US launches virus vaccine shipments as world virus deaths top 1.6 million

WASHINGTON: The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine was to begin leaving the company's Michigan factory on Sunday, ready to be injected into the arms of millions of the most vulnerable Americans as the global death toll topped 1.6 million. Doses will be shipped out in boxes containing dry ice that are capable of staying at -70 degrees Celsius (-94 degrees Fahrenheit), the frigid temperature needed to preserve the drug.

Trucks on Sunday began shipping millions of doses of Covid-19 vaccine in the United States, part of an enormous logistics operation that should see some vulnerable people being vaccinated as early as Monday in the nation worst hit by the coronavirus.

Health care workers and nursing home residents will be among the first to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech shots, though it will likely be months before all those who want it can be vaccinated, officials said.

"My hope, again, is that this happens very expeditiously. Hopefully, (starting) tomorrow," US Food and Drug Administration commissioner Stephen Hahn said Sunday on CNN.

General Gus Perna, who is overseeing the massive logistical operation as part of the government's Operation Warp Speed, likened the moment to D-Day, a turning point of World War II.

"I am absolutely 100 percent confident that we are going to distribute safely, this precious commodity, this vaccine, needed to defeat the enemy Covid," he told reporters.

The imminent start of the mass vaccination campaign in the world's hardest-hit country came as Germany announced a partial lockdown from Wednesday with non-essential shops and schools to close in a bid to halt an "exponential growth" in coronavirus infections.

The restrictions will apply until January 10, with companies also urged to allow employees to work from home or offer extended company holidays, under the new measures agreed by Chancellor Angela Merkel with regional leaders of Germany's 16 states on Sunday.

Germany last week recorded new daily death tolls reaching close to 600 and as disease control agency RKI reported that the infections trend has taken a worrying turn.

Italy meanwhile overtook Britain as the European nation with the highest coronavirus death toll.

"I am worried about the two weeks of Christmas holidays. We are up against a dramatic pandemic which is ongoing -- the battle still has not been won," Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza warned as the country recorded 64,036 deaths, surpassing Britain's 64,026.

As fatalities worldwide passed 1.6 million, infections in the United States were soaring, with 1.1 million new cases confirmed in the past five days and the death toll nearing 300,000.

Over the past two weeks, the US has repeatedly exceeded 2,000 Covid-related deaths per day, rivaling tolls from the early days of the pandemic.

Elsewhere, South Korea on Sunday reported 1,030 new coronavirus cases, a record high for a second day in a row as the country struggled to tackle a third wave of infections.

Seoul had previously been held up as a model of how to combat the pandemic, but the resurgence prompted President Moon Jae-in to apologize for the failure to contain the virus.