December 29th that doctors, nurses and the elderly across the European Union were the first to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus on the 27th. For a continent that has suffered the worst medical crisis in a century, this symbolizes solidarity and hope.
At a time when people still have doubts about vaccines and viruses, it is also an open opportunity to urge 450 million people in Europe to vaccinate.
“Today, as a citizen, but most importantly as a nurse, I’m here to represent nurses and all health workers who choose to believe in science,” said Claudia Alivenini, 29, who is now. She was the first person to be vaccinated at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Rome Sparanzani.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz called this record-fast vaccine a “turning factor”. “We know that today is not the end of the pandemic, but it’s the beginning of victory,” he said.
Italy’s first vaccines were injected at the Spalanzani Infectious Disease Hospital, which is of great significance, said Italian virus expert Domenico Alcuri, because the first confirmed case in Italy was found in January this year. “Today is a symbolic and beautiful day: all European citizens start vaccination together, which is the first ray of sunshine after a long night,” Alcuri told reporters.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that as more vaccines are developed, the EU will have more vaccines this year than necessary and may share its remaining vaccines with the Western Balkans and Africa. She insisted: “Europe is in a favorable position.”
Among the politicians who were vaccinated on the 27th to promote its wide acceptance, there was Bulgarian Health Minister Kostadin Anglov. “I can’t wait to see my 70-year-old father without worrying that I might be infected,” Anglov said.
After injection, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mizotakis declared that December 27 was “a great day for science and the European Union”.
According to Reuters Warsaw/Sofia on December 27, Europe launched a vigorous campaign to vaccinate against the novel coronavirus on the 27th to control the epidemic. But many Europeans are still skeptical about the speed of testing and approval of vaccines and are unwilling to vaccinate.
The survey shows that from France to Poland, a high proportion of people are hesitant about vaccination, and many people are used to vaccinate the vaccine that took decades to develop, rather than the vaccine launched in just a few months.
Ireneus Sikorski, 41, who came out of a church in downtown Warsaw with two children, said: “I’m not saying that there should be no vaccination. But I won’t let my kids or myself go and test an unproven vaccine.”
According to the report, a survey conducted in Poland shows that less than 40% of people are currently preparing to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus. Poles’ distrust of public institutions is deeply rooted. On the 27th, only half of the medical staff signed up for the first coronavirus vaccine in a hospital in Warsaw, Poland.
In Bulgaria, 45% said they would not be vaccinated, and 40% were prepared to wait to see if there were side effects. “I’m personally, I’m going to get a vaccine,” a bishop who compared COVID-19 to polio, who stood beside the health minister after being vaccinated, told reporters.
He talked about the anxiety about polio in the 1950s and 1960s before the vaccine came out. He said: “[Before] we were all shaking with fear and polio. Later (after the vaccine came out) we were overjoyed. But now, unfortunately, we are going to persuade the people.
The report pointed out that people’s widespread hesitation about vaccines does not seem to take into account scientific developments in recent decades. According to a 2013 study, traditional methods for manufacturing vaccines take an average of 10 years. But today, the Modna vaccine based on messenger RNA technology only has 63 days from gene sequencing to first injection into humans. “When we look back at the progress of 2020 and we will find that it’s a time for science to leap forward,” said Jeremy Faller, chair of the University of Oxford’s clinical department.
