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Europe

The use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in Europe was postponed due to blood clots

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The company postponed the deployment of its vaccine in the EU due to information about thrombosis among those vaccinated with Janssen.

The American company Johnson & Johnson has postponed the start of use in Europe of its Janssen coronavirus vaccine – because of information about the formation of blood clots in people who took it.

This is stated in today’s statement by J&J.

“We have decided in advance to postpone the deployment of our vaccine in Europe,” the document says.

The company, together with European health authorities, is studying data on thrombosis among vaccinated people, as well as working with experts on this issue and advocating for ” open communication of this information to medical professionals and the public.”

Earlier in the day, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended suspending the use of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine.

According to their data, for 6.8 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine administered in the United States, six cases of “rare and complex” cases of thrombosis were detected.

That is, blood clots were formed in 0.0001% of patients. All the victims were women aged 18-48 years, and the side effect appeared in the 6-13 days after vaccination.

Against this background, a meeting of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will be convened on April 14 to assess the potential significance of such cases. The FDA also considers information about thrombosis in vaccinated patients.

“Until this process is complete, as a precautionary measure, we recommend pausing the use of this vaccine,” said CDC Deputy Director Anna Schuchat and director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Peter Marks.

Earlier, similar side effects were found in the AstraZeneca vaccine. This was officially confirmed by the European Medicines Agency, but the reason for this connection remains unclear.

For its part, the World Health Organization noted the high effectiveness of the J&J vaccine against new coronavirus mutations.

World

Sweden doesn’t want US missiles on its territory

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Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hulqvist, in an article published in the Dagens Nyheter newspaper, announced Stockholm’s intention to continue to adhere to military neutrality and not join the North Atlantic Alliance, despite the demands of center-right parties.

“I do not think that the solution to all defense issues in our part of Europe is solved only by membership in NATO,” the Swedish defense minister said.

Earlier in March, the Swedish research agency published data that assesses the military power of the North Atlantic Alliance and its partners. According to their data, compared to Russia, NATO members are poorly prepared for the emergence of a major conflict. Russia will be able to enter the Baltic states in a matter of days, as NATO will be too slow to respond. Russia will have an advantage, because the bloc’s forces are too dispersed, differ in their military capabilities, and their joint training is insufficient.

However, the report said that an armed attack on NATO members, partners, or EU countries by Russia is highly unlikely. However, a serious strategic threat from the West could exacerbate the situation in the region. In other words, Sweden believes that the growing military presence of the United States and NATO at the borders of Russia provokes Moscow to retaliate.

Thus, the US decision to deploy missile defense facilities in Poland and Romania was followed by a response in the form of the transfer of the Iskander missile defense system to the Kaliningrad region. In Sweden, this is well understood, and they do not want to have Russian missiles at their side. However, security in the Scandinavian region does not depend only on Sweden. According to the Swedish defense minister, the possible accession of Sweden to the alliance “will change the situation” for the non-aligned neighboring Finland, a key partner of Stockholm in defense issues. “And Finland has a very long border with Russia.”

Recall that Finland also adheres to the neutral status enshrined in the country’s military doctrine, and Sweden’s accession to NATO will certainly launch a similar process in the neighboring country, which has a long border with Russia.

The involvement of the two Scandinavian countries in NATO will be beneficial only to Washington. At the moment, Sweden and Finland have quite close economic ties and good neighborly relations. In the case of joining the alliance, it will not be limited to military exercises. For example, in same Norway, strategic bombers are already deployed, there is one missile defense facility and another is under construction. The Norwegian Navy is part of the global missile defense system and is equipped with the American Aegis system.

Instead of moving closer to NATO, Stockholm will take the path of modernizing and increasing the capabilities of its own armed forces.

World

G7 urged Russia to stop “provocations”

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The G7 countries call on Russia to stop provocations and immediately reduce tensions, in accordance with international obligations.

The foreign ministers of the G7 countries, as well as the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrel, released a joint statement on Monday, April 12, in which they called on Russia to stop “provocations” near the border with Ukraine.

“These large-scale military movements carried out without prior notice, pose a threat and destabilize the situation. We call on Russia to stop provocations and immediately reduce tensions, in accordance with international obligations,” the G7 said in a statement issued by the UK, which chairs the group.

The document also notes that the G7 and the EU are “very concerned about the large-scale strengthening of Russian forces” near the borders with Ukraine and in Crimea.

The Group of Seven countries said they supported ” Ukraine’s approach based on restraint.”

They reiterated that they support the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine, as well as the efforts of France and Germany to work in the “Normandy format” to achieve the implementation of the Minsk agreements.

Also today, the Head of the US State Department and the NATO Secretary-General discussed the build-up of Russian forces on the border with Ukraine.

World

The Baltic States for the first time refused electricity from Russia

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Latvia, without explanation, stopped commercial imports from Russia for two days, on April 8 and 11, during tests on disconnecting power lines between Belarus and Lithuania to check the power systems before the full exit of the Baltic countries from the BRELL energy ring (Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania).

These days in Russia, due to the termination of export supplies, demand and prices for electricity have fallen. In the Baltic States, the opposite situation occurred, for example, on April 8, Lithuania increased purchases of more expensive electricity from Poland and Sweden to compensate for imports.

The authorities of Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia have decided to abandon the supply of electricity from Russia and Belarus and disconnect from the BRELL power ring in 2019. Instead, the countries intend to synchronize their energy systems with European countries and connect to the EU networks by 2025. At the same time, the Baltic countries are already connected to the EU energy system through Poland (LitPol Link), Sweden (NordBalt), and Finland (Eastlink 1 and Eastlink 2).

In January, it became known that the operator of the main networks of Finland, Fingrid, presented four plans for the development of the country’s energy system, three of which provide for a complete rejection of imports through the development of wind and solar power plants. The country is the largest buyer of Russian energy, the volume of supplies in 2020 reached 22 billion rubles, which is more than a third of all exports. However, in two plans, Finland in the future has planned to completely abandon the energy bridge passing through Vyborg.

Europe

The European Commissioner said that the “Satellite V” will come to the EU too late

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Commissioner for Internal Market Affairs Thierry Breton, who oversees vaccination policy in the European Commission (EC), said that even after the approval of the European regulator, the Russian vaccine “Sputnik V” will come to the EU “too late”.

“I am convinced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will study Sputnik V and give it a correct assessment. But a possible approval would not mean that the vaccine can be produced in sufficient quantities. It usually takes many months before the corresponding products can be established and expanded. For our goal — to vaccinate as many Europeans as possible in the summer — Sputnik V will simply come too late, “ Breton said in an interview with Spiegel.

At the same time, according to him, the European Union will have enough vaccines to achieve collective immunity in the summer.

Breton has previously said that Europe will not need Sputnik V, as the EU has already approved four other drugs, which will be enough to achieve collective immunity. Before that, he called the Russian vaccine good but said that it is necessary to establish its products in the European Union, and in this Russia may need help.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously noted that Moscow does not impose its vaccine on anyone, but when there are statements that it is not needed in Europe, the question arises who’s interests they support-citizens or pharmaceutical companies.