Tag: European

Categories
Business

European warehouse demand surges as e-commerce giants snap up areas

European warehouse demand surges as e-commerce giants snap up spaces

Staff walk the aisles collecting items before sending them to the on-site shipping hall to be packed in one of the UK’s largest Amazon warehouses in Dunfermline, Fife.

Jane Barlow | PA pictures | Getty Images

BEIJING – Big investors are investing money in warehouses in Europe, while online purchases of goods – some from China – are increasing after the coronavirus pandemic.

E-commerce was already growing before Covid-19 forced people to stay home and close store fronts. Now the pandemic has likely sped up e-commerce adoption by about 12 months, real estate consultancy Savills said in a December report quoting the Center for Retail Research.

One of the biggest challenges for companies looking to capitalize on the trend is finding ways to get orders done faster. Companies that previously relied on globally distributed supply chains are faced with a shortage of shipping containers, resulting in high delivery costs and long waiting times.

The new strategy is to find warehouses near customers and store them ahead of time so customers can receive their orders in a few days or less.

This has spiked warehouse demand and pushed the vacancy rate in Europe to a record low of around 5% – and the rate is still falling, said Marcus de Minckwitz, director of the London Omnichannel Group at Savills.

“In the course of 2020, under the leadership of the UK, we saw record utilization of warehouse space across the continent,” he said. “This was driven by Amazon and then third-party logistics service providers.”

There is an Amazon warehouse in the Port of Belfast as the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread continues in Belfast, Northern Ireland on April 6, 2020.

Jason Cairnduff | Reuters

Total investment in European logistics rose last year to 38.64 billion euros (46.5 billion US dollars). According to Savills, this is the highest value since 2013.

Now Europe expects more demand from Chinese e-commerce players entering the market under the leadership of Alibaba, de Minckwitz said.

Alibaba has grown its cross-border e-commerce business primarily through its AliExpress platform and Cainiao’s logistics arm.

The company spearheaded rapid growth in cross-border e-commerce, which helped Cainiao sales jump 51% year over year in the final three months of 2020 to $ 1.74 billion at the time, according to Alibaba.

Some of the largest companies in the investment world are taking note of the trend.

E-commerce increases China’s exports

The Chinese authorities are also talking about the trade impact.

Cross-border electronic trade between China and other countries rose 31.1% last year to 1.69 trillion yuan, mainly in exports, according to the national customs authority. As a result, overseas warehouses rose 80% year over year to over 1,800 in 2020, the Commerce Department said in January.

Diane Wang, founder and chairman of Chinese e-commerce website DH Gate, said last month the company has 10 warehouses overseas and plans to add 40 more this year.

About half of the products are upstream abroad, so customers can receive their orders within three days, she said. Wang predicts that cross-border e-commerce will increase from around 5% of China’s international trade to 30% over the next decade.

Official data by country or region was not available, but anecdotes show that much of the foreign interest in e-commerce with China comes from Europe. The region is already one of China’s most important trading partners.

“A lot of people buy Chinese products in Europe,” said Suresh Dalai, senior director of Alvarez & Marsal consultancy, which focuses on retail operations in Asia. He expects more investment in technology for order tracking, same-day delivery and storage of packages in central lockers so consumers can pick up packages when they want.

“There is a lot of demand. I don’t think (new Chinese players) are really influencing Alibaba that much,” said Dalai. “I think it helps because it only spurs additional investment in warehouses and technology and more and more consumers are getting used to shopping across borders and shopping on China-made websites.”

Categories
Health

AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid vaccine authorised to be used by European regulator

AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid vaccine approved for use by European regulator

Head nurse Sam Foster is holding a vial of Oxford University / AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on January 4, 2021 at Churchill Hospital in Oxford, South West England.

Steve Parsons | AFP | Getty Images

LONDON – The coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University has been approved by the European Medicines Agency, the European Medicines Agency.

The EMA said on Friday that it had assessed the safety and effectiveness of the Covid vaccine and recommended that the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, give formal conditional marketing authorization.

It also said the shot would likely work in the elderly after a German vaccine committee recommended Thursday not to give the vaccine to those over 65.

“With this third positive opinion, we have further expanded the arsenal of vaccines available to EU and EEA member states to fight the pandemic and protect their citizens,” said Emer Cooke, Executive Director of EMA, in a statement on Friday.

“As in previous cases, the CHMP has rigorously evaluated this vaccine and the scientific basis of our work underpins our firm commitment to protecting the health of EU citizens,” said Cooke, referring to the EMA’s Committee on Medicinal Products for Human Use.

The vaccine is already being used in the UK, having received approval in late December, and now, along with the Pfizer BioNTech shot, which has already been approved for use in the UK, makes up most of the EU shocks administered in the country.

Approval comes at a difficult time for the EU as the vaccination program is at best sluggish and very prone to supply shortages.

He has been dealt two blows in the past few weeks, one from Pfizer, who announced that it would temporarily cut production while improving production capacity at its Belgian facility. Then last Friday it was reported that AstraZeneca would deliver far fewer cans to the block than originally expected due to production problems at its plants in the Netherlands and Belgium this spring.

The delays have sparked a crisis in the EU which has announced it will curb exports of coronavirus vaccines from the bloc to give citizens priority. These controls are expected to last until March.

On Wednesday, the EU called on AstraZeneca to do whatever it takes to deliver its agreement to supply millions of coronavirus vaccines, suggesting that the company is diverting some supplies from its UK manufacturing facilities to the EU.

German doubt

On Thursday, doubts arose about the possible approval of AstraZeneca’s vaccine after the German vaccine committee recommended that the vaccine only be offered to people between the ages of 18 and 64.

This is due to the fact that there is insufficient data to assess the effectiveness in people over 65 years of age.

Older study participants were later admitted to phase 3 clinical trials with the AstraZeneca shot, which took place in the UK and Brazil and earlier in South Africa. As a result, there are fewer data on effectiveness in those over 65.

AstraZeneca said this data would be collected when its study results were published in the medical journal The Lancet in December: “As older age groups were recruited later than younger age groups, there was less time to collect cases and, consequently, efficacy data in these cohorts The number of cases is currently limited, but additional data will be available in future analyzes, “it said.

On Friday when the AstraZeneca approval was announced, the EMA announced that older participants (over 55 years of age) had not yet had enough results to establish a number for the vaccine’s effectiveness in this group. However, it states that “protection is expected because an immune response is observed in this age group and is based on experience with other vaccines”.

Categories
Business

Grindr is fined $11.7 million below European privateness regulation.

Grindr is fined $11.7 million under European privacy law.

The Norwegian Data Protection Agency announced on Monday that it would punish Grindr, the world’s most popular gay dating app, 100 million Norwegian kroner, or about $ 11.7 million, for illegally disclosing private information about its users to advertising companies.

The agency announced that the app had transmitted the exact locations, user tracking codes and the name of the app to at least five advertising companies, with people in violation of European data protection law being essentially marked as LGBTQ without their express consent. Grindr shared users’ private data with MoPub, Twitter’s mobile advertising platform, among others, which, according to the agency, can exchange data with more than 100 partners.

Tobias Judin, head of the international division of the Norwegian Data Protection Agency, said that Grindr’s data mining practices have not only violated European data protection rights, but also seriously endangered users in countries like Qatar and Pakistan where consensual same-sex sexual acts take place could be illegal.

Recognition…Ilya Hendel

“If someone finds out that they are gay and knows their movements, they can be injured,” said Judin. “We’re trying to make these apps and services understand that this approach – not informing users, not getting valid consent to share their data – is completely unacceptable.”

The fine comes a year after European nonprofit groups filed complaints against Grindr and its advertising partners with data protection authorities. In testing last January, the New York Times found that the Android version of the Grindr app was exchanging location information that was so precise that it pinpointed reporters on the side of the building they were sitting on. In April, Grindr revised its user consent process.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Grindr said the company has received “valid legal approvals from all” of its users in Europe on multiple occasions and is confident that its “approach to protecting user privacy in social apps is top-notch”.

The statement added: “We are continuously improving our data protection practices with a view to evolving data protection laws and regulations and look forward to a productive dialogue with the Norwegian Data Protection Authority.”

The company has until February 15 to comment on the ruling before it is final. The Norwegian agency said it was investigating whether the advertising companies that received user data from Grindr also violated European data protection law. “

Privacy experts said the ruling would have far-reaching implications beyond dating apps.

“Not only does this set limits for Grindr,” said Finn Myrstad, director of digital policy at the Norwegian Consumers’ Council, one of the groups that made the complaints, “but it sets strict legal requirements for an entire industry that benefits from collecting and sharing . ” Information about our preferences, location, purchases, physical and mental health, sexual orientation, and political views. “

Categories
Business

European Medicines Company authorizes use in EU

European Medicines Agency authorizes use in EU

A healthcare worker holds a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine bottle at the Dignity Health Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center in Glendale, California, United States on December 17, 2020.

Lucy Nicholson | Reuters

The European Medicines Agency approved the Pfizer and BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for conditional use on Monday, opening the door to a vaccination program across the European Union.

The news comes less than two weeks after the vaccine developed in America and Germany was approved for use in the UK and US

Europe is well on its way to starting vaccinations within a week, regulators said, and authorities in several EU countries including France, Italy, Austria and Germany have announced they will start vaccinations on December 27.

The vaccine must be approved by the European Commission before it can be distributed. A decision is expected shortly.

The European Medicines Agency issued a statement on Monday that it had recommended that the vaccine be given conditional marketing authorization for people aged 16 and over.

“The EMA’s scientific opinion paves the way for the first authorization for the placing on the market of a COVID-19 vaccine in the EU by the European Commission with all associated protective measures, controls and obligations,” said the agency.

Vaccine approvals are picking up pace as European countries tighten their lockdowns in the face of a deadlier winter wave of viral infections.

A new and highly transmissible variant of the virus has been discovered in the UK, prompting Prime Minister Boris Johnson to impose strict lockdowns on some areas. It has resulted in a growing number of countries ceasing flights and transportation from the island.

The coronavirus pandemic has killed nearly half a million people across Europe since it began.

Governments scramble to put in place effective strategies to prevent further infections and keep the local economy alive as cases and deaths break new records during the holiday season.

This is breaking news. Please try again.

Categories
Health

A European Official Reveals a Secret: The U.S. Is Paying Extra for Coronavirus Vaccines

A European Official Reveals a Secret: The U.S. Is Paying More for Coronavirus Vaccines

This is significantly lower than the company’s official price, which was announced at $ 19.50 per dose, which the US government has also paid. The Pfizer vaccine launch began this week in the United States.

The Moderna vaccine, which is the next to be approved for the EU on January 6 and is expected to receive emergency approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday, costs the EU $ 18 per dose, as the table shows. The company said it would charge $ 25 to $ 37 per dose. The US government was directly involved in funding the development of the Moderna vaccine and has signed a contract to pay around $ 15 per dose.

Covid19 vaccinations>

Answers to your vaccine questions

With a coronavirus vaccine spreading out of the US, here are answers to some questions you may be wondering about:

    • If I live in the US, when can I get the vaccine? While the exact order of vaccine recipients may vary from state to state, most doctors and residents of long-term care facilities will come first. If you want to understand how this decision is made, this article will help.
    • When can I get back to normal life after the vaccination? Life will only get back to normal once society as a whole receives adequate protection against the coronavirus. Once countries have approved a vaccine, they can only vaccinate a few percent of their citizens in the first few months. The unvaccinated majority remain susceptible to infection. A growing number of coronavirus vaccines show robust protection against disease. However, it is also possible that people spread the virus without knowing they are infected because they have mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. Scientists don’t yet know whether the vaccines will also block the transmission of the coronavirus. Even vaccinated people have to wear masks for the time being, avoid the crowds indoors and so on. Once enough people are vaccinated, it becomes very difficult for the coronavirus to find people at risk to become infected. Depending on how quickly we as a society achieve this goal, life could approach a normal state in autumn 2021.
    • Do I still have to wear a mask after the vaccination? Yeah, but not forever. Here’s why. The coronavirus vaccines are injected deep into the muscles and stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies. This seems to be sufficient protection to protect the vaccinated person from disease. What is not clear, however, is whether it is possible for the virus to bloom in the nose – and sneeze or exhale to infect others – even if antibodies have been mobilized elsewhere in the body to prevent that vaccinated person gets sick. The vaccine clinical trials were designed to determine if people who were vaccinated are protected from disease – not to find out if they can still spread the coronavirus. Based on studies of flu vaccines and even patients infected with Covid-19, researchers have reason to hope that people who are vaccinated will not spread the virus, but more research is needed. In the meantime, everyone – including those who have been vaccinated – must imagine themselves as possible silent shakers and continue to wear a mask. Read more here.
    • Will it hurt What are the side effects? The vaccine against Pfizer and BioNTech, like other typical vaccines, is delivered as a shot in the arm. The injection in your arm feels no different than any other vaccine, but the rate of short-lived side effects seems to be higher than with the flu shot. Tens of thousands of people have already received the vaccines, and none of them have reported serious health problems. The side effects, which can be similar to symptoms of Covid-19, last about a day and are more likely to occur after the second dose. Early reports from vaccine trials suggest that some people may need to take a day off because they feel lousy after receiving the second dose. In the Pfizer study, around half developed fatigue. Other side effects occurred in at least 25 to 33 percent of patients, sometimes more, including headache, chills, and muscle pain. While these experiences are not pleasant, they are a good sign that your own immune system is having a strong response to the vaccine that provides lasting immunity.
    • Will mRNA vaccines change my genes? No. Moderna and Pfizer vaccines use a genetic molecule to boost the immune system. This molecule, known as mRNA, is eventually destroyed by the body. The mRNA is packaged in an oily bubble that can fuse with a cell, allowing the molecule to slide inside. The cell uses the mRNA to make proteins from the coronavirus that can stimulate the immune system. At any given moment, each of our cells can contain hundreds of thousands of mRNA molecules that they produce to make their own proteins. As soon as these proteins are made, our cells use special enzymes to break down the mRNA. The mRNA molecules that our cells make can only survive a few minutes. The mRNA in vaccines is engineered to withstand the cell’s enzymes a little longer, so the cells can make extra viral proteins and trigger a stronger immune response. However, the mRNA can hold for a few days at most before it is destroyed.

Eric Mamer, a spokesman for the European Commission, declined to comment on the price list as the negotiated agreements were “kept confidential” but did not contest the pricing.

A spokeswoman for Ms De Bleeker said she tweeted the details to settle a political debate in Belgium in which opposition officials accuse the government of not providing enough money to buy the vaccines.

“We tried to be transparent, but it seems we were a little too transparent,” said Bavo De Mol, the spokesman.

Several health economists have found that the price of the vaccine itself – even if the US is paying more than Europe – is trivial compared to the economic cost of an ongoing pandemic. Just this week, Congress is preparing to approve payments of $ 600 to each American adult to cushion the blow of the pandemic-sparked recession, far more than the $ 39 per person required are to vaccinate adults at the higher Pfizer price.

“The cost of overpayment is so small compared to potential counterfactual factors,” said Benedic Ippolito, an American Enterprise Institute-based researcher who studies drug prices. “It’s like a shrug when our price is a little higher. This is a one-time pandemic and we will deal with the drug price situation later. “