Doctors, nurses and the elderly rolled up their sleeves across the European Union to receive the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine on Sunday, in a symbolic demonstration of unity and a moment of hope for a continent facing its worst health crisis in a century.
Although some countries distributed doses a day earlier, the coordinated launch for the 27-nation bloc aimed to project a unified message that the vaccine was safe and Europe’s best chance of getting out of the pandemic and economic devastation caused by months of confinement. .
For health professionals who have been fighting the virus with only masks and shields to protect themselves, vaccines represented an emotional relief, as well as a public chance to urge the 450 million Europeans to take the vaccines for their own health and to other people.
“Today I am here as a citizen, but mainly as a nurse, to represent my category and all health workers who choose to believe in science,” said Claudia Alivernini, 29, the first person to be vaccinated at the Spallanzani Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Rome .
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz called the vaccine, which was developed in record time, a “game changer”.
“We know that today is not the end of the pandemic, but it is the beginning of victory,” he said.
Italian virus secretary Domenico Arcuri said it was significant that the first doses from Italy were administered in Spallanzani, where a Chinese couple who came from Wuhan tested positive in January and became Italy’s first confirmed case.
Within a few weeks, northern Lombardy became the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe and a cautionary tale of what happens when even wealthy regions are unprepared for a pandemic. Lombardy still accounts for about a third of those killed in Italy, which has the worst number of confirmed virus deaths on the continent, almost 72,000.
“Today is a beautiful and symbolic day: All citizens of Europe together are starting to receive their vaccines, the first ray of light after a long night,” Arcuri told reporters.
But he warned: “We all have to continue to be prudent, cautious and responsible. We still have a long way to go, but we finally see a little light.”
The vaccine developed by BioNTech in Germany and the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer began arriving in super-cold containers at EU hospitals on Friday from a factory in Belgium. Each country was receiving only a fraction of the required doses – less than 10,000 in the first batches – with the largest release expected in January, when more vaccines are available. All those who take injections on Sunday must return for a second dose in three weeks.
Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Union’s Executive Committee, said that with additional vaccines in development, the EU will have more vaccines than necessary and will be able to share its surplus with the Western Balkans and Africa.
“Europe is well positioned,” she said.
At the Los Olmos nursing home, in the Spanish city of Guadalajara, in the northeast of Madrid, 96-year-old resident Araceli Hidalgo and a caregiver were the first Spaniards to receive the vaccine.
“Let’s see if we can all behave and make this virus go away,” said Hidalgo.
The Los Olmos home suffered two confirmed deaths from Covid-19 and another 11 deaths among residents with symptoms that were never tested.
The Czech Republic was spared the worst of the pandemic in the spring, but its health care system almost collapsed in the fall. In Prague, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis received his shot at dawn on Sunday and said: “There is nothing to worry about.” Sitting next to him was World War II veteran Emilie Repikova, who was also shot.
In all, the 27 EU nations have recorded at least 16 million coronavirus infections and more than 336,000 deaths – huge numbers that experts say still underestimate the true number of the pandemic due to lost cases and limited testing.
The vaccination campaign is expected to alleviate the frustrations that were building up, especially in Germany, when Britain, Canada and the United States started their vaccination programs with the same vaccine weeks earlier.
Ultimately, some EU immunizations started a day earlier in Germany, Hungary and Slovakia. The operator of a German asylum where dozens were vaccinated on Saturday, including a 101-year-old woman, said “every day we hope for is another day”.
In France, where many question the safety of vaccines, the French government has been cautious in its messages and has made a point of ensuring that this is not seen as a public force for vaccination. France’s first vaccination in a nursing home in a poor area outside Paris on Sunday was not broadcast live on television as it was in other parts of Europe and no government minister attended.
“We don’t need to convince her. She said ‘yes, I’m ready for anything to prevent this disease’,” said Dr. Samir Tine, head of geriatric services at the Sevran nursing home, where the first injection was given in France Mauricette, 78 years old.
“It’s an important day,” said Tine. “We are very anxious to have a new weapon at our disposal and we are very anxious to rediscover our normal lives.”
Among the politicians who received vaccines on Sunday to promote wider acceptance of vaccines was Bulgarian Health Minister Kostadin Angelov. “I can’t wait to see my 70-year-old father without fear of infecting him,” said Angelov.
After taking his chance, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis declared Sunday “a great day for science and the European Union”.
“We hope that, over time, even our fellow citizens who suspect vaccination will become convinced that it is the right thing to do,” he said.
Meanwhile, a new variant of the virus that spread rapidly across London and southern England has now been detected in France, Italy, Spain, Canada and Japan. The new variant, which British officials say is much easier to transmit, has made many countries to restrict travel from Great Britain.
Japan announced that it would temporarily ban all non-resident foreigners from entering until January 31, as a precaution against the new UK variant.
Germany’s BioNTech said it is confident that its vaccine works against the new UK variant, but added that further studies are needed.
The European Medicines Agency will study on January 6 the approval of another vaccine manufactured by Moderna, which is already being used in the United States.
Dr. Annalisa Malara, who diagnosed Italy’s first domestic case on February 20 and confirmed that the outbreak in Europe was ongoing, was at her hospital in Codogno to encourage all Italians to get the injection.
“Today we closed the circle that opened on February 20 a little bit,” she said.