The first shipments of the vaccine developed by Germany's BioNTech and American drugmaker Pfizer were limited to just under 10,000 doses in most EU countries, with its mass vaccination programs expected to begin only in January. Spain, France and Germany, among others, are vowing to put the elderly and residents in nursing homes first. In Italy, which has Europe’s worst virus toll at over 71,000 dead, a nurse in Rome’s Spallanzani Hospital, the main infectious diseases facility in the capital, will be the first in the country to receive the vaccine, followed by other health personnel. Poland is also prioritizing doctors, nurses and others on the front lines of fighting the virus. The central European nation was largely spared the surge that badly hit Western Europe in the spring, but has been hit by high daily infections and deaths this fall.

Source: Daily Sun December 27, 2020 05:03 UTC