BNS: Highlights of Friday 15min.lt

Coronavirus situation:

* Last day 3,181 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed, killing 39 patients. 2,468 COVID-19 patients are treated in hospitals, 197 of whom are in resuscitation.

* Representatives of the Ministry of Health announced that the first people in Lithuania should be vaccinated against the coronavirus on December 27 or 28.

* The Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence, was vaccinated against the coronavirus in a live television broadcast.

* King Charles XVI Gustav of Sweden said the country had failed to protect lives during a coronavirus pandemic. The number of new infections in Sweden has increased rapidly since mid-October. Some commentators have treated these comments as criticism of Sweden’s recommendation-based coronavirus strategy.

* An independent commission of American experts voted to urgently allow the use of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the pharmaceutical company Moderna, and the president of the country, Donald Trump, announced that the vaccine had been approved. That would allow 6 million to begin shipping this weekend. doses of these vaccines. The European Medicines Agency, for its part, has postponed a meeting from January 12 to 6 to decide on the authorization of the Moderna vaccine. The modern vaccine would be the second approved in the West.

Movement restrictions. On Friday, the police began to restrict movement between municipalities: 250 checkpoints have been set up across the country since noon. All travelers, with the exception of tugboat drivers, are requested to present documents that demonstrate the need for the trip.

Freedom Award. The Lithuanian Seimas awarded the annual Freedom Prize to the democratic opposition in Belarus. Earlier, MPs considered that the award, usually awarded on the occasion of January 13, could be withdrawn by the Belarusian opposition leader, Sviatlana Cichanouskaya.

G.Landsbergis team. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gabrielius Landsbergis, the leader of the Conservatives, appointed Mantas Adomėnas, a former parliamentarian, Arnoldas Pranckevičius, head of the European Commission Representation in Lithuania, and Egidijus Meilūnas, a long-time diplomat, as vice ministers.

Traders reaction. Most of the retail chains rejected the request of the Minister of Economy Aušrinė Armonaitė to independently limit the range of non-food products. They say it would bring confusion. Critics say that allowing larger stores to sell non-food items encourages gathering of people and discriminates against small merchants.

Storm in Fiji. Cyclone Yasa, the highest, fifth category, devastated Fiji. It wiped out entire villages and claimed the lives of at least two people: a 45-year-old man and a three-month-old baby. The storm caused flooding, landslides, cut off power and slid into the ocean early Friday and weakened to the third category.

Nigerian students. In Nigeria, kidnappers released 344 students abducted last week in the northwest of the country. Boko Haram, a jihadist movement, had previously claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.