World Coronavirus Dispatch: How Europe botched up its vaccine rollout

Protesters in Germany reject coronavirus restrictions, half of the adults in UK are vaccinated, and other pandemic-related news across the globe

How Europe botched up its vaccine rollout

Europe has lagged the United States in vaccination right from the early days of rollout and since then the gap has only widended even as some countries are facing a deadly third wave of infections. Only about 10 percent of Europeans have received a first dose, compared with 23 percent in the US and 39 percent in Britain. Interestingly, there was no single blunder but a series of small mistakes that are making the region pay a heavy cost. The bloc was comparatively slow to negotiate contracts with drugmakers. Its regulators were cautious in approving some vaccines. Europe also bet on vaccines that did not pan out or, significantly, had supply disruptions. And national governments hampered local efforts in red tape. The biggest difference, experts say, is that Europe shopped vaccines like a customer, adopting a budget-conscious approach, while the US made business with drugmakers and threw billions into the mix. Read here

Let's look at the global statistics

Global infections: 122,812,281

Global deaths: 2,709,627

Nations with most cases: US (29,783,723), Brazil (11,950,459), India (11,599,130), Russia (4,397,816), United Kingdom (4,304,839).

Source: John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

Protesters in Germany reject coronavirus restrictions

German police used helicopters, tear gas, batons and water cannons to control as many as 20,000 coronavirus-skeptic protesters who assembled in the city of Kassel, in one of Europe’s largest demonstrations against government virus restrictions since the pandemic began. The movement, which has also attracted far-right extremists, had been relatively quiet during Germany’s second lockdown. The authorities started to ease restrictions this month, but given a new exponential rise in infections across the country, a third lockdown now appears probable. Chancellor Angela Merkel and state governors are expected to reimpose lockdown restrictions when they meet on Monday. Read here

Breakthrough in virus origin points to China animal trade

Scientists tracing the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic believe they’ve identified a possible transmission source: China’s thriving wildlife trade. Apart from the multiple theories that are floating around the origins of coronavirus, scientists point out that live animals susceptible to coronavirus infection were present at a market in downtown Wuhan, the city where the first major Covid-19 outbreak was detected. It’s possible they acted as a link for the virus, carrying it from bats -- likely the primary source -- to humans, say experts who was part of the team convened by the World Health Organization. Read here

Half of all UK adults vaccinated

In what is a decisive milestone in the fight against coronavirus pandemic, more than half of the UK adult population have now received their first jab of the Covid vaccine. A record 660,276 doses were administered in the UK across more than 1,600 sites on Friday – the largest daily figure yet. According to the latest government data, around 49.9 per cent of the UK population aged 18 and over had received a first dose of the vaccine, with an estimated 73,000 more jabs needed to pass the halfway mark. At least 26,263,732 people have received a first dose in total and 2,011,070 a second dose. Read here