Morning headlines – March 16th 2021

Coronavirus and vaccines

• Vaccination in Romania: More than 1.486.000 got vaccinated (more than 722.000 with both doses). In the last 24 hours, more than 49.000 people got vaccinated (more than 9.000 with both doses).
• Coronavirus in Romania: In the last 24 hours, there were recorded 2.972 new SARS CoV-2 cases, 82 deaths and in ICU there are 1.225 people hospitalized. In ICU there are only a few places left, says Mediafax.
• Romania continues the vaccination with AstraZeneca. In Romania, the inoculation campaign with all COVID-19 vaccines authorized within the EU will continue, said the National Coordination Committee for the COVID-10 Vaccination Activities.
• WHO says the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe. WHO continues to recommend the AstraZeneca vaccination, although more and more countries decide to call off the British vaccine use. “At the moment, the assesement is that the lack of vaccination risk with AstraZeneca or other vaccines is bigger than the risk of getting infected with COVID, that we know it has a great impact on people with serious diseases, like hospitalization and death”, says Mariangela Simao, WHO assistant director, says Mediafax.
• Lack of beds and doctors for the Covid ICU sections. The authorities are looking for options to crisis management. On Monday, in Bucharest there were no more available beds in ICU, and in the country the number of available beds is not bigger than 30, according to Mediafax.

Global political and military events

• Great Britain will increase its nuclear stockpile. Prime-minister Boris Johnson will announce, on Tuesday, that Great Britain will increase to with up to 40% the nuclear warheads that it can stock, said on Monday evening The Guardian and The Sun, according to Agerpress. Boris Johnson will tell on Tuesday the Parliament the results of a report on country’s defence, security and foreign policy, which will establish the government’s line for the following decade. According to the two mentioned newspaper, which were able to see the 100 pages document, the government plans to raise the number of warheads to 260, after it previously committed to reduce the stock it has to 180 warheads, somewhere in the midst of 2020.
• The US has the first Amerindian person leading the Homeland Department. Deb Haaland got on Monday the US Senate’s vote, 51 for and 40 against, to enter the Joe Biden’s cabinet, becoming the first native American who became a minister in the United States, says AP.
• Turkey is warning the EU, Greece and Israel. Turkey sent a diplomatic warning to Greece, the EU and Israel, asking them to get an authorization for any exploitation in the continental plateau claimed by Ankara in the Eastern Mediterranean, said on Monday Turkish media sources, according to Agerpress. Turkey relies on a maritime demarcation agreement signed in November 2019 with the Libyan government based on Tripoli to claim a continental plateau extended in the Eastern Mediterranean, where it searched for gas resources, frustrating Greece and Cyprus.
• UN: At least 130 people were killed in Myanmar. At least 138 protesters were killed after the February 1^st coup from Myanmar, said the UN spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, on Monday, quoting data from the High Commissariat for Human Rights, says Agerpress.

Romania’s defence and security

• The motion against the Economy Minister passed the Senate. The Senate will debate and vote, on Tuesday, the simple motion called “A Romania in agony, with Nasui in the Economy” by which the 14 signatories, SDP senators, are asking for the immediate dismissal of the Economy minister, Claudiu Nasui, says Agerpress.
• Romania has built the fuselage of the quickest helicopter. The RoRCraft consortium, composed by INCAS and ROMAERO, have completed the central structure of the Racer helicopter, which will be able to fly at 400 km/h, presented on Monday at an event in Bucharest, said the two companies in a press release.