British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca is effective across all age groups, after Germany recommended the shot be given only to under-65s.
AstraZeneca denied the company’s Covid-19 vaccine is not very effective for people over 65 years old, after German media reports said officials fear the vaccine may not be approved in the European Union for use in the elderly.
Worldwide coronavirus cases surpassed 90 million on Jan. 11, according to a Reuters tally, as nations around the globe scramble to procure vaccines and continue to extend or reinstate lockdowns to fight new coronavirus variants.
The EU campaign to vaccinate Europeans against Covid-19 got off to an uneven start in what will be a marathon effort to administer shots to enough of the bloc’s 450 million people to defeat the viral pandemic.
Europe launched a mass Covid-19 vaccination drive on Dec. 27 with pensioners and medics lining up to get the first shots to see off a pandemic that has crippled economies and claimed more than 1.7 million lives worldwide.
Countries across the globe shut their borders to Britain on Dec. 21 due to fears about a highly infectious new coronavirus strain, causing travel chaos and raising the prospect of food shortages days before Britain is set to leave the European Union.
The global tally of confirmed coronavirus cases hit 60 million on Nov. 25, with the pace of new infections accelerating and the United States reporting record numbers of hospitalizations, according to a Reuters tally.
Global coronavirus infections exceeded 50 million, according to a Reuters tally, with a second wave of the virus in the past 30 days accounting for a quarter of the total.
Europe’s new Covid-19 cases doubled in five weeks, propelling the region across the bleak milestone of 10 million total infections, according to a Reuters tally.
Europe’s reported coronavirus cases more than doubled in 10 days, crossing 200,000 daily infections for the first time according to a Reuters tally, with many Southern European countries reporting their highest single-day cases.