Health News Roundup: Dogs detect COVID-19 at Santiago airport; Serbia begins vaccination drive and more

In the health sector today, the first 10,000 doses of a 10-million order of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine reached Chile while Serbia also began the COVID-19 vaccination drive. Watch the video below for the top health stories of December 24 from all across the world.

Devdiscourse brings you the top health news stories of the day from all across the world.

First Pfizer vaccines arrive in Chile, medics to be inoculated first

The first 10,000 doses of a 10-million order of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine reached Chile on Thursday with inoculations of health workers in the hardest-hit sectors to begin immediately. Chile is the first South American country to begin vaccinating against COVID. 

Serbia begins COVID-19 vaccination drive, with PM first in line

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic received Serbia's first COVID-19 vaccine shot on Thursday, kicking off a mass inoculation drive with doses developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. Serbia is the third country in Europe to start mass COVID-19 inoculations after Britain and Switzerland.

One million Americans vaccinated for COVID; Tennessee new epicenter

Tennessee emerged alongside California on Wednesday as an epicenter of the latest COVID-19 surge even while more than 1 million Americans have been vaccinated as U.S. political leaders sought to guard against a highly contagious coronavirus variant sweeping across Britain. Tennessee averaged nearly 128 new infections per 100,000 people over the last week, the highest of any U.S. state, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

Singapore confirms first case of new coronavirus variant found in UK

Singapore has confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus variant found in the United Kingdom, the city-state said, while 11 others who were already in quarantine had returned preliminarily positive results for the new strain. All the cases, which were imported from Europe, had been placed in 14-day quarantine at dedicated facilities or isolated upon arrival.

Sit, stay, detect COVID! Chile dogs report for duty at Santiago airport

The task of sniffing out passengers infected with COVID-19 at Chile's Santiago international airport is going to the dogs. A team of Golden Retrievers and Labradors sit when they smell the virus and get a treat. The canines sport green "biodetector" jackets with a red cross.

Aurobindo Pharma to make COVAXX's potential COVID-19 vaccine for India, UNICEF

Aurobindo Pharma Ltd said on Thursday it would make and sell U.S.-based COVAXX's COVID-19 vaccine candidate for supply in India and to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) under a licensing deal. COVAXX, a unit of privately-owned United Biomedical Inc, plans to pursue mid- and late-stage trials for the vaccine candidate from early 2021 in Asia, Latin America and the United States.

Ukraine coronavirus cases rise past 1 million

A total of 1.001 million coronavirus cases has been registered in Ukraine as of Dec. 24, with 17,395 deaths and 631,435 people recovered, Ukrainian health minister Maksym Stepanov said on Thursday.