ON THE BRINK
EUROPE'S Covid crisis will last until next year in a massive blow for summer holidays, an expert has warned today.
Jeffrey Lazarus, an associate professor at the University of Barcelona, predicted that Covid cases will continue to be high on the continent in 2021.
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He told Euronews: "We certainly need to realise and prepare for the fact that it is not going to be over by summer as we thought a year ago or maybe half a year ago.
"And it's probably not going to be over by the end of the year.
"At the heart of it is vaccinating faster, we need to vaccinate faster we need to manufacturer the vaccines faster and we need to move beyond the rows between the EU and UK.
"Where we try and secure vaccines from another country, we all need to be working together to fight the virus."
Holidays abroad from Britain will be banned until July, with the risk of a £5,000 fine for anyone trying to leave the country.
Under new Covid laws people will be officially banned from leaving without a reasonable excuse as Europe battles a third wave of the killer bug.
ROUND-THE-CLOCK JABS
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron said the country should be administering vaccines "morning, noon and evening".
During a visit to an vaccination hub in Valenciennes today, Mr Macron said: "We're going to change pace from April."
He said there should be "no weekend and days off when it comes to vaccinations".
France and its neighbours are suffering a third wave of infections that threatens recovery in Europe’s largest economies.
Hospitals could face an “unprecedented shock” within three weeks as infections explode, according to the head of France's hospital federation.
New Covid restrictions that closed non-essential stores and limited how far people can move came into effect in Paris and much of the north last weekend, but Macron stopped short of a full lockdown.
Similar restrictions have been introduced in Germany from the beginning of April, as Chancellor Angela Merkel declared the country was in a "new pandemic".
She blamed an "exponential" rise in coronavirus cases as the reason for the restrictions, saying the Kent Covid strain had caused the increase.
She said: "Essentially, we have a new virus... it is much deadlier, much more infectious and infectious for much longer.
"The situation is serious. Case numbers are rising exponentially and intensive care beds are filling up again."
Germany had been easing restrictions until now, reopening schools in late February and allowing hairdressers to open in March.
BOTCHED ROLL-OUT
Europe's botched vaccination roll-out has also caused Covid cases to rise.
Deaths are falling but there are fears that they will increase as cases spike.
The EU has threatened to block AstraZeneca jabs from coming to Britain, to stock up on its own supplies.
Europe's third wave of Covid infections is gathering pace as its vaccine roll-out has seen just eight per cent of its population given at least one dose.
Meanwhile, the UK, which is to begin lifting its lockdown in the coming weeks amid falling cases, has given at least one dose to 50 per cent of adults.
That has led the EU to threaten to block AstraZeneca's jabs from coming to Britain in order to shore up its supplies.
Britain has warned the EU that it would have "no choice" but to block vaccine ingredient exports to the continent if the EU triggers a full blown jab ban.
One senior member of the government told The Sun today “politically and morally it's a no brainer” adding that “the British public would not put up” with anything else.
Meanwhile, most people in the biggest European Union member states — including Germany, France, Spain and Italy — now view AstraZeneca's vaccine as unsafe, a poll revealed.
This is largely thanks to the EU countries’ knee-jerk ban after dozens of isolated cases of blood clots and brain haemorrhages.
EU Covid cases and deaths are surging largely thanks to the EU's shambolic jab program, which is now made worse by leaders raising doubts about the safety of the AstraZeneca jab.
Startling images show empty vaccination centres as people shun the Oxford vaccination.
Now desperate EU bureaucrats are trying to block AstraZeneca vaccine exports to Britain.
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But new YouGov poll results released today found that the majority of people in France, Germany, Spain and Italy viewed the vaccine as unsafe after it was bad-mouthed by European leaders.
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The figure in France for those who thought negatively of the jab was 61 per cent, compared to 55 per cent in Germany.
More than half the Spanish – 52 per cent – thought the jab was unsafe, while the figure for the Italians was 43 per cent.
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Dr Hilary Jones warns a third Covid wave in Europe will hit UK and any new variants could put hit holidays abroad