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European Commission takes legal action against AstraZeneca: The European Commission is taking legal action against the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for failing to solve problems with the delivery of its coronavirus vaccine.
Hungary expects EU funding without any reduction for breaches of the rule of law: Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban met European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday evening to discuss his country’s share of EU’s Covid-19 recovery package. If the rule of law mechanism is implemented, Hungary might lose some of the funding.
‘Calculated risk’: Belgium relaxes rules while Covid-19 figures stagnate: As today marks the end of the “Easter pause” and the terraces will reopen soon, virologist Marc Van Ranst warned that relaxing measures while the coronavirus figures have stopped falling is a calculated risk.
Vaccination rates in Brussels: large differences between municipalities: The vaccination rate in the Brussels-Capital Region is influenced by large differences between municipalities according to the Common Community Commission (COCOM).
Mobile vaccination teams start work in Brussels: The mobile vaccination teams in the Brussels-Capital Region will start work at full speed this week. The teams will be vaccinating members of the population who cannot move or who are difficult to reach.
Pfizer will start vaccinating family members of its staff directly: Pharmaceutical company Pfizer will start vaccinating family members of its employees, including those at the Puurs site in Antwerp. They will be using extra doses on top of those delivered to the government.
A year of lockdowns has left young athletes out of shape and out of practice, experts worry: A year of the coronavirus and its related lockdown measures has left youth sports clubs with a sharp decline in the number of new registrations, and concerns about the physical fitness of kids across the country.
One case of Indian variant of coronavirus found in person from Saint-Josse: A person from the Saint-Josse neighbourhood of Brussels has tested positive for the highly contagious Indian variant of the coronavirus.
Chloe Zhao makes history as 1st woman of colour to win Best Director Oscar: Chloe Zhao has made history by becoming the first woman of colour to win the Best Director Award at the Academy Awards. She is also only the second woman to ever receive an award in that category.
Cyprus lifts quarantine for fully vaccinated travellers from 10 May: From 10 May, Cyprus will lift the obligation to quarantine for incoming travellers who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 or can present a negative Covid-19 test.
The Brussels Times