Gibraltar a vaccine champion

Tiny territory is on pace for full inoculation by end of March

the rollout.

The recent easing of restrictions — what Gibraltar authorities have dubbed “Operation Freedom” — also owes much to the steady delivery of shots from the U.K.

By the end of March, Gibraltar is on track to have vaccinated all residents over 16 and its vast imported workforce, Health Minister Samantha Sacramento told The Associated Press. That’s over 40,000 people. Only 3.5 percent have rejected the vaccine.

But Gibraltar’s struggle to regain normality is just starting. It still faces the many challenges of reopening in a globalized world with unequal access to vaccines and new virus variants emerging. Sacramento has been working on contingency plans, including topping up vaccinations with a booster.

“Being vaccinated is absolutely no carte blanche to behave without any restrictions. But then, we also have to go back to being a little bit more human, being able to breathe fresh air,” the minister said in an office atop the local hospital.

“It’s ‘Operation Freedom,’ but with caution,” she added.

In other developments:

Authorities in North Macedonia are imposing a nationwide two-week curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. to check a rapid spread of the coronavirus.

Tunisia received its first batch of coronavirus vaccines Tuesday — 30,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V — and will start inoculations Saturday. The North African country’s vaccination program has dragged behind its neighbors, even as virus infections and hospitalizations have remained high.

More than 100 Andy Warhol originals have been hanging on the walls of Cologne’s Museum Ludwig since mid-december with nobody to view them after coronavirus restrictions shut down galleries across the country. That changed Tuesday as the doors were opened to limited numbers of guests, after authorities eased restrictions to allow some museums, galleries and certain other cultural venues to begin receiving visitors again.