The United Kingdom will be the first country to introduce a new coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer Biotechnology, and the first Western country to do so, the British government announced Sunday.
Starting Tuesday, the first doses will be distributed to health care workers and Britons over the age of 80, the National Health Service said. About 800,000 doses of the vaccine are expected to be administered in the first week.
Pfizer and Biotech could get U.S. approval later this month.
China is also preparing to launch a huge new coronavirus vaccine program.
The Associated Press reports that provincial governments in China are ordering experimental, home-made new coronavirus vaccines, though health officials have yet to say how effective the vaccine will be or how it will benefit the country’s 1.4 billion people.
More than a million Chinese health care workers have received the experimental vaccine under an emergency use permit, but there is no indication that the vaccine may have side effects, the AP said.
Russia launched a new coronavirus vaccine program Saturday to contain the outbreak there.
The first doses of the vaccine, called Sputnik V, will be given to the most vulnerable populations, including medical workers and teachers. The Russian vaccine was approved in August despite criticism from Western experts that it lacked information about clinical trials.
Last Friday, Bahrain became the second country, after the United Kingdom, to approve emergency use of Pfizer Biotech’s new coronavirus vaccine.
The challenge in distributing the vaccine is maintaining adequate temperature control. It must be stored at temperatures of -70 degrees Celsius (-94 degrees Fahrenheit). Summer temperatures in Bahrain are typically 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
Bahrain has vaccinated 6,000 people with a Chinese vaccine, which uses a dead virus. According to Johns Hopkins University, there have been nearly 88,000 new cases of coronavirus and nearly 350 deaths in the Middle Eastern country.
In the United States, millions of people in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley will be subject to a new restrictive home order starting Sunday night.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said last week that the orders will go into effect when an area hospital’s critical care capacity drops below 15 percent.
Beginning Sunday night, California’s orders will close all outdoor restaurants, public outdoor playgrounds, outdoor museums, zoos and aquariums, drive-in theaters, and open-air tour buses and boats. Pet grooming and electronics or shoe repair, which are considered low-touch retail, will be allowed to operate on a curbside drop-off basis. All other retail stores, including grocery stores, will be allowed to operate at 20 percent capacity.
In Europe, the number of deaths in elderly homes has climbed again. The Associated Press reports that at least 5,000 “institutionalized elderly” have died in France in the past month, while Portugal has sent troops to nursing homes to instruct staff on how to properly disinfect them.
A spike in new cases has prompted South Korean officials to impose new restrictions in and around the capital, Seoul.
Starting Tuesday, gyms and karaoke bars will be closed, no gatherings of more than 49 people will be allowed, and religious services will only be held online or over the radio.
According to Johns Hopkins University, there have been more than 66.7 million cases of the new coronavirus worldwide and 1.5 million deaths.
The United States has 14.5 million infections, more than any other country. India is second to the United States with 9.6 million cases, and Brazil is third with 6.5 million cases.
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