The Austrian press AGency (APA) reports that the first 10,000 doses of Biontech/Pfizer’s Corona vaccine arrived safely in Vienna-Simmering at 5:35 a.m. Saturday. A refrigerated truck with large infrastructure inside, escorted by police vehicles, delivered the precious commodity, the Interior Ministry said. The transport had started in Puurs, Belgium, and at 2:00 a.m. units of the provincial traffic departments of Vienna and Upper Austria received it at the Suben border crossing (Schärding district).
The first five volunteers – all high-risk patients over 80 years of age – will be vaccinated in Vienna on Sunday. Also in Upper and Lower Austria, Styria, Salzburg, Vorarlberg and Tyrol will be immunized already on Sunday – mostly in retirement and nursing homes. For the further transport of the vaccine doses to the provinces, they are responsible themselves, according to the Ministry of the Interior. From Monday, further deliveries are expected in Austria, a larger one on New Year’s Eve.
The first Corona vaccine has also been delivered in the other countries of the European Union on Saturday. As in Austria, the first vaccinations are expected to begin in Germany, Italy, France and numerous other EU countries from Sunday.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hope spoke of a moving moment of unity and a European success story. “The vaccinations will help gradually return to our normal lives,” she said in a video posted Saturday on Twitter. Once enough people have been vaccinated, she said, people can begin to travel again, see friends and family and spend the holidays normally. “But until then, we must continue to be cautious.”
- Source: APA. picture: pixabay.com
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