VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

FILE PHOTO: People wait after receiving a shot of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at a mass vaccination center located inside a gym in Prague, Czech Republic, March 18, 2021. REUTERS/David W Cerny - 

The Czech Health Ministry is preparing a decree making COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for people over 60, as well as workers in critical sectors such as medical staff, police, soldiers and firefighters, news website www.idnes.cz reported on Friday (Dec 3).

The government has been considering compulsory vaccinations due to lagging inoculation numbers compared with west European nations. The country of 10.7 million has been one of the world's worst-hit in recent weeks by a surge in infections.

Some other European countries have begun moving towards compulsory vaccinations, including the Czech Republic's neighbour Austria, which has mandated shots for all citizens.

"It is clear that Europe is turning toward compulsory vaccination against COVID-19. Czechia should take the same path," the website quoted Vojtech as saying.

It said the decree should be published next week, with the vaccine mandate effective from March.

But whether it remains in place long enough to take effect could be in doubt, as the government is due to be replaced by a centre-right coalition later this month following an election in October. The new coalition has been against compulsory vaccination for age groups, and lukewarm on mandatory vaccination for professions.

Just 59.6 per cent of Czechs are vaccinated, compared to an EU average of 66.3 per cent, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Inoculation numbers rose in the past weeks as the government banned access for those not vaccinated to restaurants and other services from November. There have however been public protests against vaccination and epidemiological measures.

An opinion poll by the STEM agency released on Friday showed 19 per cent of the population remained opposed to getting the shots.

It said the public was split 43 per cent to 43 per cent on supporting or rejecting compulsory vaccination.

The Czech Republic has reported 33,450 coronavirus deaths since the start of the pandemic, one of the worst rates per capita globally//CNA

FILE PHOTO: A medical specialist holds the hand of a patient suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the intensive care unit (ICU) of Toxicology and Sepsis clinic of the Riga East Clinical University Hospital in Riga, Latvia. REUTERS/Janis Laizans - 

Europe crossed 75 million coronavirus cases on Friday (Dec 3), according to a Reuters tally, as the region braces for the new Omicron variant at a time when hospitals in some countries are already strained by the current surge.

More than 15 countries in Europe have reported confirmed cases of the new variant that has rattled financial markets. The European Union's public health agency said on Thursday that the Omicron variant could be responsible for more than half of all COVID-19 infections in Europe within a few months.

Even before the discovery of Omicron, Europe was pandemic's epicentre with 66 out of every 100 new infections each day coming from European countries, according to a Reuters analysis.

Eastern Europe has 33 per cent of the total reported cases and about 53 per cent of the total reported deaths in Europe. It makes up 39 per cent of the region's population.

The United Kingdom has so far reported the highest total number of coronavirus cases in the region followed by Russia, France and Germany.

The Reuters data shows the pace of the pandemic has picked up speed in the second half of 2021. Europe has reported highest daily average of 359,000 new cases in second half as compared with highest daily cases of about 241,000 a day in the first half of the year.

It took 136 days for the European region to go from 50 million cases to 75 million, compared with 194 days it took to get from 25 to 50 million while the first 25 million cases were reported in 350 days.

To deal with that surge, several European governments reimposed limits on activity, ranging from Austria's full lockdown to a partial lockdown in the Netherlands and restrictions on the unvaccinated in parts of Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Vaccine hesitancy is a global phenomenon, but experts say central Europeans may be particularly sceptical, decades after the collapse of Communist rule eroded public trust in state institutions.

In Latvia, one of the least vaccinated countries in the EU, bodies at the morgue ended up stacked on top of each other, unclaimed for days, as relatives fight queues at cemeteries to bury them. Hospitals in the Czech Republic, where only 62per cent of the population has gotten at least one dose, are strained by the number of COVID patients.

Germany's air force has transferred COVID patients from full hospitals to others within the country using "flying intensive care units."

In Ukraine, where only 30 per cent have gotten at least a first dose, the average number of COVID deaths a day recently set records//CNA

FILE PHOTO: A woman wearing a protective face mask, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, walks by pedestrians along 34th street outside Pennsylvania Station in New York City, U.S., November 22, 2021. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton - 

COVID-19 vaccine makers have contingency plans to deal with the Omicron variant that include a combination vaccine against the original version and the variant as well as a variant-specific booster dose, a top US health official said on Friday (Dec 3).

The US government is working with Moderna, Pfizer, and J&J on multiple contingency plans, infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci told reporters at a White House briefing. 

"One is to rev up the production of the vaccines that they already have. The next is to make, for example, a bivalent, where you have the vaccine against both the ancestral strain and the new variant, and the other is to make a variant-specific boost," said Fauci.

"They are now assuming they may have to do that and are being prepared for that," he added.

Data from a National Institutes of Health study strongly suggest that existing boosters provide cross protection against a number of variants, including Omicron, Fauci said.

"Although we haven't proven it yet, there's every reason to believe that if you get vaccinated and boosted that you would have at least some degree of cross protection, very likely against severe disease, even against the Omicron variant."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working with local authorities to investigate suspect cases of the Omicron variant in states other than those where cases have already been reported, Director Rochelle Walensky said at the briefing.

There have been cases of Omicron detected in about 40 countries, she said, but the Delta variant remains the dominant strain in the United States.

"I know that the news is focused on Omicron. But we should remember that 99.9 per cent of cases in the country right now are from the Delta variant. Delta continues to drive cases across the country, especially in those who are unvaccinated," she said//CNA

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin embarks on a working visit to West Java and Bali from the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in Jakarta on Saturday (December 4, 2021). (ANTARA/HO-Vice President's Secretariat/KT) - 

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin inaugurated the COVID-19 Heroes Monument in Bandung, West Java, on Saturday as a tribute to the people, who succumbed to the COVID-19 infection.

"For almost two years we fought together against the COVID-19 pandemic, and during those two years, we have lost many of our siblings, who passed away in struggle and sacrifice," Amin remarked.

The vice president also expressed his deep condolences over the demise of health workers and the community due to COVID-19. Hence, the COVID-19 Heroes Monument is a historic memorial that Indonesia once passed the great predicament of the pandemic crisis, he affirmed.

"This COVID-19 Heroes Monument is a reminder that our nation has passed a great test. The Indonesian government and people have trusted each other and came through," he explained.

The COVID-19 Heroes Monument is located in the Struggle Monument of West Java complex in front of the Gasibu Field, Japati Street.

Etched on the monument are 281 names of health workers, civil servants, and COVID-19 volunteers that passed away while fulfilling their tasks during the pandemic.

Earlier, West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil stated that the COVID-19 Heroes Monument was inaugurated to honor the forefront workers in handling the pandemic in Indonesia, especially in West Java.

"Our message is do not leave our history behind," Kamil remarked.

The idea of building the COVID-19 Heroes Monument emerged during the welcome plaza construction in the Struggle Monument of West Java complex. Some 281 names of people of West Java are inscribed on the memorial as a mark of remembrance of their services and sacrifice in fighting COVID-19.

As per the vice president's agenda for West Java and Bali, his working visit will come to end on Sunday, December 5. 

After inaugurating the COVID-19 Heroes Monument, Amin opened the 2021 Muktamar (Islamic congress) and Indonesian Muslim Scholars Association (ICMI) 31st celebrations in Bandung//ANT