Germany, Hungary and Slovakia gave their first coronavirus vaccine shots yesterday, a day ahead of the rollout of the vaccine in several other European Union countries today. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the COVID-19 vaccine has been delivered to all EU countries. Vaccination will begin today across the EU.
Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine shipments arrived in EU countries yesterday. Most countries received just under 10,000 doses in their first shipments.
The vaccinations come as the first cases of the new variant of the coronavirus, first reported in the United Kingdom, were detected in France and Spain. Several European countries have also tightened restrictions as cases, deaths and hospitalizations surge.
EU countries have recorded at least 1.6 crore COVID-19 cases and 3.36 lakh deaths since the pandemic began.
Germany gave the first shots to a small number of people at a home for the elderly yesterday.
Hungary administered its first vaccine doses to frontline health workers in Budapest.
Slovakia also gave some its first shots to healthcare workers.