The EU begins its campaign to vaccinate Covid-19
Doctors, nurses and the elderly across the European Union today receive the first Covid-19 vaccinations.
Although some countries, such as Germany, Hungary and Slovakia, started to vaccinate one day early, the 27 countries of the European Union (EU) work together to launch the Covid-19 vaccination campaign to deliver a unified message.
To the health workers on the front lines of the fight against the epidemic, the launch of the campaign is like a call for all 450 million Europeans to quickly vaccinate to protect themselves and those around them.
"I am here today as a citizen, but above all as a nurse, representing our profession and all other medical personnel who choose to believe in science",
Austrian Prime Minister Sebastian Kurz called the Covid-19 vaccine a "game-changing" factor.
Leading Italian virus expert Domenico Arcuri rated that all citizens across Europe kicking off vaccinations in one day is a symbolic act of great significance, "the first light after a black night.
However, Arcuri notes that all citizens still need "vigilance, vigilance, and responsibility".
The vaccine, developed by German company BioNTech and the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer, began being shipped in ultra-refrigerated container trucks to European hospitals on December 25 from a Belgian factory.
Each country receives only a fraction of the vaccine it needs, less than 10,000 doses in the first batches.
European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen said that with the series of additional vaccines being developed, the EU will have more vaccines than is needed for all people by 2021. She added that the EU
At the Los Olmos nursing home in Guadalajara, northeast of Madrid, Spain, 96-year-old Araceli Hidalgo was among the first in the country to be vaccinated with Covid-19.
The Czech Republic escaped its worst tragedy in the spring but saw the health system on the brink of collapse in the fall because of Covid-19.
In total, 27 EU countries recorded at least 16 million Covid-19 infections and more than 336,000 deaths.
In France, where doubts about vaccine safety remain high, the government is cautious in its message and wants to make sure it is not seen as forcing people to vaccinate.
The first vaccination series at a nursing home on the outskirts of Paris on December 27 was not broadcast live on television like elsewhere in Europe and no ministers attended.
Among the politicians participating in today's vaccination to encourage people to accept the Covid-19 vaccine is also Bulgarian Health Minister Kostadin Angelov.
"I can't wait to meet my 70-year-old father without having to worry about infecting him," said Minister Angelov.
Meanwhile, a strain of nCoV first discovered in the UK is spreading to a number of countries such as France, Italy, Spain, Canada and Japan.
Andreas Raouna, 84, said he feels honored to be one of the first people to receive the Covid-19 vaccine in Cyprus.
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