from berlin. tonight, a reason for hope -- one step closer to ending th e coronavirus pandemic. pfizer and biotech announced the coronavirus vaccinis more e than 90% effective th no bad side effects. president-elect, joe bid en, announces his covid-19 task force.

tingbiwarning it will be ntmohs until the vaccine is avblailae. until then, he says the u.s. will endure daa rk winter. and tropical storm eta slams into s thern florida. the state, already waterlogged from weeks of heavy rain. residents could soon be an even deeperub trole -- in even deeper trouble. ♪ i'm brent goff. to our viewers watching on pbs uniintestatd es and arod thune rld,el wcome.we start tonight wh itthe most promising development yet in fortefs to stop the coronavirus pandemic. today, the u.s. drugmaker, pfizer and biotech said their peexrimental vaccine is more than 90% effective in preventing covid-19. clinical trials have not shown any bad side effects, either. these hopes are being tempered by time. the vcine, if all goes well,

will not be avaie unbltil sometime early nt year. reporter: the hop feor an effeivcte vaccine against the coronavirus could grobengwi. biontech assesd resesults are more promisi tnghan expected. >> our results are showi that after the internal valuation, the vaccine is able to prevent infeioctn with over 90% probability. reporter: this is how the so-called m-rna back seen works. -- vaincce works. the body then uses the molecule to produce viral proteins against which the immune system forms anybodies. those antibodies should then defend against covid-19. more than 3000 people around the world have been vaccinated. >> these vaccines are being developed very quickly at the moment. we have a considerable group of

people who have now been vaccinated. they are not showing significant sideffects. e this gives us hope. reporter: biontech and pfizer say their goal is to produce nearly 1.5 billion doses by the end of next year. these new results could rocelerate that process. liz: we will bring -- brnt: -- brent: we will bring in now a specialist on the infectious diseases from the german parliament. what did you think when you heard about the news of the vaccine trials? >> this is the news i was hoping for for a long time. to hear optimistic news on the vaccine front. we are still cautious. have to give you this press release -- have to give you ts press release, there ino reason to believe the data so far that the vaccine has a

promisinsafety profile. brent: when we say that this vaccine is effective, do we know how long the efficacy is going to be? >> this is a vergood question. that is the million-dollar question. how long the antibody response to the vaccine will last. this is an unanswered question, because this vaccine has been on trial for a couple of months. at has proved its effect on long-term basis, but neverthelessnele looking athe numbers we see in north america and europe, this is a very rtantot ol to help t us break down this pandem t situation. once the vaccine is approved by the fda, we have to come up with a vacne scitrategy, because we cannot vaccinate everybody in rthno america or the world,

because it will not be smanyo dose availilehndzer hope producece 1.4il blion doses next year. you would ha to vedivide all of those by two. we are talking about two doses for someone to be vaccinated. correct? >> that is correct. the sty child is builtn two injections -- the study shows it is blt on two injections, with response is necessary to provide a person -- to protect a person from the sars-cov-2 virus. 1.4 million equals 700 million people.

that is a number of population we have in europe and the.s. this is a globalns rpoibility.ib say america first or europe first. this has to be globally discussed, how this back seen has to be distributed. we have a global responsibility on the global health arena. brent: if you would, stand by for a moment. the question howof quickly a roll up could happen and who will be the first to receive in fullat debate is swing also here in germany. let's take a look at this next report. reporter: germany is in lockdown. people and businesses are facing tough restrictions. the moment, strict controls are the only measure to keep t pandemic at bay. one way the bre coulde a return to something like normal life is if a vacneci becomes available. >> until this point, it was unclear whether a vaine cccould be made that would actually reduce the infection or actually

prevent infectn.io k.w it looks like it cld wouor that iencouraging. i may say that i'm very pleased it is a german delopevment. reporter: the health minister sayso tbeat the pandemic, at least 55% of the population would need to be vaccinated. there's no question of making it compulsory. but who would be offered the vaccine first? certain the queue. because of their level of risk. the elderly will be protected as ppriority. they are especially likely to suffer serious effects if they catch corona. but, there are also suggestions teachers and even the homeless should be among the first to be vaccinat the health minister, offering a wide discussion about who is first in line. >>hais it mportant also ta be personon in -- to me personallys

that this debate not be a political and scientific one, but that we take this discussion to every table, to every circle of friends and acquaintances, that it is discussed in general. reporter: the debate about priorities has begun. and it can continue until the coronavirus scene is actually ready. brent: i want to ask you, in terms of producing the sex scene, we understand these pharmaceutical companies have taken the an usual step -- the vaccine, we understand these pharmaceutical companies have taken an unusual step, before l.ey get approva we are going to have the vaccines where we need it, but who is going to decide how to distribute the vaccine, who gets the vaccine first? >> i think this is a very importantuestion. it needs to be answered ethically, scientifically, and

politically. the discussion starts off here in germany about, who needs to berioritiz for the vaccination programs? that might be started on a voluntary basis in germany. with the minister just said -- whathe minister just said is the discussion has to start. e hope hholdhis s promise that heou wld -- that we start these discussions in t phet,arliamen as well. we are going to have a lot of turmoil if we do not have a clear-cut, traparensnt we needed first are the stmo -- the oswho need it fir are fhe most vulnerable. like the elderly, and conhric disease people. then we have to have a list.

there is no good or correct answer, but it has to be weighed out in the parliament to make sure we havenson it will be into see. after the new year, i'm sure the public will be wanting to know who and whethe vaine ccis go bwereppciate your time aninsig. yan you. pos, how a are our children coping with all of this? reporter: the big coronavirusn i the middle of its round.

orld aretlm fille ild tlm wiildfrne of family ected. i am afraid for myself. i am fit. i am heahy.lt i am a child. some children get corona, but not me. i get cold. urlwayhaves sho waha oves ur you cannot touch your face. a mask.

in the classroom, when you get out on the subway, in stores, on the streets, i have no difficultyre bathing.anta bri othe developments in t is of the pandic.em italy is one of the countries struggling to cope with a second wave. some people are so short of breath, they have beegiven n oxygen while still in their cars. ukraine's president has become the latest nationast leader to test posr ite fothe coronavirus. his office says the president is

feeling wetell despi the diagnosis and he plans to ntinue working while being in isolation. a court in india has banned firecrkers dayacs before the start of the country's biggest annual festival. the national green naibunal says fireworks added to the already serious air pollution in many indian cities make people more vulnerable to coronavirus infections. spite the latest hop oveesr a vaccine, joe biden is warning the united states is still facing a very vyark d.ntery the number of cases in the u.s. psw noto 10 million according to ithns hopkins universy. bidenas m hade tackling the pandic is to pripority. today,e na hmed to members of his covid-19 task force, including any knowledge just -- an immunologist who was - -

who was sacked for criticizing e trthump administration's coronavirus response. it also ans merejoining the paris climate agreement. biden's message was dominated by the need tset ade partisanship and uniting during c.pandemi >>th election is over. it me atth is weang, social distancin. we have to come together to heal th e soul of this country, so that we can effectively dresads this crisis, as one country, where hard-working americans have each other's backs, and we arunited ie n our shared goal,

defeating this virus. brent: let's take the story now to washington. ou bureau in chief joins me. the tone is radical different fromhat wwe have hed frarom president trump. tells more about president-elect bide''s covid-19 strategy. >> he, indeed, reachedut. o he said again, i want to be the president for all of you. that is indeed a different tone from what we have gotten used to over the course of the last four years. however, biden announced today he wants to implement a nationwide mask mandate, where he will work with local governments to help facilitate it. that was one of his major topics that he spoke of during his rally. we knew this was coming. he also addressed the iue ossf

how african-americans and latinos have been hit the highest. tori bdge the gap as soon as possible. brent: what did the president ectel that appears t>> he was happy tt its progression, but tempered down the excitement of the news by making it clearhat teven if it is effective, it will not be widely availableorab months. to he has made his firs priority again to push fomorer the virus.g anind ma dskread o brent: we see the presint

preparing to hit the ground nninrug the presidentlect preparg to hithe ground running, b the white house is doing nothing to help this transition. w?at do we kno >> exactly, bre. th is whate ex wed fctroex w the trumpdmin aistration. byey have not donene athing by books. harge of moving e nthew administration into the whit heouse, but she has done nothing to acknowledge biden's win so far. the trump administration needs to hand over iormptant informationeg rarding issues of national security,ls ao the

covid-19 pandemic, so that they will be able to start work on januar 2y1. brent: as always, thank you. how is joe biden's victory being seen around the world? our reporters asked about fuse for the upmicong administration -- views for the upcoming a ministration. >> it is important to have a lead iern the.s u. that fights r fosimilar things, like we do here. >> i hope biden will be a more serious and reliable partner for turkey. i hope you things more globally, not just america first. tobhe thinks more globally, no just america first. >> in this country, 80% are for trump, because they consider it important what he did for israel. for us, it is not so important when he does in the internal affairs in america.

>> don't have too much hope. he said that he does not have to be [indiscernible] to be a ziist.on >> more than happy. ump is nonsense. we don't need him atll. >> before biden, there was one of african soil. presidenobama. it is just neutral. >> i am happy biden won, because hopefully, we will have less of that racial bias, minine bias, move forward. >>'victory will benefit mexico in many ways. the economy, migration policies. reporter: regardless of republican or democratic policies, at ywhou want is a leader wseho morals and ethics resemble your own. and atth winas ctaerly joe biden annot donaldrump t.

so i 'm very happy. brent: let's take the sto nry to latin and south america. let's bring in our correspondent in bogoota. we have had a sigh of r from lin acoom lrin s,uncoie when they heard joe biden had won. how is the newhe adminisatiotrn likely to change relations with ?atin america rerterpo:rt i think we ll see some changes in the relationship between latin america and the u.s. under joe biden's l's lk ata tbowout main ob ms. eeat is the maiproblem n betwn the u.s. and latin america? .mmegal immigration donald trump's approach to ts wssue, we wa fntorget about ho heexic mo with hexic migh fache i t ny didpto the u.s. at the end of the day, mexico came thehemeol pice of the .s.thernorde bofr the u

is dold trump'srririrri years,d trump never came to latin america, not one single visit. he came wants to argentina because of the g20 that was held in buenos aires. barack obama ce 15 timames. george w. bush, 18 times. under joeiden, tilanidmerica ng n goingo t r tiois g h imprhaessive t myoent uonim. ab. hat is very erintestinreg, bauseec every

leountry in latin america has already congratulated joe alden and kamalrrisha ndxirictory exct xico a brazil. to donald trump. at during the second the cation of an international fund, $20 bitothe responsible scenario immediely was that tense relationship between these two leaders. brent: definiteltwo y very dierenfft personrss rons r to ht

security before leaving office. s. the eropation in isconnection orth suspecteded funding of terr ganizationands money-laundering cccusations of war cme re ceta has battered southern

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kwi k k sters, sisters .n law reporter:more than one million . people here lostve erything in the fodwaloters. need help. please help us in any way. we have nothing. reporter: se help came from the u.s. army, which sent he t dk asisauinnt eta left a

trail of destruction. flida is noweari b n b the wle f of m ico and intensify against hurricane strength. brent: you are watching dw ns,ew live from berlin.

ugdr pkemars biontech pfizeropeswe will ht ril back. [captioning performed by the inittional captiinon cinitutste, which is responsib fle ror its caption content and accuracy. visit ncawc

>> hello, and welcome back to the france 24 newsroom. the clock's are striking 10:00 p.m., paris. these are the latest headlines. his battle to secure the white house are over, and now he is pulling out fresh guns to fight one of america's most pressing problems. president-elect joe biden unveils his covid-19 task force as the u.s. caseload reaches the 10 million mark. could it be the most thought -- much sought-after speck of light after a long and dark coronavirus tunnel? from the analys fds a new instmental