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

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-hit 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 fit for a queen

In Britain, it was reported that the 94-year-old monarch will receive the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine just weeks after UK regulators granted emergency approval last Wednesday. 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, the Mail on Sunday 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 throw

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 do not equal 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.

New curbs

South Korea imposed new restrictions and raised its coronavirus alert to the second highest level in Seoul and surrounding areas on Sunday after new infections surged from around 100 a day to more than 500 in recent weeks.

Germany’s Bavarian region also announced stricter rules including local curfews and partial school closings, as the number of cases remained high across the country despite five weeks of national restrictions.

And Tunisia extended a night curfew until the end of the year, amid growing discontent and protests against the government in the North African country.

Other countries will see holiday restrictions as well, with Switzerland banning Christmas carols on the streets and Madrid canceling most New Year’s events in the city center.

Meanwhile, the Latin American and Caribbean region has seen an 18 percent increase in cases in one week.

Italy’s death toll topped 60,000 on Sunday and the country saw a dramatic resurgence of infections after it largely crushed a previous outbreak by imposing a strict lockdown.

However, thanks to the reduction in pressure on hospitals, some regions are beginning to relax restrictions, such as Tuscany, Campania and Val d’Aosta.

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.

In Pakistan, a provincial health minister blamed “criminal negligence” after a delay in oxygen delivery at a hospital in northwestern Pakistan killed at least six COVID-19 patients.

© 2020 AFP