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ROME – Doctors, nurses and the elderly rolled up their sleeves across the European Union for the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine on Sunday in a symbolic show of unity and a moment of hope for a continent facing its worst health care crisis in a century.
Although some countries began dosing a day earlier, the coordinated launch for the 27-nation bloc was intended to project a unified message that the vaccine was safe and Europe’s best chance to emerge from the pandemic and the economic devastation caused by months of emergency shutdown.
For healthcare workers who have been fighting the virus with only masks and shields to protect themselves, the vaccines represented an emotional relief, as well as a public opportunity to urge the 450 million people in Europe to get vaccinated for their own health and that of others.
“Today I am here as a citizen, but above all as a nurse, to represent my category and all health workers who choose to believe in science,” said Claudia Alivernini, 29, who was the first of five doctors and nurses . at the Spallanzani infectious disease hospital in Rome to receive the vaccine.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz called the vaccine, which was developed in record time, a “game changer”.
“We know that today is not the end of the pandemic, but it is the beginning of victory,” he said.
Italian virus czar Domenico Arcuri said it was significant that the first doses from Italy were administered in Spallanzani, where a Chinese couple who visited Wuhan tested positive in January and became the first confirmed cases in Italy.
Within weeks, northern Lombardy became the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe and a warning of what happens when even wealthy regions are unprepared for a pandemic. Lombardy still accounts for about a third of the deaths in Italy, which has the worst confirmed virus toll on the continent with nearly 72,000 deaths.
“Today is a beautiful and symbolic day: all the citizens of Europe together are beginning to receive their vaccinations, the first ray of light after a long night,” Arcuri told reporters.
But he warned: “We all have to remain prudent, cautious and responsible. We still have a long way to go, but we finally see a little light ”.
The vaccine developed by Germany’s BioNTech and US drugmaker Pfizer began arriving in super-cold containers at EU hospitals on Friday from a factory in Belgium. Each country only received a fraction of the doses needed, less than 10,000 in the first batches, and a larger launch was expected in January, when more vaccines will be available. Everyone who receives the injections on Sunday will need to return for a second dose in three weeks.
Ursula von der Leyen, director of the Executive Commission of the European Union, said that with more vaccines in development, the EU will have more vaccines than necessary for all Europeans in 2021. She indicated that the bloc could share its additional supplies with the Balkans. Western and African countries.
“Europe is well positioned,” he said.
At the Los Olmos nursing home in the Spanish city of Guadalajara, northeast Madrid, Araceli Hidalgo, a 96-year-old resident, and a caregiver were the first Spaniards to receive the vaccine.
“Let’s see if we can all behave and make this virus disappear,” said Hidalgo.
The Los Olmos home suffered two confirmed deaths from COVID-19 and another 11 deaths among residents with symptoms that were never evaluated.
“What we want is for as many people as possible to be vaccinated,” said Mónica Tapias, the 48-year-old domestic worker.
The Czech Republic escaped the worst of the pandemic in the spring only to see its health care system on the brink of collapse in the fall. In Prague, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis was shot at dawn on Sunday and said: “There is nothing to worry about.” Sitting next to him was World War II veteran Emilie Repikova, who also received an injection.
In total, the 27 nations of the EU have recorded at least 16 million coronavirus infections and more than 336,000 deaths – huge numbers that experts say still underestimate the true number of victims of the pandemic due to missing cases and limited testing. .
The vaccination campaign should ease the frustrations that were building up, especially in Germany, as Britain, Canada and the United States began their inoculation programs with the same vaccine weeks earlier.
As it turned out, some EU immunizations started a day earlier in Germany, Hungary and Slovakia. The operator of a German nursing home where dozens of people were vaccinated on Saturday, including a 101-year-old woman, said “every day we wait is one day too many.”
In France, where many question the safety of vaccines, the French government has been cautious in its messages and has wanted to ensure that it is not seen as forcing the public to get vaccinated. France’s first vaccination at a nursing home in a poor area outside Paris on Sunday was not broadcast on live television like in other parts of Europe and no government ministers attended.
“We don’t need to convince her. She said ‘yes, I’m ready for anything to avoid getting this disease,’ ”said Dr. Samir Tine, head of geriatric services at the Sevran nursing home where France’s first vaccination was for Mauricette, 78.
“It is an important day,” Tine said. “We are very eager to have a new weapon at our disposal and we are very eager to rediscover our normal life.”
Among the politicians who received injections on Sunday to promote wider acceptance of the vaccines was Bulgarian Health Minister Kostadin Angelov.
“I can’t wait to see my 70-year-old father without fear of infecting him,” Angelov said.
Meanwhile, a new variant of the virus has been detected in France, Italy, Spain, Canada and Japan and has spread rapidly through London and southern England. The new variant, which according to the British authorities is transmitted much more easily, has led many countries to restrict travel from Great Britain.
Japan announced that it would temporarily ban all non-resident foreigners until January 31 as a precaution against the new UK variant.
Germany’s BioNTech has said it is confident its vaccine will work against the new UK variant, but added that more studies are needed to be completely sure.
The European Medicines Agency will consider on January 6 to approve another coronavirus vaccine made by Moderna, which is already being used in the United States.
Andreas Raouna, 84, said he was honored to be among the first to receive the vaccine in Cyprus and criticized vaccine skeptics for being “in league with a killer.”
“If the coronavirus hits you, it will be your end,” he said.
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Gera reported from Warsaw, Poland. AP reporters from across Europe contributed.
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Follow AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
