Germany hits a new high in a single day. Merkel said that the European Union can approve vaccine use as soon as December.
Berlin, November 20 The number of newly diagnosed COVID-19 reported by the German disease control department on the 20th reached 23,648, setting a new record for the number of new people in a single day since the outbreak of the epidemic in the country.
German Chancellor Merkel expressed optimism on the progress of the European Union’s approval of the use of the coronavirus vaccine on the same day. She expects that the vaccine will be approved in the European Union as early as December this year or early next year and vaccination will begin.
The picture shows an advertisement in Berlin’s Health Spring Station reminding people to wear masks on the afternoon of November 16. Photo by Peng Dawei, reporter of China News Service
This is a new high in the short term after 23,542 new cases were confirmed in Germany in a single day on November 13. According to the real-time data of Germany’s “Time Online”, as of 22:00 local time on the 20th, Germany has diagnosed more than 900,000 people, reaching 901,737; a total of 57898 people have been cured and 1,4101 people have died.
On the 20th, BioNTech announced that the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine jointly developed by the United States Pfizer has officially submitted an emergency use authorization (EUA) application to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The final results of the third phase of the vaccine released recently show that its efficiency has reached 95%.
Merkel made the foregoing remarks at a press conference held on the same day after a videoconference with leaders of EU member states on the response to the epidemic.
Merkel said that the recent news from the field of coronavirus vaccine research and development is promising. “We expect the European Union to approve the use of the vaccine in December or early next year. At that time, vaccination will naturally start.
Merkel said that the preparations for the start of vaccination in EU countries generally follow a similar direction, focusing on the question of “which part of the people are first to be vaccinated”. Medical staff and people at high risk of COVID-19 will be the first to vaccinate, Merkel said.
Merkel is expected to consult with German governors again on the 25th of this month on the next step of pandemic prevention strategies. German media reported that the second round of “lockdown” that is under implementation may be extended to December 20 because the new version of the infectious disease prevention and treatment law passed by the German Bundestag recently gives the government the power to implement more epidemic prevention measures.
