UK first to give vaccine the nod

UN: EUROPE LEADERS GATHER FOR SUMMIT ON PANDEMIC Japan, Italy pledge free inoculations for all even as the global death toll rises.

Britain became the first western country to approve a Covid-19 vaccine for general use, while Japan and Italy pledged free inoculations for all even as the global death toll rose towards 1.5 million.

The news came as the United Nations convenes a special twoday summit on the pandemic yesterday, with European leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to speak virtually on their countries’ response to the global health crisis.

Notably absent will be populist heads of state like US President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose country was ground zero as the virus began its deadly crawl across the globe late last year.

Meanwhile US hospitalisations of Covid-19 patients topped 100 000 for the first time on Wednesday, according to the Covid Tracking Project, while daily deaths topped 2 700, the highest fatality rate since April.

The United States, which has suffered the highest virus toll with more than 270 000 deaths, reported that it hopes to have immunised 100 million people against Covid-19 by the end of February.

The UK’s independent medicines regulator gave a green light to the BioNTech-Pfizer drug in double-quick time but insisted safety had come first.

“Everybody can be confident that no corners whatsoever have been cut,” said Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency chief executive June Raine. “The public deserve nothing less.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the move heralded a vaccination programme “that will ultimately allow us to reclaim our lives and get the economy moving again”.

His government said some 800 000 doses would be administered starting as soon as next week.

With more than 59 000 deaths from 1.6 million cases, Britain’s outbreak remains the deadliest in Europe.