EU starts historic vaccine drive
Oxford shots likely in UK from Jan; France may go for third lockdown; 7 killed in Egypt hospital fire
ROME: European Union nations on Sunday kicked off a coordinated Covid-19 vaccination drive to the most vulnerable among the bloc’s nearly 450 million people, marking a moment of hope in the continent’s battle against the worst public health crisis in a century.
As global cases of the coronavirus topped 80 million, health care workers, the elderly and leading politicians got some of the first shots across the 27-nation European Union to reassure the public that the vaccinations are safe.
“It didn’t hurt at all,” said Mihaela Anghel, a nurse at the Matei Bals Institute in Bucharest who was the first person to get the vaccine in Romania. “Open your eyes and take the vaccine.”
Oxford-Astra jab likely to roll out in UK from Jan Oxford and Astrazeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine will be rolled out across the UK starting January 4, the Telegraph reported, citing plans that ministers are drawing up. The government is hoping for two million people to get their first dose of the vaccine from Oxford/Astrazeneca or Pfizer and BioNTech.
The Oxford dose has achieved a “winning formula” for efficacy, AstraZeneca’s chief executive Pascal Soriot said on Sunday. The vaccine, which is currently being evaluated by Britain’s independent medicines regulator, provides “100% protection” against severe Covid disease requiring hospitalisation, Soriot told the Sunday Times newspaper.
He added he believes trials will show his firm has achieved a vaccine efficacy equal to Pfizer-BioNTech at 95% and Moderna at 94.5%.
Beijingers told not to leave during New Year Beijing has urged residents not to leave the city during the Lunar New Year holiday in February, implementing new restrictions after several coronavirus infections last week.
Two local cases were reported on Friday. Another two asymptomatic cases were discovered in Beijing earlier in the week. Beijing is conducting testing on a limited scale in the neighbourhoods and workplaces where the cases were found.
To contain any new outbreaks, the Beijing government cancelled big gatherings such as sports events and temple fairs.
France: Third lockdown possible if cases rise France has not ruled out imposing a third nationwide lockdown if cases continue to rise, its health minister said on Sunday, as the country braces for a possible post-Christmas spike.
“We will never exclude measures that are necessary to protect the public,” Olivier Veran told the Journal du Dimanche.
“That is not to say we have made a decision, but that we are watching the situation hour by hour.”
France has been registering around 15,000 new infections per day, and on Friday confirmed the first case of a new coronavirus variant that recently emerged in Britain.
New York probes vaccine likely obtained by fraud A health care provider in New York may have fraudulently obtained Covid-19 vaccines and diverted them to members of the public in violation of priority guidelines, the state government said on Saturday.
New York state police has started a criminal investigation into the matter, which could be the state’s first vaccine distribution-related scandal.
The state department of health is aware of reports that ParCare Community Health Network, a provider with a clinic in upstate Orange County, “may have fraudulently obtained Covid-19 vaccine,” health commissioner Howard Zucker said in a statement.
Fire at Egyptian hospital kills 7 virus patients
A fire killed at least seven people and injured several others on Saturday at a private hospital that was treating coronavirus patients on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital Cairo. The fire broke out at Misr Al Amal Hospital in El Obour.