Record German deaths, Denmark extends lockdown: COVID-19 bulletin

TOP HEADLINES

• France could be forced to impose an earlier curfew in eastern regions that would start at 6 p.m. instead of 8 p.m. amid a surge in new infections, the country's Health MinisterOlivier Veran said.

• The UK has become the first country in the world to approve the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University , with Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling the breakthrough "a triumph for British science."

• Germany could offer enough doses of a vaccine to everyone who wants one bythesummer if another drug gets EU approval, Health Minister Jens Spahn said.

• Denmark has extended its lockdown for a further two weeks untilJanuary 17 after a spike in new cases. Schools, shoppingcenters, restaurants, bars and all other non-essential shops will remain closed duringthat time.

• Only four in 10 people in France want to have a vaccine, according to a poll carried out by the Ipsos Global Adviser in partnership with theWorld Economic Forum.

• Lockdownrestrictions in England are to be broadened on Wednesday amid a worrying rise in infections of the new variant.

• Czechia has allowed the squeezing of an extra dose from vaccine vials supplied by Pfizer and BioNTech, making use of an extra reserve amount put into the vials by the maker, the country's healthministry said.

• **Germany has recorded more than 1,000 deaths in the past 24 hours for the first time since the start of the pandemic **as cases continue to surge. The further 1,129 fatalities reported brings the country's death toll to 32,107.

• Italy's second batch of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was delivered to different parts of the country on Wednesday asthe country looks to continue its vaccinationprogram that started over the weekend.

• ** Ireland has reported 1,546 new infections in the past 24 hours** , the country's highest daily rise in cases since the start of thepandemic.

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ACROSS EUROPE

Guy Henderson in the UK

UK regulators have approved the Oxford University/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine. It is relatively easy to mass produce, can be stored in a standard fridge and doesn't require 15 minutes of observation after it has been administered. It should allow the UK to scale up its vaccine program faster.

The UK has ordered 100 million doses. Each patient must ultimately receive two jabs, but it can still be effective with a gap of up to three months between the first and second. The plan is to give as many people as possible their first injection, even before sufficient supplies are available for them all to receive a second. That should start to build up at least some immunity across a wider section of the population.

But none of this will have an impact on the wave of infections sweeping across the country right now at a rate that is alarming everyone.

With people infected during Christmas family gatherings only likely to get seriously ill several days later, numbers are expected to keep rising for at least another week. Experts say the worst is very probably yet to come.

The UK government met on Tuesday night to discuss whether tougher restrictions might be needed to bring the highly contagious new variant of the virus under control, with an announcement expected on Wednesday.

Natalie Carney in Munich

For the first time since the start of the pandemic, Germany has recorded more than 1,000 COVID-19-related deaths within a 24-hour period. According to the Robert Koch Institute, 1,129 people died from or with the virus on Tuesday, raising the total number of deaths in Germany to 32,107.

Meanwhile, Germany's Health Minister Jens Spahn considers lifting all coronavirus restrictions after January 10 to be unrealistic. The high number of infections along with the presence of the new coronavirus mutation in Germany, have many predicting an extension to the current hard lockdown measures.

Federal state premiers will meet again via video chat with Chancellor Angela Merkel on January 5 to assess the current situation.

Germany's second biggest city, Hamburg, has already announced the extension of school holidays there to January 17.

The UK has become the first country in the world to approve the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University. /AP

Toni Waterman in Brussels

The EU

Brussels has ordered an additional 100 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the only jab so far approved by the European medicines regulator. This extra order brings the total number of doses to 300 million, although it could be even higher after health professionals discovered that six doses could be extracted from the five-dose vial if the excess solution is used. European regulators are examining the use of leftovers.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made the announcement of the extra doses via Twitter, adding that "more vaccines will follow!"

The European Medicines Agency is expected to approve the Moderna vaccine on January 6 but the regulator's Deputy Executive Director told

Het Nieuwsblad

it was unlikely the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford jab will be approved next month because they "have not even filed an application with us yet."

Belgium

The Belgian government is consulting with health experts on how to best manage people returning from the Christmas holidays. Some, including infectious diseases specialist Erika Vlieghe, are calling for all incoming passengers, including Belgians, to present a negative COVID-19 test. Right now, only foreign travelers need to do so.

The government "strongly discouraged" people from traveling over the holidays, but around 100,000 are estimated to be abroad.

After two months of strict anti-COVID-19 measures, the country has managed to reduce average daily infections to below 2,000. Experts are concerned returning holidaymakers could be carrying the new fast-spreading variant of the virus, potentially setting Belgium on course for a third wave.

Linda Kennedy in Budapest

Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has defended Russian vaccines, saying "the vast majority" of Hungarians have been vaccinated with Russian vaccines since childhood.

Szijjarto's statement followed the arrival in Hungary of 6,000 doses of the Russian coronavirus vaccine. It also comes as 5,000 healthcare workers in the country are receiving jabs of the approved Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as part of the EU roll-out.

The low number of Hungarians which surveys are finding intend to have a coronavirus vaccine is partly to do with the lack of trustworthy independent communication and that politics has taken over health policy, one top health professional said.

However, the number of people registering for coronavirus vaccines has increased to 598,000, the prime minister's office has announced. With 462,000 people now having registered online and 136,000 by post.

Denmark has extended its hard lockdown for a further two weeks until January 17 after an alarming spike in new cases, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said. /AP

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