World COVID-19 cases top 80 million
Germany and Hungary began administering their first coronavirus vaccine shots Saturday, only hours after receiving their first shipments, upsetting the European Union’s plans for a coordinated rollout on Sunday across the bloc’s 27 nations.
The nations acted as the number of reported COVID-19 cases worldwide topped 80 million Saturday.
Data compiled by Johns Hopkins University counted 472,000 new cases on Christmas Day. COVID-19 has killed more than 1.75 million people worldwide.
The United States is by far the leader among nations in cases of coronavirus illness, reporting nearly 18.8 million Saturday. India follows with 10.2 million; Brazil has counted 7.45 million. There have been more than 330,000 deaths in the U.S., 190,000 in Brazil and 147,000 in India.
In West Virginia, Gov. Jim Justice reported that nearly half of his state’s stock of COVID-19 vaccines has been administered. But the promising news was tempered by the governor’s announcement on Christmas Day that 55 more West Virginians had died from the disease.
“Every day that we wait is one day too many,” said Tobias Krueger, the operator of a nursing home where immunizations began Saturday in Halberstadt, in the northeast German region of SaxonyAnhalt.
The first person at the home to be immunized with the Pfizer-biontech vaccine was 101-year-old Edith Kwoizalla, the dpa news agency reported.
Krueger said 40 of the home’s 59 residents wanted the immunization shot along with 10 of about 40 workers.
He was among those immunized but added, “I also understand the concerns.”
In Hungary, health care workers were vaccinated at the Southern Pest Central Hospital in Budapest, while authorities in Slovakia also planned to begin administering more first doses Saturday evening.
The first shipments of the vaccine arrived at hospitals across the EU in super-cold containers late Friday and early Saturday after being sent from a manufacturing center in Belgium before Christmas.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen released a video celebrating the vaccine rollout, calling it “a touching moment of unity.”
“Today, we start turning the page on a difficult year. The COVID-19 vaccine has been delivered to all EU countries. Vaccination will begin tomorrow across the EU,” she said.
Meanwhile, tough new coronavirus restrictions began in the U.K., with Scotland and Northern Ireland under tighter measures to try to halt a new variant of the virus that is believed to spread more quickly.
Measures that were relaxed for Christmas day in Wales were reimposed.
The number of people under the country’s top level of restrictions – Tier 4 – increased by 6 million on Saturday to 24 million people, around 43% of Britain’s population. No indoor mixing of households is allowed and only essential travel permitted. Gyms, pools, hairdressers and stores selling nonessential goods have been ordered to close.