(Bloomberg) --
The U.K. will start vaccinations on Tuesday amid plans for a celebrity-led advertising campaign to boost uptake. Inoculations could also begin as early as Friday in the U.S.
Queen Elizabeth II, the U.K.’s 94-year-old monarch, will reportedly get a vaccine as part of the country’s first wave. Switzerland will start jabs in January. South Korea imposed stricter social-distancing measures following a resurgence of cases.
California set another record for infections and now more than half the state faces new restrictions. New York City’s outbreak similarly worsened. Fatalities across the U.S. are rising sharply.
Key Developments:
Global Tracker: Cases exceed 66.6 million; deaths top 1.53 millionU.K. vaccinations will start on TuesdayThe coronavirus is a key issue in Romania’s electionTracking the coronavirus vaccines that will end the pandemicCoronavirus costs are hurting Christmas tree sellersPfizer and BioNTech are on track to make 50 million vaccine doses this yearVaccine confusion leaves U.S. states asking how many doses they getSubscribe to a daily update on the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis team here. Click CVID
Queen Elizabeth II to Receive Vaccine (4:42 p.m. HK)
Queen Elizabeth, 94, and her husband, Prince Philip, 99, will likely receive a Covid-19 vaccine created by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE within weeks, the MailOnline reported Sunday. The royal couple will then make their vaccination public, a move health officials believe could help combat anti-vaccine conspiracy theories that have left some Britons skeptical about taking the jab, the paper said. In 1957, the Queen let it be known that Prince Charles and Princess Anne had received polio vaccines, helping build public support, the paper said.
U.K. celebrities such as Monty Python founder Michael Palin, Bob Geldoff and Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood have all signaled they will get the vaccine, the Mirror reported. The U.K. is set to begin deploying the new vaccine on Tuesday.
Switzerland Readies Vaccination Plans (4:30 p.m. HK)
Covid-19 vaccinations will begin in Switzerland next month and should be completed by the summer, Virginie Masserey, the head of infection control at the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health, told Neue Zürcher Zeitung. The nation’s 26 cantons will oversee distribution, and up to 70,000 vaccinations per day are planned.
Russia Sets New Record for Cases (4:21 p.m. HK)
Russia reported a record 29,039 new Covid-19 cases in the past day, according to data from the government’s virus-response center. That exceeded the previous high of 28,782 set a day earlier and brings the total infected to 2,460,770, the fourth-most worldwide.
Widespread vaccination of front-line workers and other high-risk people started on Saturday in Moscow.
U.K. May Loosen Covid Curbs Before March-End (4:02 p.m. HK)
The U.K. may be able to ease coronavirus restrictions by the end of March following the approval of a vaccine, Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the Telegraph.
Video: Fauci speaks out on U.K.'s Covid vaccine approval process (NBC News)
Having a vaccine “will bring forward the moment when we can get rid of these blasted restrictions,” he said. “But until then we have got to follow them.”
The government will also start a large-scale advertising campaign, fronted by celebrities and other trusted voices, before Christmas to support vaccination efforts, Hancock said.
U.K. Military May Fly In Vaccines to Avoid Brexit Congestion (3:30 p.m. HK)
The U.K. government is drawing up contingency plans to import vaccines from Belgium using military planes due to concerns that Brexit disruptions will cause logjams at seaports, the Guardian said.
South Korea Tightens Curbs as Cases Hit Nine-Month High (2:53 p.m. HK)
The social-distancing alert for the greater Seoul area was raised to 2.5 from 2, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on Sunday. All gatherings of more than 50 people will be banned, and restaurants will continue to be prohibited from serving customers after 9 p.m. and can do only takeouts and deliveries. No spectators will be allowed into sporting events.
South Korea confirmed 631 cases on Sunday, the highest in nine months, while total deaths rose by five to 545, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The greater Seoul area — which covers the capital, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province — is home to almost half of South Korea’s population, and Chung acknowledged the disruption that the latest move would cause.
“The situation in the greater Seoul area is serious,” Chung said at a Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures meeting in Seoul City Hall. “The 2.5 level will be maintained for the next three weeks until the end of the year.”
Disinfection at Baekyoung high school in Anyang, South Korea, on Dec. 2.
Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
Pfizer Seeking Emergency-Use Approval for Vaccine in India (1:09 p.m. HK)
Pfizer India has applied to India’s drug regulator for emergency-use authorization for its Covid-19 vaccine, after the company’s parent received clearance for the treatment from Britain and Bahrain, Press Trust of India reported.
The company is seeking to import the vaccine for sale and distribution in India without the requirement for clinical trials on local people, in accordance with the special provisions under the New Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules, 2019, the news agency said, citing an unidentified official. Pfizer is the first drugmaker to seek the approval in India and submitted the application on Dec. 4, the report said
Australian Police Blamed for Two Quarantine Dodgers (12:14 p.m. HK)
Australian state police were to blame for two German nationals avoiding mandatory hotel quarantine upon arrival in Sydney before they took a flight to Melbourne.
New South Wales Police reviewed the circumstances of the incident and identified they “had incorrectly allowed the two travelers to proceed to Melbourne,” the force said in a statement Sunday. “Police practices and systems at the airport have also been reviewed and strengthened as a result of this incident.”
The pair -- a 53-year-old woman and 15-year-old boy -- arrived at Sydney International Airport at 9:45 a.m. Saturday from Tokyo and were screened, police said. After being cleared, all travelers were directed toward a bus to hotel quarantine but the duo advised police they were booked on a flight to Melbourne, according to the statement.
U.K. Prepares for ‘Historic Moment’ With Vaccine Deployment (8:01 a.m. HK)
The U.K. government has bought 40 million doses, enough to inoculate 20 million people on the two-dose regimen. The shots will be given in order of priority, with the first vaccines going to those in care homes, including workers, and people over 80 years old.
“This coming week will be an historic moment as we begin vaccination against Covid-19,” Matt Hancock, the U.K.’s health secretary, said in a statement. “We are doing everything we can to make sure we can overcome significant challenges to vaccinate care home residents.”
The plan calls for more than 1,000 centers across the country to provide the shot over the coming weeks, with the first jab expected to be given on Tuesday.
More than Half of California to Face New Curbs (7:42 a.m. HK)
Southern California and San Joaquin Valley will be slapped with the state’s stay-at-home order after the capacity at their intensive-care units fell below the 15% threshold for more curbs.
ICU capacity in San Joaquin Valley, a relatively rural area in the the state’s central region that includes Fresno, dipped to 8.6%. In Southern California, which has more than half of the state’s population in an area that includes Los Angeles and San Diego, the ratio fell to 12.5%. Under the order, a list of sectors including bars, wineries, hair salons and personal-care services would be shut.
California added a record 25,068 new cases, bringing the total to 1.3 million. It also reported 209 new deaths for a total fatality count of 19,791.
U.S. Covid Shots Could Begin Friday, Doctor Says (2:21 p.m. NY)
A Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE could be in use by Friday if the Food and Drug Administration approves an emergency use authorization, James Hildreth, a member of the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee, told NBC News.
The panel is scheduled to vote on the matter after reviewing the vaccine’s data at a meeting on Thursday.
“If the FDA Commissioner decides to issue approval, the EUA, on that day when the vote is taken, as early as Friday of next week we could see vaccinations happening across the country,” Hildreth said on NBC’s “Weekend Today.”
Santa Claus greets a child from inside a bubble in Oklahoma on Dec. 5.
Photographer: Nick Oxford/Bloomberg
Germany Can Maintain Spending, Merkel Says (6:15 p.m. HK)
Germany can carry on spending “large sums” next year to help the economy through coronavirus upheavals, Chancellor Angela Merkel said ahead of a parliamentary vote on the federal budget next week.
“We were able to deploy large sums in 2020 and we will be able to do so in 2021 because we have managed our finances well in the past years,” Merkel said. Debt-funded stimulus measures were necessary this year to prevent far costlier bankruptcies and job losses, she said.
Germany will spend as much as 6 billion euros ($7.3 billion) on vaccinating its population against the coronavirus.
“That’s a lot of money,” Health Minister Jens Spahn said at a conference in Berlin on Saturday. Still, the cost of “not getting it under control is higher,” he said.
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