US rolls out COVID-19 vaccine as Germany returns to lockdown

Facing record levels of coronavirus, the US has begun shipping vaccine nationwide, while in Germany an explosion of cases has forced a return to partial lockdown.

Senegal’s low incidence of COVID-19 means the Dakar Fashioon Week looks markedly more normal than its counterparts in other global capitals. Picture: Getty Images

Facing record levels of coronavirus, the US has begun shipping vaccine nationwide, launching a massive immunisation effort, while in Germany an explosion of cases has forced a return to partial lockdown.

Delivery trucks with special refrigeration equipment rolled out of a facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, as part of a public-private plan to ship millions of doses of the newly approved Pfizer-­BioNtech vaccine to vulnerable Americans.

Delivery services are deploying fleets of trucks and planes to carry their precious cargo — sometimes under armed guard — to all 50 states, where healthcare workers and nursing-home residents will be first in line.

As the historical mobilisation unfolds, an initial 2.9 million doses are to be delivered by Thursday AEDT, with officials saying 20 million Americans could receive the two-shot regimen by year end, and 100 million by March.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear tweeted Sunday, “We now believe that the first individuals will be vaccinated” on Monday morning — less than 72 hours after the vaccine received emergency authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration.

But the breakthrough comes at one of the darkest moments of the global pandemic, with infections in the US and many other countries soaring and health ­experts still struggling against vaccine scepticism, lockdown ­fatigue and uneven adherence to safety rules.

The US has recorded the world’s highest death toll, now exceeding 299,100, and the largest number of cases, at 16.2 million, including more than 1.1 million new cases in just the past week. Worldwide, there have been at least 1.6 million deaths since the outbreak emerged in China last December, and 72.2 million cases overall.

The start of the US vaccination campaign came as Germany announced a partial lockdown from Wednesday, with non-essential shops and schools to close in a bid to halt an “exponential growth” in infections.

The restrictions, agreed by Chancellor Angela Merkel and regional leaders, will apply through the holidays until January 10, with companies also urged to allow employees to work from home or offer extended company holidays.

Europe’s biggest economy has been severely hit by a resurgence of the coronavirus, with daily new infections more than three times their springtime peak. Daily death tolls last week approached 600.

Elsewhere, South Korea — once seen as a model of how to combat the pandemic — on Sunday reported 1030 new coronavirus cases, a record for a second day in a row.

In Africa, the prime minister of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Africa’s last absolute monarchy, died on Sunday after contracting coronavirus.

Ambrose Dlamini, 52, had been hospitalised in neighbouring South Africa earlier this month after testing positive for COVID-19.

The kingdom of Eswatini has reported over 6700 coronavirus cases and 127 deaths among its population of 1.2 million people.

In Algeria, 75-year-old President Abdelmadjid Tebboune made his first televised appearance since being hospitalised with COVID-19 in October. “Thanks to God,” he said, “I have started on the road to recovery.”

And President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil faced scathing criticism over his government’s plan — or lack thereof, opponents said — to vaccinate the population.

Brazil, the country with the world’s second-highest death toll, published its vaccination plan at the weekend under pressure from the Supreme Court, but listed no start date or details of how it would secure sufficient vaccine.

Leading newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, in a scathing front-page editorial, said virus-sceptic Mr Bolsonaro had shown “murderous stupidity.”

Even as US health experts welcomed the unprecedented effort, they cautioned people not to grow lax in observing precautions.

“The next number of weeks are going to be hell, I fear,” New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy told ABC. “So we’re begging people to please, please, please don’t let your guard down.”

Glass vials of the vaccine are being shipped to 636 sites around the country by Wednesday. About 2.9 million doses are in boxes containing dry ice that can keep supplies at -70C, the frigid temperature needed to preserve the drug.

Trials show the vaccine to be 95 per cent effective, and Americans are being told it is safe unless they have certain allergies.

AFP