In Brief: France to amend entry requirement

PARIS • The French government on Friday said it would scrap the requirement for a negative Covid-19 test result for all vaccinated travellers arriving in the country. From yesterday, "proof of vaccination will be sufficient to come to France whatever country you are coming from, just as it was before the spread of the Omicron variant", said a government statement.

The move coincided with "the new phase of the pandemic characterised in most countries by the predominance of the Omicron variant and higher vaccination rates".

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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Belgium's Covid-19 curbs eased further

BRUSSELS • Belgium announced further easing of coronavirus restrictions on Friday to allow nightclubs to reopen and dropped the requirement for primary school pupils to wear masks, as cases of the Omicron variant fell from an end-of-January peak.

"The successive waves have not been easy for us," Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told a news conference, referring to back-to-back Omicron and Delta variant surges. "But we have got through them and we have got through them together."

Covid-19 infections have fallen from a record 75,000 on Jan 24 to an average of around 23,000 in the week to Feb 7.

REUTERS

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New study on Pfizer, Moderna efficacy

WASHINGTON • The efficacy of third doses of the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines wanes substantially by the fourth month after administration, a new study by the US Centres of Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday.

During the Omicron-predominant period, vaccine efficacy against Covid-associated emergency department or urgent care visits was 87 per cent during the two months after a third dose, but fell to 66 per cent by the fourth month.

Vaccine efficacy against hospitalisation was 91 per cent in the first two months, but fell to 78 per cent by the fourth month after a third dose.

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

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WHO: 'Acute phase' of pandemic near end

CAPE TOWN • The head of the World Health Organisation has said the acute phase of the pandemic could end this year, if around 70 per cent of the world gets vaccinated.

"Our expectation is that the acute phase of this pandemic will end this year, of course with one condition, the 70 per cent vaccination (target is achieved) by mid this year around June, July," Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in South Africa on Friday.

"If that is to be done, the acute phase can really end, and that is what we are expecting. It's in our hands. It's not a matter of chance. It's a matter of choice."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE