18 March 2021: More than 3,000 new cases a day now on average…

18 March 2021: In the week to 14 March 3051 people tested positive, this is an increase of 28% on the week. Also, the pressure on hospitals has increased significantly in recent days: more than 2000 people with Covid are hospitalized and more than 500 patients are now in critical care. Hospitals have been instructed to set aside half of all their ICU beds for Covid patients, meaning that elective surgery will be postponed again. Meanwhile, the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine continues to make headlines across the world and has been a major topic of discussion in Belgium. We are one of the few countries in Europe that continues to use it. In doing so, Belgium is following the advice of the EMA, which has said that the benefits of the vaccine still outweigh the risks. They say that so far, no causal link between the vaccine and blood clots has been found, and that the incidence of thromboembolic events in vaccinated people does not appear to be higher than in the general population. Later today the EMA will issue an updated opinion on the safety of the vaccine after a more in-depth analysis of the data. Today I’m posting another vignette from the Aiguille du Midi - French Alps, Chamonix, France.