European Union countries began receiving their first shipments of the COVID-19 vaccine this weekend, before a massive launch planned for Sunday.
Efforts will be underway on Sunday to vaccinate vulnerable people and top medical professionals in some of the countries that have been impacted by the first wave of the virus this spring, including the Czech Republic, Italy and Spain, the Associated Press reported.
“Here is the good news for Christmas,” said German Health Minister Jens Spahn, according to the AP. “At the moment, trucks are underway across Europe, Germany and their regions, to deliver the first vaccine. More deliveries will happen the day after tomorrow. This vaccine is the decisive key to ending this pandemic. “
The 27 member countries of the European bloc have seen a total of 16 million cases of coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, with 336,000 deaths, the AP reported.
Doses of around 10,000 per country started to leave Pfizer-BioNTech’s manufacturing center in Belgium before Christmas.
Although the first remittances are relatively small in scale, the mass vaccination program is scheduled to start in January and will focus on immunizing many more people across the EU.
The EU has agreed to buy up to 300 million doses from Pfizer-BioNTech and millions more from other manufacturers, such as Moderna.
Each country is responsible for its own vaccine distribution rules, although nations are unanimously prioritizing elderly populations and medical professionals who are constantly at risk of exposure and contraction of the virus.
In Germany, over 80s and people who care for vulnerable groups will receive the first vaccines.
In countries like Poland and Bulgaria, the public has expressed some apprehension about getting the vaccine due to a general lack of trust in the authorities, the AP reported.
Polish authorities pleaded with residents that receiving the vaccine would be their patriotic duty and would help them achieve collective immunity, while Croatian authorities said they plan to launch an aggressive campaign to demonstrate the benefits of coronavirus inoculations.
With the launch of vaccines across the EU, authorities have warned of a new strain of the virus that is said to be 56% more contagious. The strain spread rapidly in the UK and has been detected in several other countries.