9 January 2021

• Globally, over 17.5 million doses of coronavirus vaccine have been administered. Source
• China reports that it has given over 7.5 million doses of coronavirus vaccine since 15 December. Source
• India announces that it will begin coronavirus vaccinations on 16 January, beginning with 300 million front-line healthcare workers, the elderly, and vulnerable people – although a survey of 8,723 people found that 69 percent of respondents were hesitant to be vaccinated, due to poor communication about them. Source
• In the US, daily coronavirus deaths top a record-breaking 4,000. Source
• US President-Elect Joe Biden plans to get “at least 100 million COVID vaccine shots into the arms of the American people” during his first 100 days in office (to date, less than six million people in the US have received their first dose of the vaccine). He announces the release of nearly all available coronavirus vaccine doses (rather than following the country’s current strategy of holding half of the supply back for second doses). The plan is based on confidence that an adequate supply will be available for second doses – and in response to written demands from state governors, who said that “…failure to distribute these doses to states who request them is unconscionable and unacceptable. ” Sources 1,2
• The UK becomes the first country in Western Europe to exceed three million coronavirus cases. Source
• Clinical Infectious Diseases publishes a report of coronavirus reinfection – in someone who had mild COVID-19 in April and was diagnosed with the B.1.1.7 variant in December 2020 after developing severe illness – raising possible concerns about lack of immunity. Source

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