According to the data of Johns Hopkins University in the United States, as of 6th, the cumulative number of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide exceeded 66.56 million, and the cumulative number of deaths was nearly 1.53 million.
In order to curb the epidemic, many countries around the world have launched large-scale coronavirus vaccination programs. On the other hand, the World Health Organization reminds that vaccines are not a panacea for the epidemic, and countries must continue to strengthen epidemic prevention.
Many countries will launch mass vaccination programs
It is reported that on December 5th local time, Moscow, the capital of Russia, began to vaccinate the high-risk groups of COVID-19 in the city, including medical personnel, teachers and social workers. This makes Russia the first country in the world to launch a large-scale vaccination against the novel coronavirus.
Moscow authorities have set up 70 coronavirus vaccination centers to implement the vaccination plan. Sputnik V was injected in two parts, 21 days apart. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced in November that it had launched a vaccination program in the military, and 80,000 people will be vaccinated first in 2020, with a target of 400,000.
The United Kingdom is also scheduled to start the vaccination of the novel coronavirus next week, after the British authorities have approved the use of the coronavirus vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer in the United States and BioNTech in Germany.
The UK’s chief medical officer said that deaths would drop significantly in early 2021 after vaccinations began, but before that, social gatherings during Christmas could create another wave of epidemic peaks.
Spain, with severe epidemics, plans to start vaccination in January 2021, with the goal of vaccinated at least one-third of the population by June 2021. Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez previously said that the number of people vaccinated in the first phase will be about 2.5 million, including front-line personnel, nursing home residents and caregivers.
The emergence of vaccines does not mean that the epidemic disappears. WHO: We still need to be vigilant.
On the other hand, WHO official Ryan pointed out at an online press conference on the 4th that the emergence of vaccines does not mean that countries will usher in a zero epidemic.
“Vaccines and vaccinations will add a powerful tool for countries to fight the coronavirus, but vaccines alone do not mean that the coronavirus will disappear,” Ryan said. He said that countries should not relax and believe that the crisis is over.
WHO Director-General Tedros Tedros also said at the United Nations coronavirus summit on the same day that the progress of vaccine research and development has made people begin to see “the light at the end of the tunnel”, but the WHO is concerned that more and more people think that “the epidemic is over”.
“Right now, the virus is still very high in many parts of the world, putting great pressure on hospitals, intensive care units and medical personnel,” Tedros warned.
Tedros said that how the epidemic will develop in the short term and when it will eventually end depends on the decisions and decisions of leaders and people to fight against the epidemic.
In addition, Swaminatan, the chief scientist of WHO, said on the 4th that the WHO hopes that the Global Access to Coronavirus Vaccine (COVAX) will obtain at least 2 billion doses of vaccines in 2021, vaccinated 20% of the population of participating countries and economies.
She said that this number of vaccines should be enough to reduce the death rate of the novel coronavirus and mitigate the impact on the health care system, thus ending the most critical phase of the epidemic.
Ryan also reminded people to be patiently waiting for vaccine distribution, because it is estimated that there will not be enough vaccine distribution to everyone at least by early 2021. Tedros reiterated the importance of equitable distribution of vaccines around the world.
