Coronavirus: What’s happening in Canada and around the world on Friday

In a central Romanian hospital, elderly patients gasping for air through oxygen masks struggled to explain why they had not been vaccinated despite easy access earlier in the pandemic.

Florea Traznea, 73, said he thought he knew better than other people, including his family.

“My children are vaccinated, I have two grandchildren, but my wife and I aren’t, because we’re smarter, or stupid, rather,” he said. “Look at what I’m going through — this disease has brought me to the ground.”

Across the hall, 72-year-old Elena Boziru said she stuck mostly to home and had no health problems, so she chose not to get the vaccine, like many of her neighbours.

Roughly 85 per cent of the more than 50,000 people who have died of COVID-19 in Romania were over 60 years old, according to public health institute data. More than 90 per cent of all deaths have been among unvaccinated patients.

“There is this mentality of, ‘At my age I will live for as long as I am meant to,’ and it is very difficult to convince the respective people to get vaccinated. It is a matter of how they perceive life and risk of disease,” said Valeriu Gheorghita, a doctor in charge of co-ordinating Romania’s vaccination campaign.

Vaccine uptake has risen significantly since last month with 1.4 million people getting their first shot as fear and movement restrictions kicked in, but the vast majority were under 60.

Gheorghita said that unlike in other EU countries where many older people live in retirement homes or receive some form of institutional care, in Romania they are more likely to remain in their homes, alone and harder to reach.

“There is also an issue of trust, they are extremely hesitant and reticent to get vaccinated, and this also ties into their religious beliefs.”

Having tried other methods in vain, Gheorghita said authorities were working on sending letters to citizens about the benefits of vaccines and how to access them via fixed centres, family doctors and mobile units.

Across the EU, 81 per cent of the adult population has received at least one vaccine dose. In Romania that figure is 43.8 per cent, the second lowest in the bloc after neighbouring Bulgaria. For Romanians over 80, it is just 23.6 per cent.

Nearly a third of all COVID-19 deaths in Romania since the onset of the pandemic early last year have occurred in just the past few weeks as daily infection numbers rocketed to record highs and depleted intensive care beds across the country.

— From Reuters, last updated at 3:30 p.m. ET

What’s happening across Canada

WATCH | Helping people with needle phobia get a COVID-19 vaccine: 

Helping people overcome needle phobia for a COVID-19 vaccine

An estimated four per cent of Canadians suffer from a severe needle phobia, many of them children, so clinics and experts across Canada are using distraction, patience and conversation to help them get vaccinated against COVID-19. 2:07

What’s happening around the world

WATCH | As world passes 5M coronavirus deaths, WHO asks world leaders: ‘How many more people need to die?’ 

WHO challenges world leaders to end COVID-19 pandemic

After the world passed the ‘tragic milestone’ of five million deaths from the coronavirus, the World Health Organization warned that the trajectory for the pandemic’s path in 2022 is in people’s hands but says they must make the right choices.( Fabrice Coffrini/Reuters) 2:22

As of Friday afternoon, more than 249 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus tracker. The reported global death toll stood at more than five million.

In the Americas, more than two dozen Republican-led states filed lawsuits Friday challenging U.S. President Joe Biden’s vaccine requirement for private companies, setting up a high-stakes legal showdown pitting federal authority against states’ rights.

The requirement issued Thursday by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration applies to businesses with more than 100 employees. Their workers must be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or face mask requirements and weekly tests.

The lawsuits ask courts to decide whether the administration’s effort to curtail the pandemic represents a federal power grab and usurps the authority of states to set health policy.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Indonesia’s economic growth slowed more than expected in the third quarter as restrictions to control COVID-19 weighed on activity, although recent data suggests growth may be getting back on track in the current quarter. 

Australia’s Victoria state removed entry restrictions to citizens of neighbouring New South Wales on Friday, allowing almost blanket reciprocal travel between the country’s two biggest states ahead of the busy Christmas period.

In Europe, Germany’s COVID-19 situation is entering a very difficult period with rising numbers of intensive care patients, health minister Jens Spahn said, as German state leaders warned the country may need a new lockdown unless it takes urgent action.

At a news conference Friday, Spahn said he had agreed with regional health ministers that in the future everyone should be offered a booster shot of COVID-19 vaccine six months after receiving their previous injection.

Germany reported 37,120 new coronavirus cases on Friday, the second day in a row that it marked the highest daily increase since the start of the pandemic last year.

Russia reported 40,735 new COVID-19 cases and 1,192 deaths related to the virus on Friday as authorities fight a surge that has forced them to re-impose a partial lockdown nationwide.

WATCH | Inside a Russian hospital struggling with COVID-19 cases:

Inside a Russian hospital struggling with COVID-19 cases

A CBC News crew goes inside one of Russia’s biggest hospitals as it struggles to keep up with COVID-19 cases. 4:17

Meanwhile, in Croatia, authorities will limit gatherings and widen the use of COVID-19 passes to curb soaring infections after the numbers of infected people reached new highs again on Friday. The country’s crisis team says the new rules for gatherings will apply starting Saturday, while the use of COVID passes will take more time to prepare.

In Africa, Kenya’s health ministry on Thursday reported 149 new cases of COVID-19 and 14 additional deaths.

In the Middle East, Israel on Thursday reported 554 new cases of COVID-19, according to the Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus tracker, as well as three additional deaths.

In Iran, there were 9,862 new cases reported Thursday according to the tracker, along with 158 additional deaths.

— From Reuters, CBC News and The Associated Press, last updated at 5 p.m. ET