Coronavirus: US infections spiral as Britain’s queen to get vaccine soon, reports say

The United States has notched a record number of coronavirus cases in 24 hours for the third day running, as it was reported that Britain’s Queen Elizabeth will get a vaccine within weeks. A tally by Johns Hopkins University showed the world’s worst-hit country – which has seen a dramatic virus resurgence in recent weeks – reached nearly 230,000 new infections and 2,527 Covid-related deaths on Saturday alone. For two weeks, the US has regularly topped 2,000 deaths per day, as it had in the spring at the height of the first wave of the country’s outbreak. US health officials warned of a surge after millions of Americans travelled to celebrate last week’s Thanksgiving holiday despite pleas from authorities to stay home. Coronavirus: South Korea tightens curbs as cases hit nine-month high The coronavirus has now killed more than 1.5 million people and infected 66 million around the world since first being reported in China last year, according to a tally from official sources. In Britain, it was reported that the 94-year-old monarch will receive the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine within weeks after UK regulators granted emergency approval. The roll-out of the vaccine will begin next week. The queen and her 99-year-old husband Prince Philip are in line to get the jab early because of their age and will not receive preferential treatment, The Mail on Sunday reported. The newspaper said Britain’s most senior royals would reveal they have been given the inoculation “to encourage more people to take up the vital jab”, amid fears so-called anti-vaxxers could dent enthusiasm for it. British health officials are set to use criteria based on age and vulnerability to decide who gets the vaccine first. Elderly care home residents and their carers will be the very first to get inoculated, followed by those aged 80 and over and frontline health and care staff. Britain has pre-ordered 40 million doses of the vaccine in total, and is set to receive an initial batch of 800,000 to begin next week’s roll-out. The World Health Organization has warned that vaccines are no magic bullet for the coronavirus crisis, as Russia started vaccinating its high-risk workers and other countries geared up for similar programmes. The WHO cautioned against what it said was an erroneous belief that the pandemic would end soon with vaccines on the horizon. “Vaccines do not equal zero Covid,” said WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan, adding that not everyone will be able to receive it early next year. Hong Kong faces 100 new Covid-19 cases as expert warns of Christmas surge “Vaccination will add a major, major, powerful tool to the tool kit that we have. But by themselves, they will not do the job.” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also cautioned against the “growing perception that the pandemic is over” with the virus still spreading fast, putting enormous pressure on hospitals and health workers. Health officials in Moscow said they had opened 70 coronavirus vaccine centres in the Russian capital that would initially offer jabs for health, education and social workers. This came as coronavirus infections in Russia hit a new record on Sunday, with 29,039 new confirmed cases, the highest daily spike in the pandemic. Russia’s total of over 2.4 million reported infections remains the fourth largest caseload in the world. Russia has also reported 43,141 virus-related deaths. As Covid-19 vaccine race heats up, how quickly can Hong Kong get new drugs? The WHO says 51 candidate vaccines are currently being tested on humans, with 13 reaching final-stage mass testing. The US is expected to give a green light to vaccines later this month, while Belgium, France and Spain have said jabs will begin in January for the most vulnerable. Italy is seeing a dramatic resurgence of infections after it largely tamped down an earlier outbreak by enforcing a strict lockdown, while Latin America and the Caribbean region have seen an 18 per cent spike in cases in a week. Other countries are also unveiling holiday restrictions, with Switzerland banning Christmas carolling in the streets and Spain cancelling most new year events in the city centre. Portugal’s second wave has started to subside, but authorities said they decided to keep restrictions in force so they can be relaxed over the festive period. Additional reporting by Associated Press

Coronavirus: US infections spiral as Britain’s queen to get vaccine soon, reports say

For two weeks, the US has regularly topped 2,000 deaths per day, as it had in the spring at the height of the first wave of the country’s outbreak The coronavirus has now killed more than 1.5 million people and infected 66 million around the world since it first emerged last year

For two weeks, the US has regularly topped 2,000 deaths per day, as it had in the spring at the height of the first wave of the country’s outbreak

The coronavirus has now killed more than 1.5 million people and infected 66 million around the world since it first emerged last year