Global National: Dec. 2, 2020 | UK becomes 1st country to approve coronavirus vaccine for use

On this episode of Global National: It's the day millions of people have been waiting for. The United Kingdom is the first country in the world to approve a fully-tested coronavirus vaccine, one that has been shown in trials to be 95 per cent effective. The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine has been authorized for emergency use in the U.K., with the expectation the first 800,000 doses will be ready to roll out to the public early next week. It's a massive breakthrough, with scientists doing what usually takes 10 years in just 10 months. Crystal Goomansingh reports on the logistical challenges associated with the vaccines and what that means for distribution.

Canada has pre-ordered 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and it's one of four vaccine candidates Health Canada is reviewing. The approval of the Pfizer vaccine is expected to come around the same time as the U.S. and Europe, with government officials insisting safety is the priority. As Abigail Bimman reports, there are serious questions around how long the roll-out will take.

Quebec set a new high for COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. For the first time, the province is reporting more than 1,500 new cases and the number of hospitalizations is creeping up. As Mike Armstrong explains, it's putting a serious strain on the health care system, and the people who work in it.

Plus, the year 2020 has been all about the coronavirus, but there is an even deeper long-term issue going on – the health impacts of climate change. A new report in the Lancet says health systems are not prepared for the increasing threats posed by a warming planet, a reality researchers call the most worrying outlook to date. As Eric Sorensen explains, researchers say the two global crises pose similar dangers that should be addressed in tandem.

And one of the world's most lucrative fisheries opens this week in southwest Nova Scotia. Lobster fishers land a huge catch for export, worth almost CA$3 billion a year. It's a reminder how precious and resource-rich the world's oceans are. As Ross Lord reports, Canada has teamed up with other nations to protect them.

More than 12,000 Canadians have died from COVID-19 and each day, dozens more are added to the list. There are too many to name, but we know there are families across the country who are mourning loved ones. Heather Yourex-West has the story of one of them.

For more info, please go to https://globalnews.ca/news/7496464/uk-approves-pfizer-coronavirus-vaccine/
Subscribe to Global News Channel HERE: http://bit.ly/20fcXDc
Like Global News on Facebook HERE: http://bit.ly/255GMJQ
Follow Global News on Twitter HERE: http://bit.ly/1Toz8mt
Follow Global News on Instagram HERE: https://bit.ly/2QZaZIB
#GlobalNews #COVID19 #coronavirus #ClimateChange