Money Buzz! Europa

Tag: coronavirus vaccine

  • Only 48% of consumers believe post-vaccine life will be better

    Only 48% of consumers believe post-vaccine life will be better

    One year into the pandemic, almost half of consumers (48%) believe post-vaccine life will be better than before the pandemic, EY Index finds.

    Even more, consumers are more worried than four months ago about their health, their families families and their futures.

    The share of people who think they will live in fear of the COVID-19 pandemic for at least another year has risen from 37% (October 2020) to 40% (February 2021).

    Respondents in India and Brazil have consistently been the most concerned overall (more than 90% of consumers) throughout the pandemic, while people across other countries are now more worried about their family’s health than they were four months ago (up 4% in the US and 5% in Japan).

    Respondents in China and Germany said they are increasingly worried about their finances (4% increase) and freedom to enjoy life (more than 10% increase), since October 2020.

    In fact, the COVID-19 pandemic may have accelerated changes that were already underway (36%): moving out of cities, shopping online more and prioritizing health, affordability and sustainability.

    Sentiment about the COVID-19 vaccine

    Most (91%) global respondents do intend to take the vaccine, but 25% said they have ”reservations” and 9% don’t intend to take it at all.

    The latter goes up to 15% in the US and 19% in France but down to 3% in China, 5% in Brazil and 6% in the UK.

    Top reasons influencing global sentiment include being worried about potential side-effects (29%) and not trusting its safety (19%).

    Feelings about the vaccine are also polarized between high- and low-income consumers, which correlates with institutional trust.

    Thus, only 43% of low-income respondents plan to get the vaccine as soon as it is available to them (compared to 54% of high-income respondents).

    This may relate to 37% of low-income respondents having little or no trust in government compared to 28% of high-income respondents.

    Despite concerns, a majority of respondents (56%) would be more likely to shop with retailers that require employees to take the vaccine, while 48% of respondents think that those who refuse to take the vaccine are acting selfishly.

  • Poland to raise the upper age limit for people being given the AstraZeneca vaccine

    Poland to raise the upper age limit for people being given the AstraZeneca vaccine

    Poland will raise the upper age limit for people being given the AstraZeneca vaccine to 69 and will take COVID-19 patients from Slovakia, Reuters reports.

    The upper age limit for the AstraZeneca vaccine had previously been 65.

    A number of European countries have set upper age limits for the AstraZeneca vaccine, mostly at 55 years old.

    3,163,856 vaccine doses were administered in Poland by February 26, at a daily rate of 86,694. This means an average 8.33 doses per 100 people.

  • International Air Carriers Association to launch a travel permit in March

    International Air Carriers Association to launch a travel permit in March

    International Air Carriers Association (IATA) announces the launch of a travel permit in late March 2021.

    A digital system for test results and vaccination certificates will be in place to help international travels, Reuters reports.

    It is essential that governments start issuing digital vaccination certificates to citizens, which will serve as the basis for the travel permit, IATA said.

    The IATA travel permit will put test results for COVID-19 and vaccination certificates in a digital format, which will speed up the check-in process.

    This summer will be very important for many airlines which are trying to survive the restrictions imposed to stop the coronavirus pandemic.

    IATA represents approximately 290 airlines worldwide, equivalent to 82% of global air traffic.

  • The Covid-19 vaccination certificate is not mandatory for travel to Greece

    The Covid-19 vaccination certificate is not mandatory for travel to Greece

    The vaccination certificate will not be a precondition for someone who wants to travel to Greece, said Greek Tourism Minister Haris Theoharis, cited by Novinite.

    Theoharis explained that coronavirus tests will be performed by those who are not vaccinated, but it remains to be seen what will happen, depending on the decisions of the health authorities, who will determine whether the tests will be requested for all visitors.

    He added that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ proposal to the president of the European Commission was meant to shake the waters so that the EU could coordinate the vaccination issue.

    On Tuesday, Mitsotakis called for the creation of an EU-wide COVID-19 vaccination certificate to help relaunch pandemic-ravaged cross-border travel.

    Greek government announced that it will provide 25 million euros in funding for a tourism promotion campaign, in an attempt to attract more visitors this year.

    Greece’s tourism revenues last year reached 4 billion euros, compared to 18 billion euros in 2019, due to global travel restrictions.

  • European Union to buy another 100 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine

    European Union to buy another 100 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine

    European Union new agreement with Pfizer and BioNTech could double coronavirus vaccine stocks, Bloomberg reports.

    According to Bloomberg sources, the new contract would include 100 million doses of the vaccine as well as an option for another 200 million doses.

    EU steps to secure new doses vaccine come a week after the European Commission decided to exercise its option to buy an additional 100 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.

    The European Commission has already ordered 200 million doses of this vaccine.

    In total, the EU has signed agreements for 1.3 billion doses of vaccine with Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca / Oxford, Sanofi / GSK and CureVac, with options to purchase another 660 million doses.