The number of people who have died of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, has reached 1.6 million, as per the tally of US-based Johns Hopkins University. The virus was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan, capital of its central Hubei province, in December 2019.
Since then, it has globally infected 71,636,988 people and killed 1,603,582 of them.
US intends to vaccinate 20 million people in a month
The United States, the worst-hit nation by the pandemic gave a green light to the vaccine candidate developed by Pfizer in collaboration with Germany’s BioNTech. The country is seeking to inoculate 20 million people this month alone, as per an AFP report.
Also read: Donald Trump says first vaccine will be administered ‘in less than 24 hours’
Doses of the Pfizer vaccine will begin leaving the company’s factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Sunday, stored in boxes containing dry ice that are capable of staying at -70°C (-94°Fahrenheit), the frigid temperature needed to preserve the drug.
General Gus Perna, who is overseeing the massive logistical operation as part of the government’s Operation Warp Speed, likened the moment to D-Day, the turning point of World War II.
“I am absolutely 100% confident that we are going to distribute safely, this precious commodity, this vaccine, needed to defeat the enemy Covid,” he told reporters, AFP reported.
Perna said hundreds of sites, including hospitals and other distribution centers, would receive the vaccines from Monday to Wednesday, which would cover the first wave of about three million people to be vaccinated.
Federal health authorities have recommended that health care workers and nursing home residents be at the front of the line, but the final decisions have been left to states.
Other than the US, Britain, Bahrain, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico have granted emergency use authorisation for Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine.
Over the past two weeks the US has repeatedly exceeded 2,000 Covid-related deaths per day, rivalling tolls it saw in the early days of the pandemic.
It has recorded 16,057,434 COVID-19 cases and 297,789 deaths, as per Johns Hopkins University’s tally.
Italy overtakes Britain, becomes worst-affected in Europe
With 64,036 deaths, Italy is now the worst-hit European nation in terms of COVID-19 fatalities. Britain has recorded 64,026 deaths.
“I am worried about the two weeks of Christmas holidays. We are up against a dramatic pandemic which is ongoing — the battle still has not been won,” Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza told a symposium as the country recorded 64,036 deaths, surpassing Britain’s 64,026.
Regional affairs minister Francesco Boccia told Italian television that unless people adopted a careful approach, “the risk of a third wave is almost certain.”
Other vaccines
Two vaccine candidates stumbled Friday: France’s Sanofi and Britain’s GSK said their vaccine would not be ready until the end of 2021, AFP reported.
Also read: Peru suspends clinical trials of Chinese vaccine following detection of neurological problems
And in Australia, the development of a vaccine at the University of Queensland was abandoned after clinical trials produced a false positive HIV result among subjects involved in early testing.
