Record US Virus Cases As Reports Say British Queen Will Be Vaccinated Soon

WASHINTON – The United States recorded a record number of coronavirus cases in 24 hours for the third day in a row, as Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II was reported to receive a vaccine in a few weeks.

A tally by Johns Hopkins University showed that the world’s worst-affected country, which has seen a dramatic resurgence of the virus in recent weeks, reached nearly 230,000 new infections and 2,527 COVID-related deaths on Saturday alone.

For two weeks, the US has regularly passed 2,000 deaths a day, as it had in the spring at the height of the country’s first wave of the outbreak.

US health officials warned of a spike after millions of Americans traveled to celebrate Thanksgiving last week despite pleas from authorities to stay home.

The coronavirus has killed more than 1.5 million people and infected 66 million worldwide since it emerged in China last year, according to a count from official sources compiled by AFP.

VACCINE FOR QUEEN

In Britain, it was reported that the 94-year-old monarch will receive the coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech just weeks after UK regulators grant emergency approval. The launch of the vaccine will begin next week.

The queen and her husband, Prince Philip, 99, are in line to receive the early jab due to their age and will not receive preferential treatment, he added.Sunday mail reported.

The newspaper said Britain’s top royals would reveal that they have been given the vaccine “to encourage more people to take the vital jab” amid fears that so-called anti-vaccines could take a toll on your enthusiasm.

British health officials are set up to use criteria based on age and vulnerability to decide who gets the vaccine first.

Nursing home residents and their caregivers will be the first to get vaccinated, followed by those over 80 and front-line health and care personnel.

Britain has reserved 40 million doses of the vaccine in total, and is slated to receive an initial batch of 800,000 to begin rollout next week.

MOSCOW JAB ROLLOUT

The World Health Organization has warned that vaccines are not a magic bullet for the coronavirus crisis, as Russia began vaccinating its high-risk workers and other countries braced for similar programs.

The WHO warned against what it said was a mistaken belief that the pandemic would soon end with vaccines on the horizon.

“Vaccines are not equal to zero Covid,” said WHO emergency director Michael Ryan, adding that not everyone will be able to receive it early next year.

“Vaccination will add an important, important and powerful tool to the set of tools we have. But by themselves, they will not do the job.”

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also warned against the “growing perception that the pandemic is over” with the virus still spreading rapidly, putting enormous pressure on hospitals and healthcare workers.

Health officials in Moscow said they had opened 70 coronavirus vaccination centers in the Russian capital that would initially offer hits for social, educational and health workers.

The WHO says 51 candidate vaccines are currently being tested in humans, and 13 are reaching the final stage of mass testing.

The United States is expected to give the green light to vaccines later this month, while Belgium, France and Spain have said injections will begin in January for the most vulnerable.

Italy is experiencing a dramatic resurgence of infections after largely suppressing a previous outbreak by imposing a strict lockdown, while Latin America and the Caribbean region have seen an 18% increase in cases in a week.

Other countries are also revealing holiday restrictions, with Switzerland banning Christmas carols from the streets and Madrid canceling most New Year’s events in the city center.

Portugal’s second wave has started to subside, but authorities said they decided to keep the restrictions in place so they can relax during the festive period.