The distribution of an initial 200 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech across the European Union will be completed by September, a spokesman for the EU Commission said.
South Korea is accelerating efforts to launch a coronavirus vaccination programme it announced the detection of its first cases of the virus variant originally identified in the UK.
South Africa, meanwhile, reached the grim milestone of one million coronavirus cases on Monday.
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump signed into law a $2.3-trillion pandemic aid and spending package, restoring unemployment benefits to millions of Americans and averting a federal government shutdown.
Globally, more than 80.4 million people have been infected by the coronavirus, and 1.7 million have died.
Here are the latest updates:
EU’s Borrell accuses Russia of spreading COVID-19 disinformation to sell its vaccine
The European Union’s top diplomat has said that Russian public media had spread false information on European and American COVID-19 vaccines in countries where it wants to sell its own shot against the coronavirus.
“Western vaccine developers are openly mocked on multi-lingual Russian state-controlled media, which has in some cases led to absurd claims that vaccines will turn people into monkeys,” Josep Borrell said in a blog post.
“Such narratives are apparently directed at countries where Russia wants to sell its own vaccine, Sputnik V,” Borrell added, noting that these moves threatened public health amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He gave no specific examples.
Moscow has repeatedly denied these accusations, and alleges that Sputnik V is being targeted by a foreign-backed disinformation campaign.
Russia extends UK flight suspension until January 12 – TASS
Russia has decided to keep flights to and from Britain suspended until the end of January 12 due to the new coronavirus variant detected in Britain, the TASS news agency cited Russia’s coronavirus task force as saying.
Russia reports 20.5 percent more deaths since pandemic – state statistics service
Russia has recorded 20.5 percent more deaths since the COVID-19 pandemic began in the country in April, data from the Rosstat state statistics service showed.
The total figure, at 241,193 more deaths in April-November 2020 than during the same period the previous year, is significantly higher than the preliminary pandemic death toll of 55,265 so far, reported on a cumulative daily basis by the government’s coronavirus crisis centre.
This figure includes deaths recorded in December.
Though death tolls fluctuate year-to-year, tallies of what are referred to as excess deaths can illustrate the impact of the pandemic by including cases where the novel coronavirus was not a confirmed cause of death, as well as deaths from other causes that could be linked to the fact that national medical systems are over-stretched.
Lebanon reserving nearly 2 million coronavirus vaccines
Lebanon’s health minister said that his country has reserved nearly 2 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to fight the coronavirus, an amount that covers up to 20 percent of Lebanese.
Hamad Hassan said in a news conference his government has been negotiating with the company to acquire the vaccines and that they are expected to be in Lebanon by February. The deal was expected to be signed Monday.
Lebanon is reeling from a historic economic crisis that has left the highly indebted government short on cash and foreign currency.
Foreign donors and supporters have refrained from bankrolling the government deficit demanding major reforms, which have failed to materialize because of political jockeying among the country’s multiple power centers and sectarian groups.
Belgium launches Covid vaccinations
Belgium began to deploy the coronavirus vaccine on Monday, inoculating residents at three retirement homes as the first step in a national campaign.
The country has suffered one of the worst per capita death rates in the world during the epidemic, and its nursing homes have been particularly hard hit.
The first doses of the vaccine that scientists hope will turn back the tide went to homes in Puurs, the French-speaking town of Mons and a Brussels suburb.
A much larger campaign will begin in early January, but Belgium wanted to symbolic first vaccinations to start alongside those in its other EU partners.
Some German districts will not use vaccine on cold chain issues
Some German districts will not use the COVID-19 vaccine received over the weekend on the suspicion that the cold chain could have been interrupted during its delivery, a district administrator said.
“There were doubts as to whether the cold chain was maintained at all times”, the Lichtenfels District Administrator Christian Meissner told Reuters news agency.
“Biontech commented and said that the vaccine was probably okay, but probably okay is not enough”, he said, adding that the shots would not be used to prevent damage to the public’s trust in the vaccination campaign.
A Lichtenfels district spokesman said on Sunday that 1,000 shots earmarked for use in Lichtenfels as well as Coburg, Kronach, Kulmbach, Hof, Bayreuth and Wunsiedel in northern Bavaria had been affected by the temperature issue.
Pfizer to complete supply of COVID-19 vaccines to EU by September
The distribution of an initial 200 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech across the European Union will be completed by September, a spokesman for the EU Commission said.
The protracted timetable, which was previously unknown, confirms that the bloc, with a population of 450 million, will need vaccines from other suppliers to speed up inoculations against the new coronavirus.
Most EU countries began inoculating healthcare workers and vulnerable people on Sunday with the Pfizer vaccine, which is the only one so far authorised in the 27-nation bloc, and requires a two-dose regimen.
“Distribution of the full 200 million doses is scheduled to be completed by September 2021,” the spokesman told Reuters news agency in an emailed statement.
UN rights office decries jail term for citizen-journalist in China’s Wuhan
The United Nations human rights office has voiced concern at the four-year prison term imposed by a Chinese court on citizen journalist Zhang Zhan who reported from Wuhan early in the pandemic and reiterated its call for her release.
“We raised her case with the authorities throughout 2020 as an example of the excessive clampdown on freedom of expression linked to #COVID19 & continue to call for her release,” it said in a tweet.
A Chinese court handed a four-year jail term to Zhang on Monday on grounds of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, her lawyer said.
Finland finds first patients with new coronavirus variants
The new variant of the coronavirus circulating in Britain has been detected in Finland in two people, while a separate variant spreading in South Africa has been detected in one other person, health officials said.
Finland imposed travel restrictions earlier this month on passengers from Britain amid concerns over the new variant, which is thought to be more contagious than previous ones.
India’s Serum Institute expects approval for AstraZeneca
Serum Institute of India, the local maker of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, said it expected the government to approve the shot for emergency use in a few days.
Serum Chief Executive Adar Poonawalla also told reporters that the company had already made 40 million to 50 million doses of the vaccine.
Japan PM says ‘virus recognises no holidays’
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has asked his ministers to remain ready to implement measures to prevent the further spread of coronavirus infections, after daily case numbers hit a string of record highs in recent days.
“The virus recognises no year-end or New Year holidays. I ask each minister to raise the level of their sense of urgency and thoroughly carry out counter measures,” Suga told a meeting of the government’s taskforce on coronavirus responses.
Approval of Oxford/AstraZeneca could relax restrictions
British regulatory approval of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca could accelerate the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, cabinet office minister Michael Gove said.
Gove said that the independent regulator had to assess the vaccine, but if it was approved there would be a “significant increase” in vaccine available. Britain is already rolling out a vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
Indonesia bans international visitors for 2 weeks over new virus strain
International visitors will be barred from entering Indonesia for a two-week period.
The new regulation, effective January 1, comes days after Indonesia banned travelers from the Britain and tightened rules for those arriving from Europe and Australia to limit the spread of the new strain.
Earlier this year Indonesia banned all tourists but some exemptions have been made for business travelers. The new regulation applies to all foreign visitors with the exception of high-level government officials, she said.
Pfizer delayed delivery of new batch of vaccine to Spain by one day
Pfizer has postponed the delivery of a new batch of the coronavirus vaccine to Spain by one day to Tuesday due to a logistics hurdle.
Spain started vaccinating people on Sunday.
Health Minister Salvador Illa expected around 70 percent of the country’s population to be immunized by the end of the summer.
Britain’s plans for staggered school return under review
Cabinet office minister Michael Gove said the current plan was that students doing GCSEs and A-levels this year and the children of key workers would return to school next week, with other secondary school students returning the following week. But he said that this could be changed.
“We do keep things under review, and we’ll be talking to head teachers and teachers in the next 24, 48 hours just to make sure that our plans… are really robust,” Gove told Times Radio.
China jails citizen-journalist for four years over Wuhan virus reporting
Zhang Zhan, 37, the first such person known to have been tried, was among a handful of people whose firsthand accounts from crowded hospitals and empty streets painted a more dire picture of the pandemic epicentre than the official narrative.
He was handed the sentence on grounds of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” her lawyer said.
“We will probably appeal,” the lawyer, Ren Quanniu, told Reuters.
Saudi Arabia extends entry ban
Saudi Arabia extended a ban on entry to the kingdom for another week amid fears of the new coronavirus variant.
The government said it was evaluating the current situation while allowing non-citizens to leave the kingdom and allowing entry for exceptional cases.
Thailand confirms 144 new infections
Thailand’s new cases include 129 local infections and 15 arriving from abroad, the public health ministry said in a statement.
The country has confirmed a total of 6,285 coronavirus cases and 60 deaths since its first case in late January.
Mexico elderly could get coronavirus vaccines in January
Mexico expects to finish administering the first dose of COVID-19 vaccinations to healthcare workers by early January, before moving to inoculate elderly people in the month’s second half, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said.
South Korea to accelerate virus vaccine efforts
South Korean officials are vowing to speed up efforts to launch a public vaccination programme as the new variant was found in three people who had entered South Korea from London, UK, on December 22, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
The KDCA reported 808 new cases as of midnight Sunday, the lowest since a record 1,241 infections were logged on Friday.
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South Africa’s cases cross the one-million mark
South Africa logged its millionth case of COVID-19, the pandemic showing no signs of letting up.
The country had 800,000 recorded cases early in December.
Read more here
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Pfizer to complete COVID vaccine supply to EU by September - Al Jazeera English
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