Brussels, Dec 27 (UNI) The European Union member states on Sunday kicked off the bloc-wide immunization program against COVID-19, using vaccines developed by the Pfizer and BioNTech.
Most of the countries have started of by vaccinating medical health workers and the elderly, mass immunization programs targeting the other sections of the population would start in January.
The EU nations received their first shipments of the vaccine on December 26, following the European Commission's authorization.
Italy, which has been one of the hardest-hit countries in the block started off the campaign by first vaccinating three employees of the Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases in Rome, which treated the first COVID-19 patients back in January.
Special Commissioner for the COVID-19 Emergency Domenico Arcuri called the first vaccinations "symbolic" and compared them to the "rays of light after a long night."
Spain's first person to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech shot was a 96-year-old resident of a nursing home, reported the TVE broadcaster.
In Austria, it was an 84-year-old woman who was the first to be administered the dose.
Czech Republic kicked off its immunization program by vaccinating its Prime Minister Andrej Babis first.
Lithuania, Poland, Cyprus are among the many countries who have decided to give priority to medical staffers especially those who you are working in COVID-19 wards, emergency departments and intensive care units.
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