The massive vaccination program to protect people against coronavirus has begun worldwide to fight the pandemic, which has killed more than 1.73 million people worldwide and caught 78 million people from the end of December last year.
Earlier this month, the United Kingdom became the first country in the world to begin administering its citizens with a fully tested and tested COVID-19 vaccine, followed shortly after by several other countries.
The following is a list of countries that have approved and introduced COVID vaccines for their populations:
United Kingdom
On December 8, Margaret Keenan, a 90-year-old British grandmother, became the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine outside of testing.
But shortly after the launch of the vaccination program, the UK implemented strict lock-in measures following the detection of a new and infectious strain of the coronavirus.
Keenan, the first British person to be vaccinated, seizes the picture with nurse May Parsons at Coventry University Hospital, England [Jacob King/AP]United Arab Emirates
The first jabs of the coronavirus vaccine for residents were delivered in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, on 14 December.
The oil-rich Gulf state has approved the China-made Pfizer-BioNTech and Sinopharm vaccines for mass use.
United States
The same day, the U.S. also began administering the Pfizer vaccine, with New York City emergency care nurse Sandra Lindsay, the first American to receive it.
The Pfizer-BioNTech has been given to more than a million people since the program began even as U.S. authorities have approved a second vaccine made by Moderna.
Sandra Lindsay is vaccinated by Dr. Michelle Chester at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York. [Mark Lennihan/Reuters]Canada
The first COVID-19 patient admitted to Canada was an 89-year-old woman from Quebec who received the Pfizer vaccine on December 14th.
The North American country, along with the nearby U.S., has also approved the Moderna vaccine for their major vaccine program. The first loads of the Moderna pictures arrived Thursday.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, the worst country on the Arabian peninsula with more than 360,000 recorded cases, involving 6,148 deaths, began its campaign with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on December 17th.
Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a COVID-19 vaccine injection on Dec. 19, starting a national release.
Netanyahu, 71, and his health minister were introduced to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine live on TV at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv.
Qatar
Qatar launched a free coronavirus vaccination campaign after the first batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine reached the Gulf state on December 22nd.
The vaccine will be given in two doses, three weeks apart at seven major health centers across the country.
Qatar has also signed contracts to acquire Moderna and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines.
Mexico
Mexico began their massive vaccination program on Dec. 24, with the first nurse to receive the injection in the country with one of the highest COVID-19 death tolls in the world.
The televised announcement came a day after the first 3,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine arrived by Belgian courier.
Mexican nurse Irene Ramirez will receive the first of two Pfizer / BioNTech COVID-19 injections, at the General Hospital in Mexico City, on December 24, 2020 [Pedro Padro/AFP]Serbia
The Balkan nation began the outbreak on December 24, with Prime Minister Ana Brnabic the first to receive the Pfizer vaccine.
Kuwait
Kuwait also began its coronavirus vaccination campaign on December 24th.
The country received the first 150,000 doses of the vaccine developed by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.
Chile
On December 24, Chile became the second Latin American country after Mexico began its inoculation program.
Zulema Riquelme, a 42-year-old nurse, received her first injection in the presence of President Sebastian Pinera.
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera will walk away after looking at the first vaccine shots for COVID-19 at the Metropolitan Hospital in Santiago, Chile, on Thursday, December 24, 2020 [Esteban Felix/AP]Russia
The Russian government says it has been protecting its citizens since September with the Sputnik V vaccine.
On August 13, President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia was the first country to grant COVID-19 vaccine regulatory approval.
However, the permission for use was granted without the country completing the phase three test, raising questions from world health organizations and scientists.
Costa Rica
Costa Rica received its first shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses on Wednesday, and the country delivered its first sighting Thursday to 91-year-old nursing home, wheelchair resident, Elizabeth Castillo.
“I’m very thankful to God, because I asked for so much of it. My life is very important to me, so take advantage of it every minute,” Castillo said.
Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada said vaccines may be “the beginning of the end of this pandemic”.