Sputnik is live from Nuremberg, Germany where a vaccination programme against the coronavirus has kicked off.
The vaccination programme is being rolled out amid the spread of a mutated coronavirus strain from the UK that has been already detected in Europe, including the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, and Italy. It's also proven to be much more transmissible than other SARS-CoV-2 virus strains. Following the revelation of a new coronavirus variant, Germany suspended air traffic with the UK due to safety concerns.
To date, Germany has confirmed 1,627,103 coronavirus cases and 29,422 COVID-related deaths, according to the Robert Koch Institute. On 13 December, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a hard coronavirus lockdown with non-essential shops, hair salons, schools, and kindergartens to remain closed from 16 December until 10 January due to the spike in COVID-19 cases over the past month. The decision was followed by a series of anti-lockdown protests.
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