Healthcare workers applaud Mauricette, a French 78-year-old woman, after she received a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Rene-Muret hospital in Sevran, on the outskirts of Paris, on December 27, 2020. (THOMAS  SAMSON / POOL / AFP)

CAIRO / NEW YORK / BERLIN / LONDON / PAIRS / SAO PAULO / MADRID / ROME - Europe launched a massive COVID-19 vaccination drive on Sunday with pensioners and medics lining up to get the first shots to see off a pandemic that has crippled economies and claimed more than 1.7 million lives worldwide.

The region of 450 million people has secured contracts with a range of suppliers for more than two billion vaccine doses and has set a goal for all adults to be inoculated during 2021.

The region of 450 million people has secured contracts with a range of suppliers for more than two billion vaccine doses and has set a goal for all adults to be inoculated during 2021

While Europe has some of the best-resourced healthcare systems in the world, the sheer scale of the effort means some countries are calling on retired medics to help while others have loosened rules for who is allowed to give the injections.

With surveys pointing to high levels of hesitancy towards the vaccine in countries from France to Poland, leaders of the 27-country European Union are promoting it as the best chance of getting back to something like normal life next year.

“We are starting to turn the page on a difficult year,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission which is coordinating the programme, said in a tweet.

“Vaccination is the lasting way out of the pandemic.”

After European governments were criticised for failing to work together to counter the spread of the virus in early 2020, the goal this time is to ensure that there is equal access to the vaccines across the region.

But even then, Hungary on Saturday jumped the gun on the official roll-out by starting to administer shots to frontline workers at hospitals in the capital Budapest.

Slovakia also went ahead with some inoculations of healthcare staff on Saturday and in Germany, a small number of people at a care home for the elderly were inoculated a day early too.

“We don’t want to waste that one day that the vaccine loses shelf life. We want to use it right away,” Karsten Fischer, from the pandemic staff of the Harz district in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt told local broadcaster MDR.

The distribution of the Pfizer/BioNTech shot presents tough challenges. The vaccine uses new mRNA technology and must be stored at ultra-low temperatures of about -70 degrees Celsius (-112°F).

Beyond hospitals and care homes, sports halls and convention centres emptied by lockdown measures will become venues for mass inoculations.

In Italy, temporary solar-powered healthcare pavilions designed to look like five-petalled primrose flowers - a symbol of spring - sprung up in town squares.

The vaccination drive is all the more urgent because of the concern around a new variant of the virus linked to a rapid expansion of cases in Britain. In recent days, Sweden and France have also detected cases of the variant.

So far, scientists say there is no evidence to suggest vaccines will be any less effective against it.

In Spain, doses were being delivered by air to its island territories and the North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. Portugal is establishing separate cold storage units for its Atlantic archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores.

In France, a 78-year-old former domestic worker, who gave her name as Mauricette, said she was moved when she received the first vaccination outside tests in the country. Staff around her in the Rene-Muret hospital in the Parisian suburb of Sevran broke into applause.

In the Czech Republic, Prime Minister Andrej Babis was at the head of the queue. In Austria, three women and two men over 80 got the vaccine at the Medical University of Vienna, as Chancellor Sebastian Kurz looked on.

“We are at war, but our weapon has arrived and it is in these small vials,” the head of Bulgaria’s anti-virus taskforce, General Ventsislav Mutafchiiski said after getting his vaccination in Sofia.

Outside the EU, Britain, Switzerland and Serbia have already started vaccinating their citizens in recent weeks.

Global tally

Global COVID-19 cases surpassed 80 million on Saturday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

The global case count reached 80,070,327, with a total of 1,753,839 deaths worldwide as of 12:22 p.m. local time (1722 GMT), the CSSE data showed.

The United States reported the most cases and deaths around the world, which stood at 18,794,545 and 330,509, respectively. India recorded 10,169,118 cases, ranking second in the world. Brazil followed India with 7,448,560 cases and the world's second largest death toll of 190,488.

Countries with more than 2 million cases also include Russia, France, Britain, Turkey and Italy, while other countries with over 50,000 deaths include India, Mexico, Italy, Britain, France, Iran and Russia, according to the CSSE tally.

Global cases hit 50 million on Nov. 8, topped 60 million on Nov. 25 and surpassed 70 million on Dec. 11. It took 17 days for the global caseload to jump from 50 million to 60 million, 16 days from 60 million to 70 million and only 15 days from 70 million to 80 million.

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UK

Oxford and Astrazeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine will be rolled out across the UK starting Jan 4, the Telegraph reports, citing plans that ministers are drawing up. The government is hoping for two million people to get their first dose of the vaccine from Oxford/Astrazeneca or Pfizer and BioNTech SE.

The publication also reported that mass vaccination centers at sports stadiums and conference venues are expected to launch in the second week of January. The Oxford vaccine is easier to store and handle than the one from Pfizer and it’s likely to make it easier to reach people in secluded parts of the country.

Responding to the report, a Health Department spokeswoman told Reuters that the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency will need time to carry out review of the vaccine data.

UK residents have already started receiving Pfizer’s vaccination, with the government reporting more than 600,000 people having received the vaccine between Dec 8-20.

The UK reported more than 30,000 cases for the seventh consecutive day. Saturday’s tally of 34,693 cases is in line with the average over the previous seven days. Deaths were significantly lower at 210, compared to a daily average of 522 for the past week. However, not all countries in the UK are reporting complete data over the holidays.

Millions more British people were waking up to harsher coronavirus restrictions in England on Saturday as new tier changes came into force in England.

New lockdowns were also introduced in Scotland and Northern Ireland, while restrictions that were eased for Christmas Day in Wales were re-imposed on Saturday.

US

US President Donald Trump, never a fan of closing the economy to slow the spread of the coronavirus, tweeted on Saturday that “lockdowns in Democrat run states” are ruining the lives of many people.

“Cases in California have risen despite the lockdown, yet Florida & others are open & doing well,” Trump said.

The US recorded 106,188 new COVID-19 cases on Dec. 25, an increase of just 0.6 percent from the day before and the smallest daily gain since Nov. 4, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and Johns Hopkins University. However, the numbers were likely skewed by the Christmas holiday: The last time the daily rise was below 1 percent was on Thanksgiving, and was preceded and followed by significantly larger jumps.

Hungray

Hungary reported 96 deaths related to the COVID-19 virus on Sunday, the first time the daily tally fell below 100 since Nov. 23.

The eastern European nation registered 698 new coronavirus cases, the smallest number in more than three months, though that was down to performing the fewest number of tests since Sept. 1. The rate of positive tests remained in excess of 20percent.

Hungary started administering coronavirus vaccinations to front-line hospital workers on Saturday, a day ahead of the coordinated European Union rollout of the shot developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE.

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France

France reported the lowest number of new cases in almost two weeks, with 3,093 additional confirmed cases, according to French health authorities. The number of deaths rose by 146 to 62,573.

France will kick off its vaccination campaign on Sunday morning with about 10 elderly residents and one staff member at a care home in Sevran, outside Paris. In the afternoon, several residents at a care home in Dijon will receive shots, French health authorities said in a briefing with reporters.

Next week, vaccinations will be rolled out to 23 establishments in the Paris, Lyon and Tours areas, as well as the northern tip of France. This will also involve elderly care home residents and older staff at risk.

The French Health Ministry expects that the current available vaccines will be effective against the new COVID-19 variants circulating mainly in the UK and South Africa. The first two stages of vaccination, covering 15 million people considered a priority, are expected to take six months, before vaccines are rolled out more widely.

California imposes new lockdown Orders as COVID-19 cases surge across the US. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG

Germany

Germany’s vaccination program started a day earlier than planned when a 101-year-old woman and around 40 others in a care home for the elderly were inoculated on Saturday, DPA reported.

“Every day we wait is a day too many,” the news agency quoted the head of the home, Tobias Krueger, as saying. Ten workers at the facility in the eastern German city of Halberstadt were also vaccinated, DPA said.

Inoculations will start across Germany on Sunday, beginning with people aged over 80, care workers and health personnel deemed to be at particular risk. Health Minister Jens Spahn said Saturday it will likely take until the middle of next year to provide every citizen who wants one with a shot.

Germany reported 13,755 more COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours on Sunday, bringing the national tally to 1,640,858, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).

The nationwide death toll rose by 356 to 29,778, the RKI data showed.

Germany reported its first case of the new COVID-19 variant on Thursday in a woman who flew in from Britain, local health authorities said.

Italy

Almost 10 months after the first Italian patient tested positive for the new coronavirus, Italy on Sunday vaccinated the first residents against COVID-19.

Italy reported 10,407 new cases, a decrease from 19,037 the day before, and the number of newly-recorded deaths fell to 261. The country on Thursday began what will be the first of two strict lockdown periods as the government tries to curb contact between citizens during the holiday period. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in a Facebook post on Saturday that the first doses of the vaccine arrived in Rome.

A new COVID-19 strain was found in the region of Campania, which includes Naples, in six passengers traveling from the UK, where it is widespread, and in other areas of the country including Veneto, La Repubblica reported on its website.

Ireland

Ireland recorded almost 1,300 new virus cases on Saturday, breaking 1,000 for the second day in a row and taking numbers back to the peak of the so-called second wave of the disease. The government has already brought forward new curbs, closing all bars and restaurants on Christmas Eve and restricting travel for at least three weeks. It hasn’t ruled out a return of tougher measures.

Portugal 

Portugal on Saturday reported the smallest daily increase in confirmed virus cases since October. There were 1,214 new cases in a day, less than a fifth of the daily record of 6,994 reported on Nov. 19. The number of patients in intensive-care units rose by nine to 513.

Portugal is scheduled to start providing COVID-19 vaccines on Sunday, and will begin by giving the shots to healthcare workers.

Sweden 

Sweden has identified its first case of the new coronavirus mutation after a person from the UK visited the Nordic nation to celebrate Christmas in the Sormland region. There’s a risk more people in Sweden have been infected by the variant, according to Signar Makitalo, the infection prevention doctor for the region.

The country’s health agency is now recommending that everyone in Sweden who has traveled from the U.K. after Dec. 12 be tested for the virus.

The agency confirmed that 9,750 doses of Pfizer’s vaccine have arrived in Sweden, with enough doses to cover 4,900 people. The first inoculations will be administered on Sunday.

Czech Republic

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis became the first person in the country to be given a vaccine against the new coronavirus on Sunday, as European Union member states begin a pushback against the pandemic which is surging across the continent.

Babis received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the Central Military Hospital in Prague, just before other hospitals in the capital and second-largest city Brno started to distribute the 9,750 doses the country has received so far.

Slovakia 

Slovakia on Saturday started to vaccinate its population against the coronavirus as the country joined a coordinated push by the European Union against the global pandemic.

Vladimir Krcmery, a member of the government’s Pandemic Commission, was the first person in the country inoculated by the vaccine produced by Pfizer and BionTech.

Hungary also began vaccinating its people on Saturday, a day ahead of rollouts in several other countries including France, Germany and Spain.

Belarus 

Belarus reported 1,916 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking its total to 184,922, according to the country's health ministry.

There have been 2,706 new recoveries in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 164,538, the ministry added.

So far, 1,376 people have died of the disease in the country, including nine over the past 24 hours, it said.  

Sweden 

The new variant of coronavirus linked to a rapid rise in infections in Britain has been detected in Sweden after a traveller from the United Kingdom became ill and tested positive, the Swedish Health Agency said on Saturday.

Health Agency official Sara Byfors told a news conference the traveller had been isolating and that no further positive cases had so far been detected.

The unidentified traveller was staying in Sormland, south of Stockholm, according to Signe Makitalo, a regional infection control doctor. The new variant is thought to be more transmissible than others currently circulating.

Canada

The Canadian province of Ontario announced that it had found two cases of the coronavirus variant now widespread in the UK. They were identified as a couple “with no known travel history, exposure or high-risk contacts,” according to a statement.

“This further reinforces the need for Ontarians to stay home as much as possible and continue to follow all public health advice, including the provincewide shutdown measures beginning today,” said Barbara Yaffe, the province’s chief medical officer. The lockdown restricts gatherings, limits in-person shopping and prohibits indoor and outdoor dining.

Mexico

Mexico will begin to deploy doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccines on Monday Dec. 28 in different areas of Mexico City and the state of Coahuila, the Ministry of Health said in a statement. The first to receive the vaccine will be health workers.

Argentina 

Argentina President Alberto Fernandez said during a video meeting with the country’s governors that the Russian Sputnik V vaccinations will begin on Tuesday.

Vaccines will be distributed on Monday throughout the country, according to a statement. The Health Ministry reported 14,402 new cases and 187 deaths between Thursday and Saturday.

Brazil

The Brazilian government on Saturday reported 307 deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, bringing the country's death toll to 190,795.

Brazil now has nearly 7.5 million confirmed cases and 190,795 deaths from the virus, ministry data showed.

Ecuador 

Ecuador registered 446 new cases and six more deaths from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 209,274 and the death toll to 9,439, the Ministry of Health reported on Saturday.

The ministry stated that the number of "probable deaths" from COVID-19 remains at 4,551.

Peru

Peruvian authorities have restricted entry to beaches to prevent them from "becoming new sources of infection" of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), General Jorge Angulo, the head of the Lima Regional Police, announced on Saturday.

"The situation is marked by potential contagion and this is the reason, to prevent areas of high concentration from becoming new sources of infection," he said.

Africa

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the African continent reached 2,623,086 as of Saturday, as the death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic reached 61,954, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

A total of 2,194,385 people infected with COVID-19 have recovered across the continent as of Saturday afternoon, the continental disease control and prevention agency said.

The most affected African countries in terms of the number of positive cases include South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia and Ethiopia, respectively, figures from the Africa CDC showed.

Egypt

A fire killed at least seven people and injured several others on Saturday at a private hospital that was treating coronavirus patients on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital Cairo, local sources and media said.

The fire broke out at about 9 am at Misr Al Amal Hospital in El Obour, some 30 km northeast of central Cairo, and according to initial investigations was caused by an electrical fault, security and medical sources said.

The hospital was evacuated and closed and patients were transferred to a public hospital in Cairo, the sources said.

Egypt has seen a sharp increase in the number of officially confirmed coronavirus cases over the past week. The health ministry recorded 1,189 new cases and 43 deaths on Saturday, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 131,315 cases including 7,352 deaths.

South Africa

South Africa reported record daily infections for a third straight day, with 14,796 new cases, the health ministry said late Friday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 983,359.

The government rejected allegations that a new variant in the country had spurred a second wave in the UK, and criticized its decision to impose travel restrictions. Several other countries have also halted flights from South Africa.

Nigeria

At least 20 Nigerian doctors have died from COVID-19 in a week amid a second wave of infections, the Premium Times reported, citing the Nigeria Medical Association.

The outbreak has been caused by intense community transmission in nearly two dozen states. Nigerian health workers had complained of exposure to coronavirus infections due to a lack of adequate personal protective equipment, which has led to more than 1,000 infections among health workers.

Uganda 

The Uganda Electoral Commission on Saturday said it has suspended political campaigns in 11 districts in the country that the ministry of health considers COVID-19 hotspots.

Paul Bukenya, the Electoral Commission's spokesperson said in a tweet that the suspension takes immediate effect in the districts of Mbarara, Luwero, Kasese, Masaka, Wakiso, Kabarole, Jinja, Kalungu, Kazo, Kampala and Tororo.

Morocco 

Morocco registered 2,369 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total tally in the North African country since March 2 to 430,562, the health ministry said in a statement.

The total number of recoveries from COVID-19 in Morocco increased to 396,095 after 4,175 new ones were added.