this is d.w. news live from the land of europe kicks off its mass vaccination program against covert 19 a 101 year old woman is the 1st person in germany to get the shelter as an unprecedented immunization campaign gets underway across the e.u. also on the program to people in the central african republic heading to the polls today to vote for a new president and parliament in an election overshadowed by violent.

i'm rebecca races welcome to the program vaccinations against the coronavirus of beginning in countries across the european union the rollout is a sign of hope for many here in europe which has same 16000000 infections and more than 330000 deaths from covert 9 tain in italy the hardest hit a huge country medical staff from a hospital in rome where the 1st to receive the vaccine with most member states receiving initial batches of no more than 10000 doses priority is being given to the most vulnerable along with doctors nurses and other front line workers preparations for the rollout began after the regulators approved the vaccine produced by german thought of pharmaceutical company by ontic and the american drug micah pfizer last week. our brussels bureau chief alexander phenomena is standing by for us in brussels alexandra a historic day in the fight against this pandemic what's the

a use role in this back same rollout. you commission president or the law for underly and described it as a touching moment of for europe's you need and this was exactly what the european union the was aiming for in this case of the fight against the coronavirus in the member states could have moved forward individually but instead they decided that it is the european commission talking to pharmaceutical companies procuring big scenes and coordinating could the roll out of that scenes now across the continent across the block and it was important to make sure that every member state is getting vaccines at the same time and that's been poor member states are not being left behind left along with that countries like the u.s. and the u.k. have already begun vaccinating people why did it take the e.u. longer to get there it took longer indeed the reason for that was that

vaccines in the u.s. and in the u.k. were approved the emergency use also is asian the european union decided to approve them under conventional market also receive it was because of questions of liability if there are any serious side effects and it was also meant as a signal to show that the vaccine is safe and to convince those who are still close to skeptical that it's safe and rights to get vaccinated and something that won't help skeptics i suppose the head of the europe a european police body europol has warned against the danger of potential fake coronavirus vaccines what more can you tell us about last. well that's that's sure europol has been warning of fake the scenes for a while now saying that there is a danger that organized crime could try to sell contra food to that scenes or try

to hijack shipments of genuine big scenes and that is of course because we don't have enough doses and there are people maybe desperate to get vaccinated who would buy a vaccine and dark in that dark web so that is why you ripple is warning member states to stay vigilant because there is a real danger that criminal minds could try to to sell fake the scenes ran afoul of phenomena speaking to us from brussels thank you for that update. when germany was one of a number of countries to start a day early with the program and the 101 year old woman at a care home the 1st to get the shan't along with other residents and some stuff when it is quite solid was born the world was in the grip of spanish flu today 101 years old she made history as the 1st german to be vaccinated. you know well i

feel fine. a mobile team came to this residential project to senior citizens in how bush that unvaccinated 40 residents and taken care staff the head of the local vaccination center didn't want to waste any time waiting to talk every day counts and once the vaccine has been defrosted it has a limited storage life and the logistics are flexible enough that we can bring things forward by a day and go out to the care homes earlier in the home of the insecure most parts of germany are starting facts are noted on sunday regional politicians stress the urgency isn't enough hours in the we're seeing rising infections and alarmingly high numbers of fatalities. and yet the vaccine is giving us this glimpse of hope. that if we can hold out a little longer. we have the chance that more and more people will be vaccinated and we are. the biotech pfizer vaccine is being delivered across germany and the

country's health minister held out the hope of more to come. to toronto to win votes right now if the other vaccines that look promising are approved by the middle of the year we'll be able to roll out widespread vaccinations and offer one to anyone who wants it so much. by the end of 2021 point 3000000 doses of vaccine will have been distributed in january another 3000000 like here in berlin vaccination centers are ready and waiting and they are equipped to administer many 1000000 madrassas to members of the public. interest because they need to vaccinated so high in the interest is there i'd rather have as many doses as possible as quickly as possible so that we can get going in. the health minister rejects charges that too little vaccine was ordered at a european level and he was clear about the overall in. the corner. the corona vaccine is an obvious it's free of charge involuntary but our intent is

clear we want to vaccinate so many people that the virus no longer stands a chance neither in germany or in europe. first in line is anyone aged 80 or older like here in a. mobile team to be visiting with a vaccine any day soon. the yemenis need a house that is standing by for a set one of the vaccination centers in berlin nina what's happening where you are there today who'll be receiving their shots. well i'm standing outside the arena in traffic tell you that is in the center of violin and it's normally a concert venue but of course there are no concerts that are happening during the pandemic and so they says been turned into one of poland's 6 vaccination centers and it is going to be the 1st to start operation this afternoon other than that some 40 mobile units are going to go to elderly people's homes today to start

vaccinating you spoken to some staff there already today what are they saying how are they feeling. well most of the people that we saw this morning are volunteers to whom this is a completely new experience so they were not centrally they were not so sure what was going to wait for them but they said they felt it was a great day and they felt it was a privilege to take part in it some of them registered here to take the people's data for example and essentially work on the computers but of course they also had trainings when it comes to hygiene rules etc now the german authorities shora but they can reach all the most vulnerable and. well 1st of all you have to know that the 1st doses arrived in germany on saturday so yesterday and then they were sent to the 16 regions in every region in germany in this fast program received

some 10000 doses and that is of course not nearly enough to even cover the elderly people so of course there's a big sense of urgency here but it is also a big sign that they can start vaccinating but of course everybody knows that patience is going to be wearing thin over time and of course you need 2 doses for the vaccine to actually be fully effective and so health minister inspired said that today is an important day but that it will take until next summer at the earliest before we can have a situation where some 2 thirds of the population will have either have had or they will have been vaccinated this is of course crucial for the pandemic to go away oh i mean holes are braving the cold for us to report on this historic story story in berlin thanks very much for the update let's take

a look at some of the other stories making headlines now u.s. president donald trump has refused to sign a massive spending package which has already been agreed by congress and includes nearly $900000000000.00 in soley needed coronavirus a trump said it doesn't go far enough to help everyday americans about his refusal means that up to 14000000 people will lose their unemployment benefits. japan is effectively closing its borders for at least a month in an effort to contain a new coronavirus variant originally detected in the u.k. the foreign ministry says it will bar all known resident part of foreign nationals starting monday japanese residents will be allowed to return home. 10 people dead in iran after avalanches hit a mountain range north of the capital tehran rescue teams are searching for a number of people still believed to be missing the avalanches struck 4 different areas in the al gore's mountain range which is popular hiking and climbing. that.

the u.n. is warning of a humanitarian disaster in bosnia where more than 100000 migrants are enduring freezing conditions after being forced out of a temporary camp with already failed to organize new accommodation despite closing the camp which was later set on fire migrants are now sheltering in the burnt out facility with little hate of food. people in the central african republic will choose a new president and parliament today in an election that has been overshadowed by violence the government and its allies are trying to fend off an escalating rebel offensive and there are fears the country could slip back into a full scale civil war 3 u.n. peacekeepers were killed by an identify the silence on friday. i see the selection as a chance to say yes to pace and notes of the bloodshed which threatens to overwhelm the central african republic hundreds of women march to the capital bangui of the pol they believe this mike must be held.

he said we want peace to right now in this country we say no to the rebels and we say no to the opposition that wants to push back that died of this election. season i can see. this is part of the opposition campaigning for a poll they don't want to go ahead they can't balance who stand regardless but he says he's concerned by the growing insecurity nationwide. in every city there are armed groups getting in the way of this process who says. so i think it's wise that to consider postponing the elections. does on groups of now need the outskirts of bagi their advance created panic in the capital loss wake the president sees the hand of his political foes behind these militia men in an exclusive interview the incumbent told day w.

he stands for pace. they proposing a return to violence they have mobilized says man and now they're looking at the destabilization of benghazi as tension mounts more un peacekeeping troops have been arriving their mission is to stabilize the state during the elections. after that touchdown the soul just celebrated but in the coming hours they will be tested as they try to prevent chaos breaking out in the central african republic on polling die. we turn now to an annual christmas tradition in the czech republic in the capital prague hundreds of hearty swimmers braved the icy waters to jump into the vault of a river in the city center event was given a special exemption from crown of virus restrictions if the hostile 2 degrees

outside and i take chattering 6 degrees in the water despite our sea conditions hundreds of king swimmers dunk themselves in the vault of a river in prague city center from old timers to teenagers the brave participants celebrated the annual swimming events 74th year and while coronaviruses canceled many sporting activities this traditional mesa was given the green light. this competition has a long tradition and the fame of the competition is so great that the ministry of health decided it was an event worthy of special attention. participants had to present a negative covert test in order to compete and avoid by strict hygiene protocol but the turnout was still strong despite the added obstacles alone even if last year there were $433.00 participants in this year about 323 people registered with. the event is named in honor of swimming enthusiasm alfred nico them he organized progs

1st ever christmas cold water swim back in 1923 and his legacy is still convincing people to test their resilience to this day. this is day to day news up next hour doc film the secret of mona lisa stay tuned for that author show right i'll be back with more news headlines at the top of the hour thanks for watching. john moroccan emigrants. they know the police will stop the. death the road is the solution. they know their flights could be fatal. baggage is not an option shattered dreams starts january 18th on t.w. .