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The OutbreakDecember 2020Issue the Twelfth

The year ends with the first vaccines going into arms

The first vaccines go into arms in Britain, America and Singapore, a new variant cuts Britain off at Christmas, and India waits on its regulator.

Vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Maryland, 14 December.
Vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Maryland, 14 December.Photograph by Lisa Ferdinando, U.S. Department of Defense, Dec. 14, 2020 · Public domain (US government work)

LONDON, Thursday 31 December.—Britain approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on Wednesday, the first country to do so, four weeks after it became the first in the world to approve the vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech.

The first Pfizer jab outside a trial went to Margaret Keenan, 90, at University Hospital Coventry at 6.31am on 8 December. “I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against COVID-19,” she said. Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said Tuesday might be looked back on as marking “a decisive turning point in the battle against coronavirus”.

The first 800,000 doses are going to people over 80 and care-home workers.

I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against COVID-19Margaret Keenan

On 11 December the US Food and Drug Administration authorised the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for emergency use in people aged 16 and over. Three days later Sandra Lindsay, a critical care nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York, became the first person in the United States to be vaccinated outside a trial. “I feel hopeful today, relieved. I feel like healing is coming,” she said.

Healio, Dec. 30 · Reuters (via Interaksyon), Dec. 2 · Gulf News (Reuters), Dec. 8 · Al Jazeera, Dec. 8 · U.S. Food and Drug Administration (press release, reproduced by SelectScience), Dec. 11 · CBS News (CBS New York), Dec. 14

Singapore starts vaccinating and moves into Phase 3

A sign at the entrance of Compass One mall in Sengkang asks shoppers to show an identity card or scan a SafeEntry code for contact tracing, 17 December.
A sign at the entrance of Compass One mall in Sengkang asks shoppers to show an identity card or scan a SafeEntry code for contact tracing, 17 December.Photograph by Btcprox, Dec. 17, 2020 · CC BY-SA 4.0

SINGAPORE, Thursday 31 December.—Singapore began vaccinating healthcare workers yesterday, the first country in Asia to do so, Reuters reported. Nurse Sarah Lim, 46, and doctor Kalisvar Marimuthu, 43, were among more than 30 staff given the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

“Vaccines have managed to bring pandemics down to their knees before. So I am hopeful that this vaccine will do the same,” Dr Marimuthu said.

The Health Sciences Authority authorised the vaccine on 14 December, and the first shipment landed at Changi on 21 December aboard a Singapore Airlines freighter. Vaccination is free and voluntary, and Mr Lee says that if all goes to plan there will be enough for everyone by the third quarter of 2021.

Vaccines have managed to bring pandemics down to their knees before. So I am hopeful that this vaccine will do the sameKalisvar Marimuthu

Under Phase 3, which Mr Lee set for 28 December, groups of up to eight may meet.

Not everyone is in a hurry. “If there is a choice given, I might not take it,” John Han, a 40-year-old sales manager, told Al Jazeera.

Deccan Herald (Reuters), Dec. 30 · Health Sciences Authority, Singapore, Dec. 14 · Singapore Airlines, Dec. 21 · Al Jazeera, Dec. 23

India passes 10 million cases and waits on three vaccines

NEW DELHI, Thursday 31 December.—India ends the year without an approved vaccine: the drug regulator’s expert panel, going through more data from the applicants, granted no emergency approval on Wednesday and will meet again on 1 January.

Pfizer, the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech applied for emergency use in the first week of December. “As promised, before the end of 2020, SII has applied for emergency use authorisation for the first made-in-India vaccine, COVISHIELD,” the Serum Institute’s chief executive, Adar Poonawalla, tweeted. Covishield is the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

“Experts believe that the COVID-19 vaccine will be ready in the next few weeks. As soon as scientists give a green signal, vaccination will start in India,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi told an all-party meeting on 4 December.

As promised, before the end of 2020, SII has applied for emergency use authorisation for the first made-in-India vaccine, COVISHIELDAdar Poonawalla

A two-day dry run in Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Gujarat on 28 and 29 December tested the Co-WIN platform. India passed one crore, or 10 million, cases on 19 December, the second country after the United States, though the spread has slowed.

Deccan Herald (PTI), Dec. 30 · Deccan Herald (PTI), Dec. 7 · Deccan Herald (PTI), Dec. 7 · Healio, Dec. 30 · Gulf News (PTI), Dec. 4 · Governance Now, Dec. 30 · Onmanorama (PTI), Dec. 20

A new variant cuts Britain off at Christmas

The PhotographThe almost deserted departures hall in Terminal 5 at Heathrow as countries banned travellers arriving from the UK.AFP, Dec. 21, 2020See the photograph →

LONDON, Thursday 24 December.—Boris Johnson cancelled Christmas plans for parts of London, the South East and the East of England on Saturday, putting them under a new Tier 4 after scientists said a new variant of the virus may be up to 70 per cent more transmissible.

The Prime Minister said “it is with a heavy heart that I must tell you we cannot continue with Christmas as planned.”

France banned all travel from Britain for 48 hours on Sunday, and more than 5,000 lorries are parked near Dover. “We are here two days and without shower, without water to drink,” said Patricia Szeweczyk, a stranded driver from Poland.

it is with a heavy heart that I must tell you we cannot continue with Christmas as plannedBoris Johnson

India has suspended all flights from the UK until 31 December. “Significant concern is being observed from Indian students both inbound and outbound,” said Sanam Arora, chair of the National Indian Students and Alumni Union UK.

Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street, Dec. 19 · Agence France-Presse (via The Vibes), Dec. 24 · Deccan Herald (PTI), Dec. 21 · Press Trust of India (via Deccan Herald), Dec. 21

In Brief

Wuhan’s bars fill again, a year on

WUHAN, Sunday 20 December.—A year after city health officials issued the first public notice of the then-unknown virus, Wuhan’s restaurants and bars are crowded and the city has had no local case for almost seven months, Reuters reports. “I think we humans are quite fragile,” said Zhang Xinghao, singer of the band Mad Rat.

Deccan Herald (Reuters), Dec. 20, 2020.

America records its deadliest day

WASHINGTON, Wednesday 9 December.—The United States recorded 3,054 Covid-19 deaths in a day, its highest toll yet, and a record 106,688 people in hospital, the Covid Tracking Project reported.

NPR, Dec. 9, 2020.

Another variant found in South Africa

GENEVA, Tuesday 29 December.—A variant of the virus known as 501Y.V2 has been detected in South Africa, and initial analysis indicates it may spread more readily between people, the World Health Organization said.

World Health Organization, Dec. 29, 2020.

Start The Outbreak from issue one tomorrow

Wayback Wire · No. 12 · December 2020