Elderly and healthcare workers get first coronavirus jabs in show of EU unity

Clergyman Agios Vlasios receives an injection in Athens (Alkis Konstantinidis/Pool via AP)

European doctors, nurses and the elderly have received the first doses of a coronavirus vaccine in a symbolic show of unity by the EU as the continent faces its worst healthcare crisis in a century.

Weeks after the US, Canada and Britain began inoculations with the same vaccine, the 27-nation bloc staged a coordinated rollout aimed at projecting a unified message that the jab is safe and Europe’s best chance to emerge from the pandemic.