Doctors, nurses and the elderly rolled up their sleeves across the European Union to receive the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine Sunday in a symbolic show of unity and moment of hope for a continent confronting its worst health care crisis in a century.


Weeks after the U.S., Canada and Britain began inoculations with the same vaccine, the 27-nation bloc staged a coordinated rollout aimed at projecting a unified message that the shot was safe and Europe’s best chance to emerge from the pandemic.

For health care workers who have been battling the virus with only masks and shields to protect themselves, the vaccines represented an emotional relief as the virus continues to kill. But it was also a public chance for them to urge Europe's 450 million people to get the shots amid continued vaccine and virus skepticism.

A man gets a COVID-19 vaccine among the first administered in the country in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020. Romania has started its national vaccination campaign. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
A man gets a COVID-19 vaccine among the first administered in the country in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020. Romania has started its national vaccination campaign. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
"Today I’m here as a citizen, but most of all as a nurse, to represent my category and all the health workers who choose to believe in science," said Claudia Alivernini, 29, the first person to be inoculated at the Spallanzani infectious disease hospital in Rome.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz called the vaccine, which was developed in record time, a "game-changer."

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"We know that today is not the end of the pandemic, but it is the beginning of the victory," he said.

Italian virus czar Domenico Arcuri said it was significant that Italy’s first doses were administered at Spallanzani, where a Chinese couple visiting from Wuhan tested positive in January and became Italy’s first confirmed cases.


Andreas Raounas, 84, the first patient in Island receives from a nurse the vaccine of Pfizer BioNtech against the COVID-19, at a care home in Nicosia, Cyprus, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020. Cyprus started today the vaccination program against COVID-19. (Katia Christodoulou/Pool Photo via AP)
Andreas Raounas, 84, the first patient in Island receives from a nurse the vaccine of Pfizer BioNtech against the COVID-19, at a care home in Nicosia, Cyprus, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020. Cyprus started today the vaccination program against COVID-19. (Katia Christodoulou/Pool Photo via AP)
Within weeks, northern Lombardy became the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe and a cautionary tale of what happens when even wealthy regions find themselves unprepared for a pandemic. Lombardy still accounts for around a third of the dead in Italy, which has the continent’s worst confirmed virus death toll at nearly 72,000.

"Today is a beautiful, symbolic day: All the citizens of Europe together are starting to get their vaccinations, the first ray of light after a long night," Arcuri told reporters.

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But he cautioned: "We all have to continue to be prudent, cautious and responsible. We still have a long road ahead, but finally we see a bit of light."

The vaccine developed by Germany’s BioNTech and American drugmaker Pfizer started arriving in super-cold containers at EU hospitals on Friday from a factory in Belgium. Each country was only getting a fraction of the doses needed – fewer than 10,000 in the first batches for some countries – with the bigger rollout expected in January when more vaccines become available. All those getting shots Sunday have to come back for a second dose in three weeks.

Nurse Ann-Louise Broberg injects a COVID-19 vaccine to nursing home resident Gun-Britt Johnsson in Mjolby, Sweden, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020. Gun-Britt was the first in Sweden to receive the vaccine. (Stefan Jerrevang/TT News Agency via AP)
Nurse Ann-Louise Broberg injects a COVID-19 vaccine to nursing home resident Gun-Britt Johnsson in Mjolby, Sweden, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020. Gun-Britt was the first in Sweden to receive the vaccine. (Stefan Jerrevang/TT News Agency via AP)
Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Union’s Executive Commission, said with additional vaccines in development, the EU will have more shots than necessary this year and could share its surplus with the western Balkans and Africa.

"Europe is well positioned," she insisted.


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In the Los Olmos nursing home in the Spanish city of Guadalajara, northeast of Madrid, 96-year-old resident Araceli Hidalgo and a caregiver were the first Spaniards to receive the vaccine.

"Let’s see if we can all behave and make this virus go away," Hidalgo said.

Czech Republic's Prime Minister Andrej Babis receives vaccine against COVID-19 at the military hospital in Prague, Czech Republic, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Czech Republic's Prime Minister Andrej Babis receives vaccine against COVID-19 at the military hospital in Prague, Czech Republic, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
The Los Olmos home suffered two confirmed COVID-19 deaths and another 11 deaths among residents with symptoms who were never tested.

The Czech Republic was spared the worst of the pandemic in the spring only to see its health care system near collapse in the fall. In Prague, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis received his shot at dawn Sunday and asserted: "There’s nothing to worry about." Sitting next to him was World War II veteran Emilie Repikova, who also received a shot.

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Altogether, the EU’s 27 nations have recorded at least 16 million coronavirus infections and more than 336,000 deaths – huge numbers that experts say still understate the true toll of the pandemic due to missed cases and limited testing.

The vaccination campaign should ease frustrations that were building up, especially in Germany, as Britain, Canada and the United States kicked off their inoculation programs with the same vaccine weeks earlier.

Police stand by the entrance of a nursing home as a box of some of the first Pfizer coronavirus vaccines arrives in Madrid, Spain, Sunday Dec. 27. 2020. Spain plans to receive over 4.5 million doses of the vaccine over the next three months, enough it says to immunize just over 2.2 million people. The government estimates that this first phase will be enough to cover nursing home residents and workers, followed by health workers in general and people with disabilities. (AP Photo/Paul White)
Police stand by the entrance of a nursing home as a box of some of the first Pfizer coronavirus vaccines arrives in Madrid, Spain, Sunday Dec. 27. 2020. Spain plans to receive over 4.5 million doses of the vaccine over the next three months, enough it says to immunize just over 2.2 million people. The government estimates that this first phase will be enough to cover nursing home residents and workers, followed by health workers in general and people with disabilities. (AP Photo/Paul White)
As it turned out, some EU immunizations began a day early in Germany, Hungary and Slovakia. The operator of a German nursing home where dozens were vaccinated Saturday, including a 101-year-old woman, said "every day that we wait is one day too many."

In France, where many question the safety of vaccines, the French government has been cautious in its messaging and keen to ensure that it is not seen as forcing vaccinations on the public. France’s first vaccination at a nursing home in a poor area outside of Paris on Sunday was not broadcast on live television as it was elsewhere in Europe and no government ministers attended.

"We didn’t need to convince her. She said ‘yes, I’m ready for anything to avoid getting this disease,’" said Dr. Samir Tine, head of geriatric services for the Sevran nursing home where France’s first shot went to 78-year-old Mauricette.

"It’s an important day," Tine said. "We are very eager to have a new weapon at our disposal and we are very eager to rediscover our normal lives."

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Among the politicians who got shots Sunday to promote a wider acceptance of vaccinations was Bulgarian Health Minister Kostadin Angelov. "I can’t wait to see my 70-year-old father without fear that I could infect him," Angelov said.

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After he got his shot, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis declared Sunday "a great day for science and the European Union."

"We hope that, with time, even those of our fellow citizens who are suspicious of vaccination will be convinced it is the right thing to do," he said.

Meanwhile, a new virus variant that has been spreading rapidly around London and southern England has now been detected in France, Italy, Spain, Canada and Japan. The new variant, which British authorities said is much more easily transmitted, has prompted many countries to restrict travel from Britain.

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Japan announced it would temporarily ban all non-resident foreigners from entering through Jan. 31 as a precaution against the U.K.’s new variant.

Germany’s BioNTech has said it’s confident that its vaccine works against the new U.K. variant, but added that further studies are needed.

The European Medicines Agency on Jan. 6 will consider approving another vaccine made by Moderna, which is already being used in the United States.

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Dr. Annalisa Malara, who diagnosed Italy's first domestic case on Feb. 20 that confirmed Europe's outbreak was underway, was on hand at her hospital in Codogno to encourage all Italians to get the shot.

"Today we close the circle a bit that was opened on Feb. 20," she said.

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davidcjones45988
4 hours ago

"Science" seems to be used in the way truth is used, yet science is actually an ever changing set of explanations rather than a fixed and immutable truth. The best "science" of even fifty years ago in almost every field is deemed at least inaccurate if not ludicrous. So basically what "Believe in science" means is "Believe in some educated guesses that are subject to change based on experience".

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KomMent
davidcjones45988
1 hour ago

That's an overly broad statement. The relativism that says: "My ideas about science are just as valid as those of so-called experts" is the self-flattery of ignorance. If "everyman's" version of thinking is just as valid, then build a smartphone like the one in your hand without science and see if it works. Some things are absolute, and yes, some people really are smarter than others. It's hard to get into M.I.T., and it's not because people at M.I.T. are clueless (satisfying as it may feel to the everyman say that).

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Ladyv2018
davidcjones45988
2 hours ago

Well said! Yes, there’s a new mutant virus with a changed spike protein where the vaccine may not work now!!

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Ladyv2018
2 hours ago

I believe in science but I also believe in long game manipulation control. I’m usually not a conspiracy theorist, however, they are already “requiring” proof of negative tests or proof of vaccines for world travel. Also, this vaccine will be required at least every two years by the sounds of the science. And we are supposed to trust no ill effects of a vaccine for a virus that is less than one years old? I’m sorry... I have alarm bells going off.

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Backhand300bo
Ladyv2018
23 minutes ago

we have a winner!!!

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dougbh
9 hours ago

"Believe in Science" is a terrible slogan. That is the opposite of what the scientific method is supposed to be.

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ProtectFreeSpeech
dougbh
3 hours ago

yes, preaching to us to have faith in the science gods is rather ironic.

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eyedontbelieveyouproveit
dougbh
6 hours ago

“Belief” in the realms of science represents confidence. You often hear scientists say “it’s our belief that (continues statement)”, well that belief is the confidence gathered by applying the scientific method to whatever they were talking about, always in the form of demonstrations or calculations. So belief in science and the scientific method are congruent.

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Exmark
13 hours ago

Can anybody tell us what is happening in China with regard to vaccinations and control? The news has been strangely silent for a long time about the spread of the virus in China and control measures.

Anybody?

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Ladyv2018
Exmark
1 hour ago

Yes, Beijing has five cases increase to twenty after about four months of zero cases. Because of these cases, they are going to test 800000 people and are quarantining. We don’t hear about many cases because they lock down with twenty or less cases.

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joyce77777
Exmark
2 hours ago

The virus has never spread in China like in US. Americans in US were more infected in mid January than Americans in Wuhan. It makes no sense unless the virus originated in UA. 1.4% of blood samples of Red Cross in west coast and mid west states were COVID 19 positive during mid December to mid January.

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9mmCure
11 hours ago

At what point did science enter the realm of this pandemic response? From the media to the political hacks that are alleged to be experts to the politicians that killed thousands of people with incompetence, the response would have been better served with a dartboard and a set of dull darts. There seem to have been some adults in the room, but the politicizing of this entire pandemic has shown how useless government is. I hope this colors future elections.

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spikeflea557
9mmCure
5 hours ago

Future elections won't be needed once Bidunce ushers in the New World Order that has been controlling his strings.

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Jeffredo
8 hours ago

I believe in science, but apparently many governors and mayors don't while shutting down restaurants and small businesses in an attempt to stop what private social gatherings in homes are causing.

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dc919
Jeffredo
5 hours ago

...government can regulate commerce...they can't regulate private homes or didn't you take high school civics?

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nosral
Jeffredo
7 hours ago

Restaurants and bars are spreaders. If they were open we would be worse

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ProtectFreeSpeech
3 hours ago

Laughable. All the doctors and scientists who dared go against the narrative were blacklisted. “Believe Science” is highly misleading, it’s actually “Believe Only The Approved Individuals and Ignore the Others”.

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infidel70515
ProtectFreeSpeech
3 hours ago

The others disappear .

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coldreaver83
4 hours ago

We'd have an easier time believing in "science," if the "experts" bothered to prove their assertions, rather than just demanding we just continue to trust them, despite their constant contradictions, political plays and ridiculous scandals.

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AlexLogan
coldreaver83
2 hours ago

How would you like them to prove their assertions? Cos everytime they try to do so they get derailed but some dumb person. And by dumb person I mean your president.

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WeAreAtWarWithChina
coldreaver83
3 hours ago

The overt contradictions and massive flip-flopping are intentional, IMO.

I believe those in power actually WANT us to be perpetually uncertain about the truth of everything.

It's all about destabilization.

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xcpipeline
5 hours ago

Its fascinating to see people willing to take a Covid-19 vaccine when 94.6-99.997 % survive the virus without treatment.

Previously you couldn't scare people into taking the annual flu shot with the same survival stats.

MSM helped sell the political virus hype to make it sound like a high risk disease

Can't change the science even with propaganda ! Enjoy the show 🍿

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WeAreAtWarWithChina
xcpipeline
3 hours ago

Ah yes, but Google actually WILL change the science, for all intents and purposes.

Try looking up the number of dead from less popular flu strains that weren't politicized.

That information will be disappearing just like that archived Larry King Live episode that provided solid evidence that Joe Biden sexually assaulted a female staffer when HER OWN MOTHER CALLED in to the show.

In all of our minds, truth is simply what we believe we know - and the avenues to attaining anything resembling objective truth are quickly closing.

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ronm
xcpipeline
4 hours ago

Covid mortality is about 10 times that of the flu

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Less4More
6 hours ago

When we mix science with socioeconomic re-engineering efforts, the science suffers.

I am 65 and will take the vaccine as soon as it is made available to me, not because it has zero risks, but because I think it has fewer risks than having the virus. It looks like the UK is going to make the vaccine available based on vulnerability, while in the US the CDC and NIH are basing their recommendations on politics, knowing this will cost more lives.

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ClaraBarton
Less4More
6 hours ago

How so? We seem to be vaccinating healthcare workers and nursing home residents first. Essential workers and people over 75 are next.

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Labsforpresident
3 hours ago

As far as the slogan "Believe in Science" is used to prompt skeptics to get vaccinated then carry on. However, we need to recognize there are several branches of science and medicine is probably the least conclusive of all of them. Economics is also a branch of science and we need to pay attention to that science too.

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Fauxguy930
13 hours ago

The Science that made HOCL 50 years ago, the only virus destroyer I’ll buy and make myself. Pass on the unknown, alleged treatment. Did the immune system really need a tweak of sorts? HOCL mimics the response to invaders. HOCl is an endogenous substance in all mammals and is effective against a broad range of microorganisms. It never did make National news.

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nettyy919
Fauxguy930
5 hours ago

that's water and chlorine, pool water, so you what drink it or inject it in your veins? you should have a nobel prize with that level of genius and convincing people of it.

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BestComment
Fauxguy930
8 hours ago

Hello, I am with the government, I am here to help you. Trust me.

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KomMent
2 hours ago

This is the new competition. Whichever country achieves the highest vaccination uptake rate will get their economy back to normal the soonest, drive R0 lower and community case rates low. I think S. Korea and culturally similar countries will get to >> 90% vaccination rates and be at near-zero case rates, with all restaurants, bars, factories, and even tourism back on track, perhaps a year earlier than vaccine-doubting cultures, leaving them well-positioned in the world economy.

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offgridx
11 hours ago

I don't just blindly believe what I am told.. lobotomies, cocaine and cigarettes were also touted as cures by Dr's in the last century..

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AlexLogan
offgridx
2 hours ago

What does the bible say? 2000 years ago? You believe that?

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dc919
offgridx
5 hours ago

good thing they don't base current policy off practices of the last century...or hadn't you heard?

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orwelltriedtotellus
11 hours ago

"Believe in science" = "Blindly accept what we tell you to believe via the propagandist media, because we use the word 'experts', 'scientists', and 'studies' a lot. Ignore the fact that we are gov't agency lackeys for the most part."

"Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. In this way every prediction made by the Party could be shown by documentary evidence to have been correct; nor was any item of news, or any expression of opinion, which conflicted with the needs of the moment, ever allowed to remain on record. All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and re-inscribed exactly as often as was necessary." - Orwell

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SheepleForTrump
orwelltriedtotellus
8 hours ago

Pence knew how to handle the virus just like he knew how to handle the gay kids. 1984 is real, democrats are to blame because Trump and the GOP controlled congress dont have enough power thanks to the stupid CONSTITUTION

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DisplayedName
orwelltriedtotellus
11 hours ago

"Experts" who oppose are fired for not keeping up the charade.

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