Italy begins COVID-19 vaccine administration

Italy, one of the worst hit countries during the first wave of coronavirus attack, has begun rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech on Sunday.

According to Reuters, three health workers received the jab at the Rome Spallanzani hospital, on Sunday morning at 700 GMT.

“The vaccine went very well and it was an exciting, historical moment,” 29-year-old nurse Claudia Alivernini told state-owned television RAINEWS24, the Reuters reported

The administration of Covid-19 vaccine will be free of cost in the country and health workers and elderly people will be the first to be administered the voluntary inoculation.

Hungary and Slovakia have also begun their vaccination campaigns on Saturday with other European Union countries joining Italy in rolling out the shots from Sunday, as the pandemic surges across the continent, the Reuters report said.

According to the health ministry, around 9,750 doses have already arrived in Italy and another 470,000 are expected to arrive from next week, the report said.

“Today is a symbolic day which must give the idea of the beauty of Europe that has bought the vaccines for everybody and distributed them,” Commissioner Arcuri said.

To aid the roll out of the vaccine, temporary solar-powered healthcare pavilions will be set up in town squares around the country, designed to look like five-petalled primrose flowers, a symbol of spring, the Reuters report added.