The Latest: Serbia’s PM first to get COVID-19 vaccine shot

Kuwait’s minister of health announced Thursday that batches of the coronavirus vaccine created by American drugmaker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech would arrive each month until all residents of the oil-rich Persian Gulf sheikhdom had been vaccinated. Kuwait’s prime minister received the first jab that marked the official opening of the mass inoculation drive.

The first shipment of 150,000 Pfizer doses arrived in industrial freezers on Wednesday, with a total of 450,000 doses expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2021.

Kuwait has recorded more than 148,770 coronavirus infections and 920 deaths, a relatively high confirmed infection rate per population in the tiny state of 4.2 million.

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NAIROBI, Kenya – Africa’s top public health official says another new variant of the coronavirus appears to have emerged in Nigeria, but further investigation is needed.

John Nkengasong, the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters on Thursday that “it’s a separate lineage from the UK and South Africa.” He said the Nigeria CDC and the African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases will analyze more samples.

The new variant in South Africa is now the predominant one there, Nkengasong said, as confirmed infections in the country approach 1 million. While the variant transmits quickly and viral loads are higher, it is not yet clear whether it leads to a more severe disease, he said.

He said health authorities believe the the South Africa variant “will not have an effect” on the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines to the continent.

Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country. The new variant in South Africa now makes up most of the country’s rapidly rising new cases. South Africa’s health minister says there is an “alarming rate of spread.”

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PARIS – French President Emmanuel Macron no longer has virus symptoms and is leaving isolation after a week with COVID-19, but is urging the French public to limit contacts and remain vigilant to keep infections under control during the Christmas holiday season.

Macron’s office said in a statement on Thursday that he is finishing a week of isolation at a presidential retreat in Versailles based on French health protocols, which recommend seven days of confinement following a positive virus test.

French authorities lifted virus restrictions for the holidays but infections remain high, and some doctors are urging new lockdown measures.

As families prepare to gather for traditional Christmas Eve dinners Thursday, infectious disease specialist Karine Lacombe warned that the meal “is one of the most risky situations for transmitting the virus.”

But she said on France-Info radio that after an emotionally trying year, “It’s important to take into account the need to have some conviviality, it’s a balance between the benefit and the risk.”

France recorded nearly 15,000 new infections Wednesday and a total of 61,978 virus-related deaths throughout the pandemic, among the world’s highest official death tolls.

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PARIS – France’s High Authority for Health has released its vaccination guidelines for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine based on European Union approval of the drug. Vaccinations are scheduled to start on Sunday, at the same time as several other EU countries.

France will prioritize the elderly, based on the high impact on older populations in previous virus surges in France. The French medical safety agency will monitor for eventual problems.

France will not make the vaccine obligatory, and will require authorities to register consent from those vaccinated.

The agency says more study must be done to determine if it is effective against new variants.

It says anyone over 16 can get vaccinated except for pregnant women or people with severe allergies. People who have already had the virus should wait three months to get vaccinated.

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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lankan authorities have imposed lockdown on three towns on the outskirt of the capital Colombo, in a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19 during holiday period.

Kosgama, Awissawella and Ruwanwella towns which are located about 60 kilometers east of Colombo went under lockdown from Thursday noon.

Dozens of towns and villages in different parts of the country have been kept under lockdown since a resurgence of the coronavirus appeared in the Indian ocean island nation in October.

Sri Lanka’s total number of positive cases since March reached 38,639 on Thursday with 184 fatalities.

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BANGKOK, Thailand – There is little holiday cheer for tourism-dependent Thailand, as the country grapples with a struggling economy and an unexpected spike of new coronavirus despite strict border controls that have effectively blocked tourists from entering the kingdom.

The Christmas and New Year’s holidays are typically peak season for the tropical country’s hotels, restaurants, bars and often naughtier-than-nice entertainment venues, with visitors from Europe and other parts of Asia massing on the capital and crowding onto the country’s sun-kissed beaches.

Many of those businesses have decided it’s not even worth reopening, or have gone out of business altogether. Tourism numbers have plunged nearly 80 percent to 6.7 million through October, according to the most recent figures.

But any hopes of a return to normalcy were dashed in recent days as the country recorded a new cluster of more than 1,000 cases near Bangkok after months of reporting little to no transmission. Authorities responded on Christmas Eve by announcing fresh restrictions for Bangkok and some other provinces that including canceling New Year’s Eve celebrations, but they are stopping short of implementing a nationwide lockdown for now.

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MOSCOW – Russian authorities reported 29,935 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the highest daily spike in the pandemic.

This is nearly 2,700 infections more than was registered the previous day. Russia’s total of over 2.9 million remains the fourth largest coronavirus caseload in the world. The government’s coronavirus task force has also registered more than 53,000 deaths in all.

Russia has been swept by a rapid resurgence of the outbreak this fall, with numbers of confirmed COVID-19 infections and deaths significantly exceeding those reported in the spring. The country’s authorities have resisted imposing a second nationwide lockdown or a widespread closure of businesses.

Earlier this month, mass vaccination against COVID-19 started in Russia with Sputnik V – a domestically developed coronavirus vaccine that is still undergoing advanced studies among tens of thousands of people needed to ensure its safety and effectiveness. Russia has been widely criticized for giving Sputnik V regulatory approval in August after it had only been tested on a few dozen people.

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BEIJING – China will suspend flights to and from the UK, joining a growing list of countries who have instituted travel bans, in light of a new variant of the coronavirus, its Foreign Ministry announced Thursday.

It did not offer details on when flights would stop. On Tuesday, the Chinese Visa Application Service Centre in London said it will suspend its operation until further notice.

Non-Chinese passport holders from the UK were already banned from traveling to China in November.

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KYIV, Ukraine – Ukraine’s tally of confirmed coronavirus cases surpassed 1 million on Thursday.

Ukrainian health officials reported 11,490 new infections Thursday, which brought the country’s total to 1,001,132. Ukraine has also reported 17,395 deaths in the pandemic.

The rapid rise in virus cases in Ukraine has started in September and put a strain on the country’s health care system.

In a bid to curb the spread of contagions, Ukrainian authorities decided to impose tight lockdown restrictions in January. Restaurants, bars, malls, gyms, theaters, cinemas and other non-essential businesses will be closed between Jan. 8 and Jan. 24.

Mass public events will be banned, and schools and other educational facilities – with the exception of day care centers – will be on vacation. Only grocery shops, pharmacies, banks, post offices, hotels and public transport will operate during this period of time.

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TOKYO – The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has reported 888 newly confirmed coronavirus cases as of Thursday, an all time daily high. The previous highest number of newly confirmed cases was 821.

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike reiterated calls for residents to stay home unless absolutely necessary, wear masks, wash hands often and avoid crowds. She noted a growing number of people were becoming infected in their homes or in offices.

The city government has urged Japanese to wear masks even inside their own homes and to open windows once every two hours to improve ventilation.

Authorities are especially concerned about an increase in severe COVID-19 cases, especially among older Japanese, which is straining medical facilities. Japan has the world’s oldest population.

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RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazil has become the latest country to bar flights from the United Kingdom in a bid to prevent contagion from a new strain of the coronavirus.

The government announced in an extra edition of the country’s official gazette released late Wednesday that it is temporarily prohibiting flights either originating in the U.K. or passing through.

The government also is suspending authorization for foreigners who have been in the U.K. in the preceding 14 days from boarding Brazil-bound flights.

The new rules take effect Friday.

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MEXICO CITY – Mexico now has more people hospitalized for COVID-19 than it saw at the peak of the first wave of the pandemic in late July.

The Health Department says 18,301 people are in hospitals across Mexico being treated for the disease that can be caused by the coronavirus. That is 0.4% more than in July.

Mexico City is the epicenter of the current wave of infections and 85% of its hospital beds are in use.

The state of Morelos, just south of the capital, became the fourth of Mexico’s 32 states to declare a “red” alert, which will lead to a partial lockdown and the closure of non-essential businesses starting Thursday.

Medical personnel will be first in line Thursday when vaccinations with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine begin Thursday in Mexico City.