The U.S. administration has announced the cancellation of the requirement for mandatory vaccination against coronavirus for foreign nationals arriving in the country starting May 12.
“We are announcing that the administration will waive the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirement for employees of federal agencies, federal contract workers and passengers arriving on international air flights as of May 11,” the White House said in a statement.
The U.S. began requiring foreign nationals entering the country to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 beginning in November 2021. Only certificates of vaccination with vaccines approved by the U.S. health regulator or WHO will be accepted.
In April 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden lifted the national state of emergency imposed in 2020 because of COVID-19.
Hong Kong authorities have decided to cancel the requirement for a coronavirus vaccination certificate for those arriving in the region, PCR tests are still required, according to the press service of China’s special district government.
“As of Feb. 6, the requirement for full vaccination for nonresidents of Hong Kong arriving from abroad is removed. Travelers do not need to be vaccinated and present a certificate of vaccination upon arrival in Hong Kong. Mandatory testing for coronavirus for those arriving from abroad remains in place,” the report said.
According to the government, the epidemic situation in Hong Kong remains stable despite an increase in the number of visitors.
Ukraine allowed vaccination against COVID-19 for children from five years old.
As the chief sanitary doctor of Ukraine Igor Kuzin said at a briefing in Kyiv on Monday, vaccination of children from 12 years of age was allowed in Ukraine earlier.
Children aged 5 to 11 will be vaccinated with Pfizer’s Comirnaty vaccine. Now Ukraine is waiting for the appropriate vaccine in a special dosage for children.
Kuzin did not specify when this vaccine could be delivered to Ukraine.
The EU digital certificate of vaccination or a past COVID-19 disease must be extended until June 2023, European deputies came to this conclusion at a session of the European Parliament (EP) on Thursday in Strasbourg.
The EP supported the respective decision of the committee on civil liberties, justice and home affairs and approved by an overwhelming majority a proposal to negotiate with EU member states (EU Council) for a one-year extension of the certificate, which will expire on 30 June.
In order to respect the freedom of movement in the EU, MEPs clarified the proposals put forward to renew this certificate, emphasizing that Member States should not impose additional restrictions on the movement of citizens holding such a digital European certificate, except in cases of absolute necessity.
“If such restrictions are necessary, they should be limited, proportionate and based on the latest scientific assessments of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control and the EU Committee for Sanitary Safety,” the EP notes.
At the end of April, European Commission (EC) spokesman Christian Wiegand said that the EU digital certificate was a success and the EC is proposing to extend it for another year.
“The certificate will expire at the end of June. We proposed a one-year extension for the simple reason that we do not know how the epidemiological situation will develop in the coming months, in particular in the fall. We have already seen that new strains may appear,” the press officer said. secretary.
“And in any case, you should always be on the lookout and have this very useful tool that is still being used in some countries,” Wiegand explained, answering the question, what is the future of the certificate, given that some EU states no longer use it.
COVID19, DIGITAL CERTIFICATE, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, VACCINATION
Ukraine has recorded 16,993 new cases of COVID-19, in addition to 9,338 recoveries and 142 deaths in the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian Health Ministry said on Monday.
“Over the past day, February 13, Ukraine has recorded 16,993 new cases of COVID-19, including 1,447 children and 252 medical workers, while 18,938 persons have been vaccinated for COVID-19, including 5,658 who received the first dose, 8,981 who received the second dose, 95 who received an additional dose, and 4,204 who received a booster shot. In the past 24 hours, 2,270 persons have been hospitalized, 142 have died, and 9,338 have recovered,” the ministry said on Telegram.
There were 24,518 new cases of COVID-19 in Ukraine the day before, on February 12, 38,212 new cases of the disease were detected per day, on February 11, some 41,229 new cases of COVID-19 were detected per day, on February 10, some 41,694 new cases of diseases were detected.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Ukraine has seen a total of 4,542,693 COVID-19 cases, including 3,788,395 recoveries and 102,950 deaths.
Half of Ukrainian adults have been vaccinated against coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said.
“Some 50% of the adult population has already been vaccinated against COVID-19. Every second Ukrainian has received at least one dose of the vaccine. We must increase this figure,” he said at a government meeting on Wednesday.
