POLITICO |
- UK approves Pfizer’s COVID-19 antiviral Paxlovid
- Ireland cuts COVID-19 quarantine as 92 percent of cases now Omicron
- Biden-Putin call ushers in new phase of diplomacy
- POLITICO’s quiz of the year
- What all the cool Eurocrats will be saying next year
- 2021 in pictures
- ‘We have to be faster than the virus:’ Olaf Scholz urges Germans to get jabbed
- French government: EU-based Brits can travel through France — for now
- Greece follows US lead in halving coronavirus quarantine
- ‘Poland has crossed the Rubicon.’ Tusk’s lawyer slams government over alleged spyware use.
| UK approves Pfizer’s COVID-19 antiviral Paxlovid Posted: 31 Dec 2021 05:00 AM PST The U.K.'s drugs regulator on Friday approved the use of a second oral COVID-19 pill to be taken at home. The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said Pfizer's Paxlovid can be given to people aged 18 and older with mild to moderate symptoms and who are at risk of developing severe disease. This includes people with obesity, diabetes or heart disease, or those over 60. In a clinical trial in this patient group, Paxlovid, which is a combination of two pills, reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by 89 percent compared with those given a placebo. For those who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, "this treatment could be life-saving," said June Raine, chief executive of the MHRA. The Omicron coronavirus variant rapidly surging across the country has squeezed the availability of effective treatment options. The variant has mutations that can dodge the protective effects of Roche/Regeneron's monoclonal antibody Ronapreve, which has been used for some time in the U.K. Scientists believe that antivirals, which attack a different part of the virus preventing it from replicating, are more likely to remain effective against Omicron. Research in this area is ongoing. Paxlovid is the second oral antiviral to be conditionally approved for use in the U.K. recently, after MSD/Ridgeback's molnupiravir, also known as Lagevrio, was also authorized on November 4. Both are used to treat people at home and both medicines must be given within five days of symptoms. Gilead's remdesivir is another antiviral to treat COVID-19, but this requires intravenous administration. The U.K.'s Antiviral Taskforce has signed a deal for 2.23 million treatment courses with Lagevrio and 2.75 million regimens of Paxlovid. The task force has launched a real-world study of molnupiravir, also known as Lagevroio, to understand its efficacy in a highly vaccinated population. This antiviral demonstrated around 30 percent reduced risk of hospitalization or death versus a placebo in at-risk people. The PANORAMIC study will most likely be adjusted to include Paxlovid once it is approved, trial investigators told journalists recently. The government and the NHS will confirm how this COVID-19 treatment will be given to patients in due course, the MHRA said. In Europe, the European Medicines Agency provided guidance on the use of both Pfizer and MSD's antivirals for use in an emergency. |
| Ireland cuts COVID-19 quarantine as 92 percent of cases now Omicron Posted: 31 Dec 2021 03:09 AM PST Ireland has cut its isolation time for people diagnosed with COVID-19 who have had their booster jab after a significant surge in coronavirus cases over the Christmas period has put health services under pressure. The shorter quarantine period of seven days, as opposed to 10, also applies to those who have had their first vaccination course and subsequently been infected within the last three months. After seven days and only if symptoms have resolved for the last two days, people can leave their homes, but are required to minimize contacts, wear masks and take an antigen test before meeting other people. The country, which contained coronavirus cases to around 5,000 a day or lower throughout most of December, has seen rates jump from 7,411 just before Christmas to 20,554 on Thursday. "While our booster rollout program is going extremely well, the extent to which the epidemic is continuing to accelerate means that there is still significant concern regarding the likely impact of such high case counts on our health services," said Health Minister Stephen Donnelly in a statement Thursday evening. The rate of the surge has forced the health ministry to also limit PCR testing to those over 40 and under three years old with symptoms. Others must isolate and use antigen tests; they can only have a PCR test to confirm a positive antigen test result. Donnelly said that 92 percent of cases in Ireland were now due to the Omicron variant of concern. Omicron is sweeping across Europe at a rapid pace. France on Thursday also announced that the variant is now dominant, accounting for two thirds of all cases. The Paris region, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Corsica and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes have the highest rates of infection currently, Public Health France said, with rates highest among younger adults. Rates of hospitalization and critical care admissions are mostly stable, the agency said. Omicron is also the dominant strain in the U.K., Portugal and Denmark. |
| Biden-Putin call ushers in new phase of diplomacy Posted: 30 Dec 2021 07:49 PM PST President Joe Biden warned President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that continuing Russia's aggressive military buildup on the border with Ukraine could force NATO to move more troops into eastern Europe and reiterated any further violation of its territory would exact "serious costs and consequences," administration officials said. But they also expressed hope that more formal "strategic stability talks" between Washington and Moscow, which are set for January on a myriad of issues, could lead to a path out of the current crisis. "President Biden laid out two aspects of the U.S. approach that will really depend on Russia's actions in the period ahead," a senior administration official told reporters after the afternoon call Washington time. "One is a path of diplomacy leading toward a declaration of the situation and the other is a path that is more focused on deterrence, including serious costs and consequences should Russia choose to proceed with a further invasion of Ukraine." The official said that includes "adjustments and augmentation of NATO force posture in allied countries" as well as "additional assistance to Ukraine to enable it to further defend itself and its territory." In a statement, White House press secretary Jen Psaki also said Biden told Putin that the U.S. and its allies "will respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine." Putin's foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, reportedly said “unprecedented sanctions” leveled on Russia by the U.S. could cause “most serious damage” and a “total severance of relations.” But the Russian side, which has threatened in recent days that moves to include Ukraine in NATO would lead to a major war in Europe, appeared to strike a positive tone after the call. Ushakov reportedly said that Biden told the Russian leader that the United States would not place missiles in Ukraine. "It is interesting that Ushakov kind of sounded an upbeat, optimistic note shortly after the call, saying that Biden had … reassure that the U.S. doesn't have the intention of putting missiles in Ukraine," said John Hardie, a Russia expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a hawkish think tank. "From the Russian side, they seem slightly more optimistic than they were overall." Psaki also relayed the president's hopes for the more formal schedule of talks between the two governments on a host of topics, ranging from Ukraine to nuclear weapons and cyber attacks, as well as separate discussions at the NATO-Russia Council and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which also includes Ukraine. "President Biden reiterated that substantive progress in these dialogues can occur only in an environment of de-escalation rather than escalation," Psaki said. The senior administration official told reporters that the upcoming meetings will address a range of concerns about Russian behavior, yet "there will be some degree of overlap among the different conversations." "We will make very clear and come to a very clear understanding, and have already set about doing that, as to exactly what the agenda of each set of conversations will be and that is going to be some of the focus of the diplomacy over the next week, 10 days," the official said. Biden and Putin's call was their second this month, after the American president warned his Russian counterpart three weeks ago that the United States and European allies would impose "strong" economic penalties and other punitive actions on Russia should it mount an invasion of Ukraine. But this time, Putin requested the conversation. The senior administration official described it as "part of a series of … end-of-the-year calls that President Putin has been engaged in." "But this was not sort of mere pleasantries," the official added. "This was a serious, substantive conversation." Putin's overture has sparked suspicion among some close observers of the crisis that he is trying to take advantage of Biden to maximize his next aggressive move. "I'm concerned that what he is doing is trying to collect intelligence on Biden or setting the groundwork for what he intends to do anyway," said Evelyn Farkas, former deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia in the Obama administration. "It's fraught for him." "It is quite possible [Putin] has decided to invade," she added. "I think Biden had to take the call, but to me it is not necessarily a good sign. Some people have said this might be Putin trying to de-escalate. I am afraid that is not the case, that it is the opposite." Russia has been building up its military forces and constructing new bases along the eastern border of Ukraine for months, including troops, armored vehicles and supplies that could indicate plans for a full and extended invasion. Satellite images in recent weeks have shown little sign Moscow is pulling back — and even some signs of expanding — even as diplomatic efforts have inched forward. The U.S. view remains that Moscow needs to pull back its troops from the border before any agreement that takes into Russia's public concerns about NATO expansion can be addressed. "For there to be real progress in these talks, for us to get to a place where we have security and stability in Europe … de-escalation rather than escalation will be required," a senior administration official told reporters ahead of the call. "Obviously that will be a part of what President Biden communicates to President Putin." The Biden administration also insists it is prepared to send more military equipment to Ukraine to help it defend itself. "We are prepared to provide Ukraine with further assistance to defend its territory and respond to a potential Russian occupation should a further invasion proceed in the coming weeks," another senior administration official told reporters ahead of the call. "This is a crisis of the Kremlin's making," said Simon Miles, an assistant professor at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy and an expert on Russia. "Hopefully the talks between Russia's and the United States' leaders are productive," he added. "But in all likelihood, a solution will need to involve the Ukrainian government as well." Hardie says he is "pessimistic about the prospects for diplomacy and suspicious about what the Kremlin is doing." Putin's overtures, he warned, could be a "smokescreen, a pretext for eventual military action." |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2021 07:02 PM PST Here's our (reasonably COVID-free) look back at the year. |
| What all the cool Eurocrats will be saying next year Posted: 30 Dec 2021 07:01 PM PST New year, new buzzwords. Every year, new words enter the lexicon and we overuse them and then stop using them, and then look back a few years later and wonder what we were on about. Lexicographers at the Oxford English Dictionary went for “vax” as their word of the year for 2021, and of course Brussels has its own, somewhat more complicated, jargon we all hope will one day go away: such as “Coreper,” “Fiscal Compact” and “subsidiarity.” So what will be the EU’s words of 2022? Here are few suggestions: Pangela: An intense feeling of missing Angela Merkel. As in, “there’s a massive crisis in the EU and I can feel a terrible Pangela attack coming on.” FUKUS: Surprise new security alliance between France, the U.K. and the U.S. Also: What French people suspect Britain and the U.S. are permanently trying to do with their foreign policy. Example: "Mon Dieu! After AUKUS, now they want to FUKUS!" Qataracts: Vision problems caused by pretending to focus on human rights concerns around the 2022 World Cup while really only caring about the football. "Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron talking about forced labor in Doha? Serious Qataracts!" Manusplaining: Patronizing use of blindingly obvious points and clichés to expound on the French president's reelection chances. Expected to reach a peak in April 2022. Must include references to Napoleon, de Gaulle and Monsieur Hulot. SchLepen: Power couple of Olaf Scholz and Marine Le Pen (to be used only if the latter wins the French presidential election). ROLOLZ: Amusement at EU attempts to make Poland and Hungary pay any attention whatsoever to the rule of law. Example: "Did you hear von der Leyen's speech today? Totes ROLOLZ!" Super-dreader event: Panel discussion in the Brussels Bubble on a technical issue. Preventative measures to avoid a super-dreader event include washing your hands (of any involvement in organizing the thing) and social distancing — i.e. leaving town, disabling Zoom and uninstalling all social media apps. How to avoid a super-dreader event: Watch out for danger words such as “moderator,” “think tank” and “financial instrument taxonomy.” Squid Game: Annual negotiations on fish quotas in the Council. The loser dies. Trialogue: New Polish form of justice based on EU-decision making, combining a criminal trial with a three-sided mediation process. The accused faces a panel of three independent judges — a legal expert, appointed by the Law and Justice party; a government minister from the Law and Justice Party; and Jarosław Kaczyński. This diverse panel ensures no interference by any political party, except Law and Justice, which is totally fine because it has the words “law” and “justice” in its name. |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2021 07:00 PM PST JanuaryJanuary 6: Supporters of Donald Trump storm the U.S. Capitol building.
January 20: Joe Biden brings the U.S. back into the Paris Climate Agreement.  January 26: The world surpasses 100 million recorded COVID-19 cases.  Changing of the guard
FebruaryFebruary 1: The world surpasses 100 million COVID-19 vaccines administered.  Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is sentenced to prison on February 2, and loses an appeal against the decision on February 20.
In memoriam
MarchMarch 23: The ship Ever Given gets stuck in the Suez Canal for six days.  AprilApril 7: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is relegated to a sofa in a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara.  MayMay 14: The Israeli Iron Dome missile defense system (left) intercepts rockets (right) fired by Hamas towards southern Israel.  May 23: Belarus forces a Ryanair plane carrying journalist Roman Protasevich to land in Minsk, where the activist is arrested.  JuneThe UK hosts the G7 summit in Cornwall.  JulySeveral European countries are hit by severe flooding.
Tokyo finally gets to host the 2020 Olympic Games.  AugustThe Taliban make rapid gains in Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrawal, resulting in Western nations scrambling to evacuate embassy staff and civilians.
SeptemberGerman elections are held on September 26, with Olaf Scholz’s SPD winning 25.7 percent of the vote.  OctoberThe United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) begins in Glasgow on October 31.  NovemberPoland beefs up security on its border with Belarus after hundreds of migrants head toward the border.  DecemberThe Omicron coronavirus variant sweeps across the world and results in further restrictions. Below, people sunbathe in Lima, Peru.  |
| ‘We have to be faster than the virus:’ Olaf Scholz urges Germans to get jabbed Posted: 30 Dec 2021 03:01 PM PST German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will use his New Year speech to urge people to get their coronavirus vaccine or booster shot without delay, so they are “armed” against the spread of the new Omicron variant. “The benefits of vaccination are really huge. It is precisely the new virus variant that should now tip the scales in favor of getting vaccinated,” Scholz will say in his first New Year address to the nation, which will be televised on Friday evening, according to a transcript. “This is the way out of this pandemic,” Scholz will say, calling on citizens to make a vaccine appointment “right away” or use the opportunity to get the shot without an appointment. This appeal is also directed toward those who have already been vaccinated but still need to get their booster shot, the chancellor will say. Scholz will vow to administer an additional 30 million jabs across Germany until the end of January to be “armed” against the Omicron variant. “Speed is now of the essence. We have to be faster than the virus!” Scholz will say. “Let’s do everything together — but really everything — so that we can finally defeat corona in the new year.” With only about 71 percent of the population fully vaccinated, Germany is lagging behind other EU countries such as Italy, Denmark, Spain and Portugal. Appealing to vaccine skeptics, Scholz will argue that almost four billion people around the world have already been vaccinated “without major side effects.” Scholz’s speech won’t rule out that new restrictions might be necessary to fight off the Omicron variant, as he will promise to act “quickly and decisively” to end the pandemic. Referring to the most recent coronavirus restrictions in Germany, which as of this week limit private gatherings to 10 people, the chancellor will appeal to citizens to “please take these restrictions very seriously” in the coming weeks. He will also thank those helping to fight the pandemic, such as doctors, nurses and the military, and argue that he does not agree with the complaint that German society has been “divided” by the pandemic: “I would like to say here with all clarity: the opposite is true! Our country stands together.” Scholz will also use his speech to refer to the rotating presidency of the Group of Seven (G7) countries, which Germany assumes in the coming year. Scholz will say that he wants to use the presidency to make the G7 “a pioneer for a climate-neutral economy and a fair world.” “In a world that will soon have 10 billion inhabitants, our voice will only be heard if we join forces with many others,” Scholz will say in reference to the G7 presidency. He will also stress his support for a strong and sovereign EU “that lives by its shared values of peace, the rule of law and democracy.” This article is part of POLITICO's premium policy service: Pro Health Care. From drug pricing, EMA, vaccines, pharma and more, our specialized journalists keep you on top of the topics driving the health care policy agenda. Email pro@politico.eu for a complimentary trial. |
| French government: EU-based Brits can travel through France — for now Posted: 30 Dec 2021 09:54 AM PST The French government has said that British citizens living in the EU are allowed to travel through France to get back home after visiting the United Kingdom — but only during the holiday period. The announcement will come as a relief to British nationals who have faced long, often complicated journeys since Eurotunnel announced Wednesday evening that EU-based Brits wouldn’t be able to travel through France by car and would be turned away from its terminal. The company cited a French government decision from Tuesday, saying: "Unless they hold French residency, British citizens are now considered 3rd country citizens and can no longer transit France by road to reach their country of residence in the EU." The French Interior Ministry on Thursday confirmed those rules, which were prompted by a rise in cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant in Britain. But the ministry said the rules should be temporarily relaxed because many British nationals traveled "in good faith" to the U.K. for the Christmas holidays, and are now struggling to return home to the EU. "Faced with this situation, instructions of tolerance have been sent to police officers at the borders with the United Kingdom, in order to allow these nationals to transit through France to reach their residence in a country of the European Union, after this Christmas and New Year period," the ministry said. Eurotunnel confirmed that it will allow EU-based British nationals back on its services to France, provided passengers made their journey to Britain before December 28. Brits heading back to their EU homes have had to deal with often contradictory information. Only a few hours before France's announcement — which came in an emailed response to a question from POLITICO — the U.K. embassy in France said that Brits couldn't travel via France. "French govt has indicated that [British] nationals traveling from the UK will not be permitted to transit France to return to their country of residence unless they are travelling by air," it wrote in a tweet. This article is part of POLITICO's premium policy service: Pro Mobility. From the digitization of the automotive sector to aviation policy, logistics and more, our specialized journalists keep you on top of the topics driving the Mobility policy agenda. Email pro@politico.eu for a complimentary trial. |
| Greece follows US lead in halving coronavirus quarantine Posted: 30 Dec 2021 09:45 AM PST ATHENS — Greece has reduced quarantine for coronavirus patients to five days from 10, as new infections skyrocket. The step follows the U.S. lead in halving to five days isolation for people who test positive for coronavirus but show no symptoms, and reflects a judgment call that the newly dominant Omicron variant is, in many cases, mild enough to allow people who catch it to get back to work sooner. Spain said on Wednesday it was reducing quarantine for positive cases to seven days from 10, while Italy has scrapped quarantine for people who are vaccinated and who come into contact with a person who has caught COVID-19. Governments say the move should avert mass staff absences due to illness at hospitals and other essential services. Greece followed the new guideline set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control on the advice of its own committee of health experts, after the country of 11 million set its fourth consecutive daily record of 35,580 cases on Thursday — up fivefold from a week ago. "The evidence we have from Omicron is encouraging," Health Minister Thanos Plevris told local TV. According to the new quarantine and isolation guidance by Greece’s public health agency, people infected with COVID can return to work after five days if they have no or mild symptoms. They must wear high protection masks. "This is expected to also help ease possible pressure on the public services in the coming days, due to the higher number of infections," a senior government official said. Health care personnel that have been in contact with COVID patients, and have been triple vaccinated, will have to continue work with a mandatory PCR test on the third day after exposure. Those with two doses will have to take a PCR test on the first, third, fifth and seventh day after exposure. For the general public, those who come into contact with a confirmed case will have to quarantine for five days and then get tested. Quarantine is not required for those who have already received a booster shot. |
| ‘Poland has crossed the Rubicon.’ Tusk’s lawyer slams government over alleged spyware use. Posted: 30 Dec 2021 07:28 AM PST WARSAW — Accusations that the Polish government has been spying on journalists, lawyers and opposition politicians have pushed the country’s democracy to a tipping point, according to Donald Tusk’s lawyer. "This goes to the heart of the issue of judicial independence and is a genuinely serious moment in Poland's democracy," Roman Giertych, a former ally of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party turned prominent opposition lawyer, told POLITICO. Giertych, who also represents ex-foreign minister Radosław Sikorski, said the allegations show that Poland has now become a “de facto one-party state, where the separation of powers is effectively meaningless. They have crossed the Rubicon." "This government is now using legislation and special powers reserved to fight terrorism for its own political goals," Giertych said. "The [office of the] prosecutor was being used as an instrument to attack the opposition ahead of the 2019 elections." The spyware in question, known as Pegasus and made by the Israeli NSO Group, turns phones into spying devices, enabling the user to read messages, look at photos and track locations. Citizen Lab — a Canada-based cybersecurity watchdog — said last week that Pegasus had been used against Giertych, opposition activist Ewa Wrzosek and Krzysztof Brejza, who coordinated the opposition Civic Platform's (PO) 2019 election campaign. Wrzosek is an independent prosecutor who has opposed the government's judicial reforms and ordered an investigation into whether the 2020 presidential elections should have been postponed. Citizen Lab said it detected spyware being used in Poland as far back as November 2017. The Rzeczpospolita daily newspaper reported that Giertych had been tracked using Pegasus software in 2019 and that his phone was hacked at least 18 times. Giertych — education minister in the first PiS government (2005-2007) as a member of the League of Polish Families party — was arrested by the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) in October 2020, accused of money laundering. His arrest took place the day before a scheduled detention hearing in another politically explosive case, that of Leszek Czarnecki, owner of Idea Bank and then suspect in an investigation into what was called the GetBack affair. Tusk, who served as president of the European Council between 2014 and 2019 and is now leader of PO, has called for a parliamentary inquiry into the spyware allegations. PiS has a majority in the lower house of parliament and is unlikely to back such an inquiry. "We have filed against [Interior Minister Zbigniew] Ziobro at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for violations of human rights," said Giertych. A distraction?The issue comes as Poland and Brussels continue to spar over Warsaw’s judicial reforms and what the European Commission has described as Poland's democratic backsliding. The question of whose judicial rules take precedent, Poland’s or the EU’s, is at the crux of the struggle. Poland is accused of flouting and not abiding by EU rules. The timing is also interesting, with the allegations coming during a delicate domestic political period for the PiS-led government. This week, it failed to pass a controversial flagship media bill effectively banning foreign media ownership. It is also straining to cope with a series of allegedly Russian-initiated moves to push refugees illegally into Poland, and ongoing issues surrounding the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline as tensions in Ukraine heighten. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Tuesday said the spyware reports were "fake news" and that he had no knowledge of any surveillance. He added that if there had been any, it might not have been the work of Polish intelligence services. Stanisław Żaryn, spokesperson for the ministry in charge of the special services, also denied the claims but did not confirm or deny whether Poland had used Pegasus. He told reporters that "operational work" in Poland can only be carried out on request from the prosecutor general after a court order. Ziobro, who has led the government's campaign to reform the judiciary and, his critics say, politicize the prosecutor's office, said he had "no knowledge of unlawful activities taking place in Poland" regarding invigilation of citizens. Want more analysis from POLITICO? POLITICO Pro is our premium intelligence service for professionals. From financial services to trade, technology, cybersecurity and more, Pro delivers real time intelligence, deep insight and breaking scoops you need to keep one step ahead. Email pro@politico.eu to request a complimentary trial. |
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