[ad_1]
The nations of the European Union have begun a coordinated effort to give COVID-19 vaccines to adults among its 450 million citizens, marking a moment of hope on the continent.
Meanwhile, fears are growing about a new variant of the coronavirus that is spreading across the UK and Japan on Sunday banned all non-resident foreign nationals as a precaution against the strain.
Thailand, meanwhile, is struggling to contain a COVID outbreak connected to a seafood market in a southern province, and residents of Sydney, Australia’s largest city, are waiting for news on whether any public New Year’s Eve celebrations will be allowed. .
Here are the latest updates:
Thai hospital banned from offering to sell COVID-19 vaccine
A private Thai hospital was ordered to stop advertising COVID-19 vaccines for sale in advance on the grounds that no vaccine has yet been approved in Thailand.
Vibhavadi Hospital told Reuters that its online offering of 1,000 initial stocks for the two-dose Moderna vaccine had been the result of a misunderstanding. With reservations priced at 4,000 baht, the total cost of the vaccination would have been 10,000 baht ($ 330).
As early governments begin rolling out vaccines around the world, questions have been raised about how limited supplies are prioritized and whether people will be able to pay to jump the line.
The Health Ministry said in a statement that no COVID-19 vaccine had yet been approved for use in Thailand and that announcing one violated hospital regulations. “The ad was ordered removed,” he said.
COVID-19 cases exceed 80 million worldwide
More than 80 million confirmed coronavirus cases have been detected worldwide since the pandemic began a year ago and 1.76 million deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.
In total, 80,412,311 cases and 1,758,886 deaths have been registered. Last week, an average of 580,000 new cases were recorded each day.
Europe is the worst affected region in the world, surpassing the 25 million mark on Friday and with 546,000 deaths.
Beijing tightens COVID-19 restrictions as cases are detected in capital
Beijing has tightened COVID-19 restrictions on concerns that mass travel from China during the holiday period could cause a spike in cases in the capital, as it reported local transmission cases for the fourth day in a row on Sunday.
A meeting led by the head of the capital’s Communist Party, Cai Qi, urged all districts in Beijing to enter “emergency” mode, sealing off residential complexes and villages where infections are found.
The Shenzhen technology center in southern China reported an asymptomatic case on Sunday, a patient who made two business trips to Beijing this month.
Israel speeds up vaccines, hangs in hopes of emerging from pandemic in March
Israel will enter what officials expect to be its latest coronavirus lockdown on Sunday as vaccines ramp up at a rate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said could allow the pandemic to emerge in March.
If done, that could help Netanyahu’s re-election hopes after missteps that include lifting a first lockdown with a premature declaration of victory in May, inconsistent enforcement of restrictions and slow economic relief.
After starting vaccines a week before the launch of the European Union on Sunday, Israel’s centralized health system now administers around 70,000 daily injections. Netanyahu wants that to rise to 150,000 by next weekend, with the opening of 24/7 vaccination stations among the proposals.
Israel to enter what officials expect to be its latest coronavirus lockdown on Sunday [File:Ammar Awad/Reuters]
A 96-year-old Spaniard is the first Spaniard vaccinated against COVID-19
Araceli Hidalgo became the first person to be vaccinated in central Spain, in an event broadcast on national television.
He felt “nothing” from the injection, Hidalgo said with a smile after he was injected.
With her short white hair, the pensioner who lives in the Los Olmos retirement home in Guadalajara slowly got up after putting on her black jacket and walked away leaning on a frame.
Araceli, 96, a resident of the Los Olmos nursing home, receives the first injection nationwide in Spain [Reuters]
A woman in a nursing home is the first to be vaccinated in Sweden
Gun-Britt Johnsson was the first person in Sweden to be vaccinated with the vaccine developed jointly by BioNTech and the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer.
The 91-year-old lives in a nursing home in Mjolby, 230 kilometers southwest of Stockholm.
“I didn’t feel anything,” he said after the jab, which was broadcast on public broadcaster SVT.
Russia reports 28,284 new coronavirus cases
Russia has reported 28,284 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 3,050,248 after it crossed the 3 million mark the day before.
Russia’s coronavirus crisis center said 552 coronavirus patients had died in the last 24 hours and the total death toll from coronavirus nationwide was 54,778.
Italy starts vaccines against COVID-19 in Rome
Almost 10 months after the first Italian patient tested positive for the new coronavirus, Italy has vaccinated the first residents against COVID-19.
Shortly before 0700 GMT, three health workers at the Roma Spallanzani hospital were inoculated with the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, according to a statement from the commissioner for the epidemic Domenico Arcuri.
“The vaccine went very well and it was an exciting historic moment,” 29-year-old nurse Claudia Aliverini told RAINEWS24 state television.
“It is the beginning of the end and I hope to be the first of more than 60 million Italians.”
Claudia Alivernini, one of the first recipients of the Pfizer / BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in Italy, receives her vaccine at the Spallanzani hospital in Rome [Reuters]
Cyprus launches COVID-19 vaccine launch
Cyprus has started vaccinating its population against COVID-19.
Retirees from homes in the capital Nicosia and the cities of Larnaca and Limassol were the first to receive an injection of the two-dose vaccine, which arrived by air on Saturday.
Cyprus has reported 19,391 cases of the new coronavirus and 111 deaths.
Boxes of Pfizer-BioNtech Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Vaccines Arrive at Undisclosed Location in Nicosia, Cyprus [File:Reuters]
Czech Republic Starts Launch of Coronavirus Vaccine
The Czech Republic has started administering vaccines against the virus.
Prime Minister Andrej Babis was the first to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the Central Military Hospital in Prague, just before other hospitals in the capital and the second-largest city of Brno began distributing the 9,750 doses that the country has received so far.
“The vaccine that arrived yesterday from the European Union is a hope, a hope that we will return to a normal life,” Babis said before receiving the vaccine.
Prime Minister Andrej Babis of the Czech Republic receives the first nationwide injection with a dose of Pfizer-BioNTech [David W Cerny/Reuters]
EU starts vaccine rollout
Several EU nations have started vaccinating their most vulnerable groups as a new variant of the coronavirus spreads internationally and the WHO has warned that the current pandemic will not be the last.
The first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech jab arrived in Italy, Spain and France on Saturday, ready to be distributed to nursing homes and healthcare personnel.
The approval and launch of vaccines have fueled hopes that 2021 could bring a respite from the pandemic, which has killed more than 1.7 million people since it emerged in China late last year.
COVID-19 outbreak grows in Thailand
Thailand confirmed 121 new infections of the novel coronavirus, a senior official said, up from 103 cases reported earlier in the day.
Taweesin Wisanuyothin, spokesperson for the country’s COVID-19 pandemic task force, said in a briefing that the new cases include 94 national broadcasts and 18 in migrant workers connected to an outbreak at a seafood market in Samut Sakhon, a province. southwest of Bangkok.
Infections related to this group have spread to 38 provinces.
Japan stops all foreign arrivals for UK bypass
Japan is banning all non-resident foreign nationals as a precaution against a potentially more contagious new variant of the coronavirus that is spreading across the UK.
The Foreign Ministry says the entry ban will begin on Monday and last until January 31.
Sydney awaits verdict on New Years festivities
The COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney continued Sunday with more than a quarter of a million people locked up as Australia’s largest city awaited news on whether any public New Year’s Eve celebrations would be allowed.
Seven cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the state of New South Wales, six directly related to the outbreak in Sydney’s North Beach suburbs, which are under a stay-at-home order through Wednesday. Infections number 122.
“We hope to have some clear information for everyone tomorrow, or the last one the next day, about what New Year’s Eve and the next few weeks will be like,” State Premier Gladys Berejiklian said at a news conference.
[ad_2]
