The recent news of coronavirus vaccine breakthrough has
lifted some of the glum torpor that had its sway over the world leaders, who
have now begun to give their thoughts to the future as the worst seems to have
run its course.

France President Emmanuel Macron is set to address the public
on Tuesday night as the country is seeing a drop in the number of coronavirus
cases.

Macron is expected to loosen the lockdown measures in the
country considering the abatement in the cases. He is expected to lift the
restriction in a calibrated three-part approach, understandably, to avoid a
fresh flare up.

Monday brought good news for France, which witnessed a drop by half in the total number of coronavirus infections– the number dropped to 20,155 cases from 40,439 on Sunday.

Also read: Sputnik V vaccine is 95% effective, says Russia

A top boss of a major airline has also aired his views on
the norms of international air-travel in the post-COVID world.

According to an AFP report, Australia’s Qantas has announced
that international travelers need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to
fly– becoming the first airline to suggest such rules could become common
across the industry.

“Whether you need that domestically, we will have to
see what happens with COVID-19 in the market but certainly, for international
visitors coming out (to Australia) and people leaving the country, we think
that is a necessity.” Qantas CEO Alan Joyce told Channel Nine, as quoted
in the AFP report.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson too has his work out as
the country emerges from a second four-week lockdown on December 2.

In the wake of the vaccine news, Johnson had warned that the
“scientific cavalry” may be arriving but “Christmas cannot be normal and
there’s a long road to spring.”  

The Downing Street had earlier said that it will not be a
normal Christmas, but the government will work towards allowing people to meet
each other.

So far, three vaccines have announced satisfying trial
results and are soon to enter production mode after the necessary reviews and
vetting.

The vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, and Moderna have
claimed to have over 90% efficacy, while the one developed by University of Oxford-AstraZeneca
announced their vaccine with 70% efficacy on average.

Also read: UK lockdown to end on Dec 2, Boris Johnson says ‘escape route’ from COVID-19 in sight

Britain is already in process of acquiring 40 million doses
of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine by the end of 2021. It is in the process of
acquiring 355 million doses of coronavirus vaccines from as many as seven vaccine
makers.

The US, one of the worst –hit countries, is still facing a
relatively tougher time with Thanksgiving just two days away, and people
defying travel restrictions with abandon.

Citing Transportation Security Administration, which is
responsible for security checks in the country, AFP reported that last weekend
emerged as the busiest since the start of the pandemic with more than three
million people passing through US airports, according to the.

“Our pleas for help have fallen on selfish deaf
ears,” tweeted Cleavon Gilman, an emergency doctor in Arizona, where he
said hospitals were “overwhelmed” with COVID patients, it wrote.