obligation to wear masks outside, the obligation to smart working will be eliminated and the audience limits in stadiums and showrooms will fall.
Meanwhile, the mobilization of teachers continues with the second day of strike and demonstrations against the government’s management of the health emergency in schools. UNITED KINGDOM – The return to plan A opens today in London, as established by the British government, which envisages in the first phase the lifting of the anti Covid restrictions regarding the indication to smart working where possible and the obligation of masks in schools. Measures that are therefore no longer in force in England, as is happening in ways and times decided at the local level in the other nations of the United Kingdom, usually in line in pandemic matters with what is decided by London. The second stage of the farewell to plan B starts on January 27: in that case the legal obligation to wear masks in public places and the mini green pass provided only for access to discos or mass collective events will be eliminated. SWEDEN –Sweden relaxes the quarantine rules for Covid to prevent the wave of infections fueled by Omicron from leading to social paralysis. The positives or those who live with a positive will have to isolate themselves for 5 days and no more 7, and some categories, such as those who work in health care and the police, will not have to go into quarantine even if in contact with positives. THAILAND – From February 1st Thailand will lift the quarantine obligationfor fully vaccinated travelers arriving from abroad. This was announced by the local authorities, thus putting an end to the tightening introduced at the end of December in light of the spread of the Omicron variant. Immunized tourists will still be required to have a negative test carried out in the country of origin, another on arrival and a last one 5 days later. UNITED STATES – The United States has adopted an emergency measure to ensure the functioning of the schools. Some US states are resorting to increasingly extreme measures to avoid the closure of schools due to staff shortages due to the increase in cases of covid for the Omicron variant. And so the National Guard was called in place of the teachers. State workers can now serve as alternate teachers in some districts hit hard by the virus, while other states are loosening rules to speed up the hiring of alternate teachers or to bring retirees back to class.
The overcoming of the peak of infections for the Omicron variant could reach the country by mid-February, according to the US virologist Anthony Fauci. The White House super expert believes it is still too early to predict whether Omicron’s rapid spread will help push the covid from the pandemic phase to a more manageable endemic phase. But “I hope it is so”, he added as reported by CNN. UNITED NATIONS – Good news arrives for the poorest countries. Generic drug manufacturers will offer oneLow-cost version of the anti Covid pill , developed by the pharmaceutical giant Merck, intended for the 105 poorest countries: the organization supported by the UN Medicines Patent Pool announced today. ” This is a critical step to ensure global access to the urgently needed anti Covid treatment and we are confident that these treatments will be available shortly in low and middle income countries, ” commented the director of the Medicines Patent Pool, Charles Gore FMI –The International Monetary Fund will probably have to raise its estimate of losses to world GDP caused by Covid until 2024 from the current 12.5 trillion dollars. This was stated by the director general of the IMF Kristalina Geoergieva during a webinar organized by the Financial Times on global recovery and vaccine nationalism. She therefore weighs the new wave that has swept the world with new case records from Mexico, to Brazil, to Pakistan, while other countries begin to see the flattening of the pandemic curve and to ease restrictions.
