The AstraZeneca vaccine is cheaper and more easily transported than the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine because it doesn’t need to be kept at very cold temperatures. The Pfizer shot has already been administered to many health care professionals in Britain and the United States.
According to the country’s health minister, Britain will begin inoculating people at six hospitals around the country Monday. Sunday, India approved the same vaccine for emergency use.
The good news comes as Britain marks surges in coronavirus cases, particularly a new variant that scientists believe is more contagious.
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Sunday of new lockdowns to be issued across the country.
“We are entirely reconciled to do what it takes to get the virus under control that may involve tougher measures in the weeks ahead,” Johnson told the BBC.
Greece’s health ministry confirmed four cases of the new variant of the virus Sunday in people who had recently traveled to Britain.
The U.S. has about one-fourth of the infections globally, leading the world with more than 20.6 million cases and 351,000 deaths. India is second, with about half as many confirmed cases and deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the global outbreak. ((https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html))
The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday said the U.S. had administered more than 4.2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines nationwide and distributed more than 13 million.
In Russia, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said that more than 800,000 people had received the domestically produced Sputnik V vaccine and that 1.5 million doses had been distributed throughout the country of 147 million.
The Kremlin is pinning its hopes on mass vaccinations, not nationwide restrictions, to stop the spread of the virus and save its struggling economy from the hit of another lockdown.
Officials in Brazil, home to the third-highest number of cases globally at 7.7 million, recently told the Associated Press the country was at least three weeks away from launching any formal immunization campaign.
South African leaders announced Sunday that they hope to begin vaccinating their populations in February.
In Zimbabwe, where recorded cases have almost doubled since the beginning of November, government officials ordered a new containment Saturday evening. The country has recorded nearly 14,500 cases to date, including 377 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins.
In South Africa, government-backed security forces stepped up a “zero-tolerance approach” to enforcing a mask mandate, and President Cyril Ramaphosa banned alcohol sales, calling it a root cause of accidents and violence that strain hospital resources.
The coronavirus has killed more than 1.8 million people globally since emerging in China in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins.
Experts fear the worst is yet to come, predicting a sharp rise in cases and deaths after weeks of holiday gatherings.
VOA
