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This is VOA news. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd. Faced with a dire shortage of hospital beds, health officials in California announced Saturday the vast region of Southern California and a huge swath of the Central Valley will be placed under sweeping new lockdowns in an urgent attempt to slow the rapid rise of coronavirus cases. The California Department of Public Health said the intensive care unit capacity in both regions' hospitals had fallen below a 15 percent threshold that triggers the new measures, which include strict closures for businesses and new controls on activities. The new measures will take effect Sunday evening and remain in place for at least three weeks, meaning the lockdown will cover the Christmas holiday. The San Francisco Bay Area will also go into lockdown Sunday night under a different set of orders announced Friday by officials there.
Moscow began distributing the Sputnik V COVID-19 shot in 70 clinics on Saturday, marking Russia's first mass vaccination against the disease. Reuters Edward Baran reports. It marks Russia's first mass vaccination against the disease, the city's coronavirus task force said, though final trials have yet to be completed for Sputnik V or a second vaccine. And scientists have raised concerns about the speed at which Russia has worked, giving the regulatory go-ahead for its vaccines and launching mass vaccinations before safety and efficacy have been fully tested. The task force said the Russian-made vaccine would be made available to doctors and other medical workers, teachers and social workers because they ran the highest risk of exposure to the disease. People with certain underlying health conditions, pregnant women and those who have had a respiratory illness for the past two weeks are barred from vaccination. That's Reuters Edward Baran.This is VOA news.
