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Day: 10 March 2021

Monaco to boost arsenal with AstraZeneca vaccine

by: Cassandra Tanti
10/03/2021

The Principality will have its vaccine stocks replenished by the end of the week, the health minister has revealed, with the arrival of thousands more doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, as well as the AstraZeneca vaccine by the end of March.
Pfizer-BioNTech is currently the only vaccine available in Monaco and stocks are limited, as they are in France. However, Health Minister Didier Gamerdinger told local daily Monaco Matin on Wednesday that 5,000 additional doses are due by the end of the week.
He also revealed that 15,600 pre-ordered doses “should arrive soon”, including 7,200 AstraZeneca vaccines at the end of March. The rest will be made up of Pfizer and “another vaccine whose type and number are yet to be determined”.
In addition, Monaco is expecting 20,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine, however manufacturer supply continues to be a problem.
“They are not able to provide us with the number of doses according to the schedule that were initially promised,” said the minister.
This partly explains why only 624 people received their first Covid jab in the two weeks between 18th February and 4th March, while the vaccination centre at the Grimaldi Forum is capable of accommodating 600 patients per day.
More so, only 22% of the population have received their first shot because the Principality is aiming to fully vaccinate its fragile population and health care workers first, and that involves two doses each patient.
“Some countries have given the first injection and wait five, six, or even seven weeks for the second,” said Mr Gamerdinger. “The Pfizer package leaflet states that it should be administered after three weeks.”
To date, around 8,500 people have been vaccinated in Monaco, while more than 7,300 of those have received both injections.
The extra 5,000 vaccines received this week will therefore protect 2,500 people in Monaco.
Around 80% of doctors at the Princess Grace Hospital Centre have been vaccinated, as well as just under half of all hospital staff, while 60% of all other doctors and nurses in the Principality have been inoculated against Covid-19.
Currently, Monaco is offering free vaccinations to all residents and citizens over the age of 65, as well as those who are over the age of 18 and suffering from serious health issues such as cancer, heart disease, obesity and diabetes.
Next in line for the voluntary Covid shot is the 60 to 64 age group. Didier Gamerdinger was unable to pinpoint exactly when that campaign will begin, however he did say that it will be “soon” and that it depends on vaccine supply.
When residents and citizens have been vaccinated, workers in Monaco will then have access to the shot.
 
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Slow progress in vaccination programme

 
Photo by Michael Alesi, Government Communication Department
 
 

Another weekend lockdown for Alpes-Maritimes

by: Cassandra Tanti
10/03/2021

After two consecutive weekend lockdowns, authorities in France have ordered the Alpes-Maritimes to continue with the measure this coming Saturday and Sunday. As a result, Monaco Police are expected to once again strengthen border controls.
Government spokesman Gabriel Attal made the announcement on Wednesday, saying, “It has been decided, and it is a difficult decision, to extend the confinement for this weekend.”
The government will assess the situation next week to determine whether the strict measure has reduced circulation of the Covid-19 virus in the department and the lockdown can be lifted.
“The hospital situation is particularly worrying in Ile-de-France, in Hauts-de-France and in the south,” said the spokesman. “We must redouble our efforts.”
The partial lockdown affects 63 municipalities on the coastal strip of the Alpes-Maritimes, including Menton, Nice and Antibes.
Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi had said on Sunday during a vaccination blitz in the city that he “envisioned” no lockdown for the coming weekend, however the decision has been made at a national level.
“I take note of the decision to extend the weekend confinement taken by the government even if it was not my recommendation,” reacted the mayor on Twitter. “I ask the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes if it is possible to extend from one hour to three hours outings to practice physical activity.”
It means that police in Monaco will once again tighten border controls and increase checks on motorists with a foreign number plate and those entering the Principality at the train station.
While French municipalities surrounding Monaco are affected by the partial lockdown, such as Beausoleil, La Turbie and Cap d’Ail, Monegasque authorities are not applying the same “no-entry” rules as they are to other larger municipalities.
The weekend lockdown will take effect from 6pm Friday 12th and last until 6am Monday 15th March.
 
Related stories:

France ramps up vaccine rollout

300 turned away at border

 
 
Photo by Michael Alesi, Government Communication Department
 
 

Tickets from €19 on Paris-Nice overnight train

by: Stephanie Horsman
10/03/2021

French national railway SNCF has started selling tickets for the revived Paris-Nice overnight service with a launch date set for mid-April. 
The much-anticipated SNCF service for the Paris to Nice overnight train has officially opened, with ticket prices starting at €19 and a launch date set for 16th April.
The service will run six days a week, Monday through Saturday, from Paris Austerlitz station, via Marseille Blancarde, Toulon, Les Arcs Draguinan, Saint Raphaël Valescure, Cannes and Antibes, before ending in Nice Ville.
The trains will have seven carriages and will leave from Paris at 9:52pm, arriving in Nice at a civilised 9:06am the following morning. Return journeys depart Nice at 7:16pm and arrive in Paris at 6:55am.
Passengers can choose €19 reclining seats, six-berth second class compartments starting at €29, or first class four-berth spots from €39. The train will have a dining car as well as paid bike storage.
French Transportation Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari announced the revival of the much-loved service in February as part of his plan to increase the number of night services operating in France to 10 by 2030.
There are expected to be two more overnight services by the end of this year: Paris-Tarbes and Paris-Vienna.
After 2021, there will be a break in introducing new services until 2025 for necessary work on tracks to be completed as well as the purchase of new trains. Djebbari’s hope is to raise funds to pay for these upgrades from the European Union’s Green Deal.
Tickets can be purchased on the Oui.sncf website and app, or in stations, shops and SNCF-approved travel agencies.
 
Photo of Paris train station, source Pixabay
 
 

Roca team chalks up another victory

by: Stephanie Horsman
10/03/2021

AS Monaco Basketball have already secured their spot in the Euro Cup 7 Top 16, but that didn’t stop them going for it against Unicaja Malaga on Tuesday night, when they beat the Spanish team 98 to 89.

The Roca boys already had their Sweet 16 spot clinched when they went on the road to play Unicaja Malaga at the Palacio de Deportes. The 12,000-seat stadium had a bit of life with some 400 spectators allowed to attend, giving slow but steady signals that life is returning to a bit of normalcy.

AS Monaco had a fantastic start to the match and quickly dominated the scoring, especially Mathias Lessort, who was seemingly everywhere at once.

Just before the quarter hour mark, Unicaja seriously stepped up their game with Yannick Nzosa and Francisco Alonso going mad with three-pointers, evening up the score. Monaco found a three-point master of their own to retaliate in the form of Captain Dee Bost, but until halftime it was a battle between two teams who were “en fuego”, and Unicaja had the lead going into the locker room, 48 to 55.

After the halftime break, Monaco fought back hard to regain control. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that they managed to even up the game and, after a Damien Inglis three-pointer, they never looked back. Unicaja continued to fight hard, but they never took back the lead after this. The game ended in a 98-89 victory for the Roca team as they head to the quarterfinals.

Monaco made 28 out 46 shots with an amazing nine for 13 in the three point range. They had 31 rebounds, with 11 by Lessort alone, 13 assists and six steals.

Dee Bost and Lessort were tied for Roca high scorers with 21 points each, followed closely by Damien Inglis who had 16.

“I think we played well from the start in this Euro Cup and we deserve the first place,” said assistant head Coach Mirko Ocokoljic, who was standing in for Zvezdan Mitrovic. “When we saw the group, the teams that made it up, we said to ourselves that it would not be an easy mission. The team knew how to mobilise. From now on, we will prepare for this quarter-final.”

Monaco Basketball returns on 12th March for another away game against ESSM Le Portel Côte d’Opale in a Jeep Elite match starting at 6pm.

 
Monaco Life with AS Monaco Basketball press release, photo by AS Monaco Basketball
 
 

Italy joins UK in grisly milestone

by: Stephanie Horsman
10/03/2021

Italy has become the second European country to pass the 100,000 Covid death marker. Meanwhile, it is the first member of the EU to green light the production of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine.
Until Monday, only the United Kingdom had racked up more than 100,000 Covid deaths since the start of the pandemic. Now, Italy has joined them in this sad milestone, noting 318 deaths on Monday and raising the country’s total to 100,103.
New Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi didn’t paint a hugely sunny picture for Italians in the near future either, saying that the situation will get worse in the coming days as hospitalisations are expected to take a big jump.
Experts are warning the country to brace itself for a surge in new cases over the next few weeks, possibly reaching new daily cases as high as 40,000 unless stricter measures are put in place.
Italy had the first, and one of the strictest, lockdowns in Europe last year.
The government is responding by placing three more regions, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Veneto, on ‘orange’ restrictions, whilst the Campania region, of which Naples is a part, will jump to ‘red’, Italy’s highest risk level.
The new wave is being largely blamed on the highly contagious variant first detected in the UK late last year, but World health Organisation European Regional Director Dr Hans Kluge also contributes the rise in cases to “The opening of society, when it is not done in a safe and controlled manner.”
Meanwhile, Italy has signed a deal with Russia to begin production on the Sputnik V vaccine, the first in the EU to do so.
The announcement came Tuesday via the Italian Russian Chamber of Commerce and was signed with Adienne, maker of drugs for autoimmune diseases and bone marrow transplants, and Krill Dmitriev, CEO of Russian Direct Investment Fund.
“The innovative production process will help create new jobs and allow Italy to control the entire production of the compound,” the chamber said in a statement. Terms regarding financials were not released.
The Sputnik V has not yet been approved for use in Europe, but the Italians are planning to churn out 10 million doses this year starting in July in anticipation of approval. The European Medical Agency began a rolling review of the jab last week, which has had a 91% efficacy rate according to a study published by respected medical journal Lancet.
 
Picture of the Vatican City source Pixabay