European current affairs // I S S U E 2 // S U R V I V A L
Suddenly they were all there. Hundreds of dead starlings on the Via Cavour in Rome, Italy — not far from the 5th-century papal basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, close to the famous Rome Termini train station. They likely died within minutes from each other after they flew into windows, walls, and electricity cables for fear of the fireworks on New Year’s Eve.
Rome’s starlings are famous for the extensive formations in which they have swirled above the Eternal City since the dawn of time.
In ancient Rome, augurs studied their flight patterns to decipher the will of the gods. Part of the starlings’ fascination is how they seem to be inscribing some sort of language in the air.
Ornithologists say starlings fly in flocks because they try to evade falcons. By giving up their autonomy in favor of the herd, they help their species survive.
In the past few years, the number of starlings in Rome has decreased dramatically. City Hall decided that the nuisance from bird droppings on streets and cars became too much and adopted measures to scare them away.
When Romans retreated to their homes this winter, as Italy’s second lockdown started, starlings returned from the countryside and moved back to Termini station and its surrounding streets. They felt safe for weeks, and the ban on fireworks installed by the city of Rome would have kept them. However, whether it was out of hope, optimism, or impatience with the pandemic, Romans left their homes and lighted their Fierce Tiger Soaring Rockets and Flashing Thunder Candles.
Even a major health crisis cannot force people to break with tradition.
The light and explosions might have deranged the navigation system of the birds. Italian animal rights groups suggest the starlings might have died from heart attacks. Augurs in ancient Rome must have interpreted the phenomenon as a bad omen at the beginning of a year in which the continent continues struggling with the pandemic.
After a few weeks of euphoria over the vaccines’ arrival, the mood turned into unease.
After a few weeks of euphoria over the vaccines’ arrival, the mood turned into unease. (The European Medicines Agency approved the first vaccine on December 21.) People in different European countries complained the vaccination programs were not going fast enough. On the last day of 2020, France had only vaccinated 352 people, while Germany already injected more than 130.000 people. The Netherlands’ plan to start vaccinating on January 8 — two weeks after the first European countries — led to protests from opposition parties and health care workers.
The debate in France and the Netherlands focused on specific questions of whom should be vaccinated first. Governments of both countries gave in to a call made by politicians and Unions for early vaccination of health personnel. In both countries, healthcare workers will now be among the first to be vaccinated.
In Germany, pressure rose to order more doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine, as more than 400 vaccine centers had to temporarily close due to a lack of supplies. BioNTech aims to boost vaccine production after opening a new manufacturing plant in Marburg, Germany, as soon as February. In the meantime, the company criticizes the EU’s failure to order more doses of its coronavirus vaccine.
The British used their newly found exceptionalism to approve their third vaccine on December 30. On Monday, January 4, an 82-year old retired maintenance worker became the first person in the world outside clinical trials to get a shot of the vaccine developed by Oxford University and Astra Zeneca. The UK vaccinated more than a million of its citizens already, leaving the EU trailing behind.
The number of London cases rapidly increases, though, probably because of a new coronavirus variant, sparking fear in other European countries for a similar rise. In London, the number of new cases per 100,000 inhabitants rose to 902.5, up from 817 a week ago. This is well over double the UK average of 400 per 100,000.
In 2002 Europe was officially declared polio-free.
It took decades to eradicate polio from Europe, with Czechoslovakia starting a national vaccination campaign against poliomyelitis, the disease caused by poliovirus, as early as 1960. From 1995 on, National Immunization Days were coordinated in 19 European and Mediterranean countries. Turkish Melik Minas was the last person in Europe to suffer from a reported polio case, and in 2002 the continent was officially declared polio-free.
The fact that we have multiple coronavirus vaccines already approved after less than a year shows our species’ remarkable ability to survive and improve.
The corona pandemic might be more acute than polio ever was. Still, the fact that we have multiple coronavirus vaccines already approved after less than a year shows our species’ remarkable ability to survive and improve. That’s no excuse for politicians to lose focus, though; the constant strive for a better quality of life and better healthcare has brought us this far. If we can prevent thousands of deaths by accelerating our vaccination programs, then we should.
Photo by Nicholas Bartos on Unsplash
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