Morning headlines – March 11th 2021

Coronavirus and vaccines

• Vaccination in Romania: More than 1.290.000 people got vaccinated (more than 672 with both doses). In the last 24 hours, more than 51.000 people got vaccinated (more than 9.000 with both doses).
• Coronavirus in Romania: In the last 24 hours, there were recorded 4.564 new SARS CoV-2 cases, 100 deaths and in ICU there are 1.140 people.
• 20% of the Romanians, immunized after contracting the virus. Alexandru Rafila has stated, on Wednesday night, while invited at “Marius Tuca Show”, at the Aleph New channel, that the coronavirus immunity in Romania is now at least 20%. “The immunity through sickness lasts between 3 and 6 months, except for those who has serious forms of the virus, where there are more antibodies. The vaccination offers a protection, we hope, for 1-2 years”, said Rafila.

Global political and military events

• US-China meeting. The US State Secretary, Antony Blinken, and the presidential counselor for National Security, Jake Sullivan, will meet in Anchorage, Alaska, on March 18^th, with the director of the Office for Foreign Affairs of the Central Commission from China, Jang Jiechi, and Wang Yi, state counselor and foreign affairs minister, says the US State Department, in a press release published on its website.
• The UN condemns the military junta from Myanmar. The UN Security Council has firmly condemned on Wednesday the repressions from Myanmar after the military coup from February 1^st, said diplomats quoted by the France-Presse Agency and Mediapart.
• The US has an attorney general. The appointment of Merrick Garland as US attorney general was confirmed on Wednesday by the US Senate, says AP.
• Russia is building a nuclear power plant for Turkey. Russia is building the first nuclear power plant in Turkey, in Akkuyu, Mersin province, in the south of the country. The nuclear power plant will be ready in 2023, and the president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin have attended together, online, the inauguration of the third phase of the project, welcoming the “friendship” between their nations, says Tass.
• Russia is attacking Syria. More air strikes were reported, on Wednesday evening, in the Maaret Misrin region, in NW Syria, according to the syrianobserver.com. The area is controlled by the rebels supported by Turkey, says the quoted source.

Romania’s defence and security

• Today is the European Day of Terrorism Victims, established by the European Parliament after the March11th 2004 attacks, from Madrid, where 192 people have died, among them 16 Romanians. But the biggest attack in the recent history was the 9/11 attack from the US, which also provoked the War against terrorism that the RoArmy is now part of for almost 20 years. Romania has participated with almost 500.000 military in the two wars, from Afghanistan and Iraq, where more than 30 military have lost their lives and were spent more than 3 billion dollars. Now, the MoND has almost 700 military in Afghanistan and 13 in Iraq.
• SEAP is evolving. The Authority for Romania’s Digitalization is announcing the launch of a new function for the SEAP platform, free for all users. SAD is a completely electronic process, conceived to offer the public institutions access to a group of economic operators able to do the activities they need.