‘This should not become a pandemic of the unvaccinated’

A member of the Royal Malaysia Police (right) checks the status of passengers, who had disembarked from a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 738 aircraft, on the MySejahtera app, in Malaysia, on Thursday. Pic/AFP

Vaccination efforts in the European Union (EU) and outside should continue so that "this does not turn into a pandemic of the unvaccinated", said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Von der Leyen made the remarks on Wednesday during her second State of the Union speech before the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, reports Xinhua news agency. She said that despite more than 70 per cent of the EU's adult population being fully vaccinated, discrepancies between countries within the bloc persist.

"We see worrisome divergences in vaccination rates in our Union," said von der Leyen, adding that vaccination efforts must also continue outside of the bloc, especially in low-income countries, as less than one per cent of global doses are administered in these countries.

She promised an additional 200 million doses to be donated by mid-2022, on top of a previous commitment of 250 million doses. Moreover, 1 billion euros ($1.18 billion) will be invested in production capacity for mRNA vaccines in Africa.

The EU is also improving its pandemic preparedness with the proposal of HERA (the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority) and it will get 50 billion euros by 2027, said von der Leyen. The EU provided its population with 700 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, and the same amount of doses were exported to more than 130 countries and regions around the world.

Denmark looks at contingency policy

A Danish government-commissioned expert group released a report, advocating a contingency strategy for Covid-19 situation. Denmark has reclassified Covid-19 from "socially critical disease" to "generally dangerous disease", and all curbs were lifted on September 10.

NZ launches mobile vaccination buses

Three mobile vaccine buses launched in New Zealand's Auckland city on Thursday to help people fasten their Covid-19 vaccination. According to local media, 12 such buses in total converted from airport Park and Ride vehicles will be provided to suburbs where access to vaccinations is more difficult, reports Xinhua news agency.

5,27,831
No. of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours

22,67,19,705
Total no. of cases worldwide

46,63,851
Total no. of deaths worldwide

Source: WHO/Johns Hopkins

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