French President Emmanuel Macron issued a mass appeal Tuesday for people to get booster shots to fight rising virus infections that are raising concerns across Europe.
Anyone over 65 who was vaccinated more than six months ago will need to get a booster shot by mid-December for their “health pass” to remain valid, Macron said.
He promised stepped-up enforcement of the health pass, which is required to go to all restaurants and many public venues in France. To get a pass, people must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination, a negative virus test or a recent recovery from the virus.
Booster shots, currently authorized in France for anyone over 65 or with underlying health conditions, will be expanded to those 50 and over in December, Macron said.
“Each of us must play our part” to avoid a deadly “fifth wave” of the pandemic, Macron said in a televised speech.
Stressing that most of those hospitalized in France with the virus are unvaccinated, Macron also appealed to the 6 million other unvaccinated French people to “get vaccinated. Protect yourself.”
Nearly 75% of the French population is fully vaccinated, including 88% of adults. That is among the higher rates in Europe, but vaccinations have hit a plateau in recent weeks.
Macron also laid out ways that his government is trying to boost the economy.
The speech came as virus cases are going up again in many European countries and some hospitals are coming under renewed strain, as vaccination efforts slow and winter approaches.
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Greece on Tuesday hit a record high in new COVID-19 cases for a second day running, with the government ruling out a lockdown or school closures but warning that it might need to mobilize private doctors in badly hit areas.
A total 8,613 new infections were recorded, marking a substantial leap from Monday's 7,300. Another 46 deaths were registered, bringing the total in the country of 11 million to about 16,400.
The surge over the past week has put pressure on Greece's health system, with hospitals filling up in parts of the country. Health Minister Thanos Plevris said the situation was “manageable, but very pressing.”
Plevris said private clinics in Greece's worst-hit northern areas were providing extra beds for state hospital patients, while medical staff were being transferred to struggling areas. He said private doctors have been invited to voluntarily assist the state health system where needed.
“If there is no response within this week ... then their services will be requisitioned,” he told private Skai TV.
Plevris ruled out a new lockdown or an end to in-person school classes, and the government insists that vaccinated people will not face significant restrictions again.
About 61% of Greece’s population has been fully vaccinated, which is below the European Union average of 75%.
But health ministry officials said Monday that over the past seven days there’s been an 185% increase in first vaccination appointments and a 200% surge in booster shot appointments.
They linked the increases with new measures that took effect Saturday under which unvaccinated people can enter banks, government departments and most shops only if they show a recent negative COVID-19 test. The same applies to outdoor restaurant and cafe areas, while vaccinated people are allowed indoors at such establishments.
Unrestricted access is still allowed for supermarkets, food shops and pharmacies.
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Coronavirus deaths in Russia hit a new record Tuesday and new confirmed cases remained high two days after a nine-day work stoppage ended in most of the country's regions.
The state coronavirus task force reported 1,211 COVID-19 deaths, the highest daily death toll in the pandemic, and 39,160 new cases. The task force has reported around 40,000 cases and over 1,100 deaths every day since late October.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered many Russians last month to stay off work between Oct. 30 and Nov. 7. He authorized regional governments to extend the number of non-working days if necessary, but only five Russian regions have done so.
Other regions have restricted access to restaurants, theaters and other public places to people who either have been fully vaccinated, have recovered from COVID-19 within the last six months or tested negative in the previous 72 hours.
The daily tallies of new cases and COVID-19 deaths remained high throughout the non-working period. Officials in the Kremlin argued Monday that it was too early to tell whether the measure had the desired effect.
Russia’s fall surge in infections and deaths comes amid low vaccination rates, lax public attitudes toward taking precautions and the government’s reluctance to toughen restrictions.
Less than 40% of Russia’s nearly 146 million people have been fully vaccinated, even though Russia approved a domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine months before most countries.
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Bulgaria had 334 COVID-19 patients die in a single day in its count Tuesday, the country's highest daily toll since the start of the pandemic.
Bulgarian health authorities also reported 5,286 newly confirmed cases of coronavirus over the past 24 hours. It has 8,516 COVID-19 patients who are hospitalized, 723 of them in intensive care.
The Balkan country of 7 million remains the least vaccinated in the 27-nation European Union, with less than one-third of its adults fully vaccinated.
Despite rising virus-related deaths, many Bulgarians remain skeptical of vaccines, due to unfounded fears of potential health damage, superstition or conspiracy theories. Many people also mistrust official information.
Ahead of Bulgaria's Nov. 14 parliamentary and presidential elections, authorities have been widely hesitant to impose stricter measures to contain the spread of the virus.
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Ukraine on Tuesday hit another record for daily coronavirus deaths amid a spike in infections fueled by public reluctance to get a vaccine.
The Health Ministry reported 833 coronavirus deaths over the past day, surpassing the previous high of 793 over the weekend and bringing the country's total confirmed COVID-19 deaths to 73,390. The nation of 41 million people also registered 18,988 new daily infections in the last day.
Although four vaccines are available in Ukraine — Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Sinovac — only 18% of the population has been fully vaccinated. That is Europe’s second-lowest rate after Armenia.
In an effort to speed up vaccine uptake, the authorities required teachers, government employees and other workers to get fully vaccinated by Nov. 8 or have their salaries suspended.
On Tuesday, the government also ordered workers of state-controlled companies, including railways and the postal service, as well as social workers to get vaccinated by Dec. 1.
Ukrainian authorities also have started requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test results for people boarding planes, trains and long-distance buses.
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The morgue in Romania's main hospital has no space for the dead any more. In a stark illustration of the human cost of the coronavirus surge sweeping the nation, bodies of COVID-19 victims, wrapped in black plastic bags, line a hallway of the hospital in the capital, Bucharest.
Hundreds of people have been dying each day for the past two months in Romania which has been among the hardest-hit in the current virus onslaught raging through Central and Eastern European nations, where far fewer people have been vaccinated than in Western Europe.
A country of 19 million people, Romania currently has among the highest death rates in Europe. Last month the World Health Organization sent a team to help with the nation's pandemic response.
Frustrated and overworked, Romania's doctors have been struggling to cope.
“A village vanishes daily in Romania!” gasped Dr. Catalin Cirstoiu, the head of the Bucharest University Emergency Hospital. “What about in a week or a month? A larger village? Or a city? Where do we stop?”
Experts have blamed the soaring deaths on the low vaccination rate in Romania where about 40% of the population has been fully vaccinated — far lower than the European Union's average of 75%.
The low rates here and elsewhere in the region are believed to be the result of a general mistrust in the authorities and institutions, education gaps and deeply-rooted anti-vaccination movements, that even include some top doctors.