India continues to account for nearly half of new infections and one in four deaths worldwide. Case incidences are instead decreasing in Europe and the Americas, where a mix of containment measures and increasingly successful vaccination campaigns seem to contribute to the downward trend.
In Europe, as new cases are decreasing and vaccination campaigns are speeding up, the relaxation of travel restrictions is being debated. On May 3, the European Commission published a recommendation to the Member States to gradually ease the current restrictions on non-essential travel for foreign tourists that are fully vaccinated, or come from countries with a positive epidemiological situation. Moreover, the Commission is pushing for the introduction of the green digital certificate –a COVID-19 certification system that would allow free travel within the Union– as early as the end of June 2021.
In the United States, the epidemiological situation is gradually improving: new cases and deaths have been falling for the past two weeks. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around one third of Americans are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. On May 6, Associated Press reported that the United States President Joe Biden set a further vaccination goal to cover 70% of the US adult population with at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccine by July 4.
India continues to report record numbers of daily new infections and deaths, a clear sign that the latest wave is far from over. The country’s COVID-19 cases recently surpassed 21 million, while reported deaths have passed 220,000. On May 5, the Reserve Bank of India announced it would make available around $6.7 billion in loans for vaccine makers, hospitals and other health firms currently battling the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
In recent news from the United Nations (UN), the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hailed the announcement of the U.S. administration’s decision to support the waiving of intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines, intended to help stimulate global vaccines supplies and distribution worldwide. Dr. Ghebreyesus described it as “a powerful example of leadership to address global health challenges”.