From Sweden to Cyprus, Lithuania to Italy, the push to get people their first shots is now under way, 11 months after the first cases were reported in Europe. EU leaders have dubbed the launch of the drive "V-Day," a moment of unity in a pandemic that has killed more than 1.7 million people worldwide.

Edith Kwoizalla, aged 101, was one of the first Germans to be vaccinated. She took the first of two doses at a care home in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt on Saturday, a day before the official launch. German Health Minister Jens Spahn said he expected 1.3 million doses to be delivered by the end of the year, with double that number by the end of January.

The vaccine, developed partly by a German firm, has been snapped up by governments around the world. BioNTech has "scientific confidence" that its coronavirus vaccine will also work on the new variant detected in the UK, company CEO Ugur Sahin told DW. The proteins on the mutated form of the virus were 99% the same as the prevailing virus, he said.

Hungary began vaccinating health care workers on Saturday, a day ahead of the EU's planned start date. Hungary has recorded over 316,000 cases and more than 9,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

A Warsaw paramedic was one of the first people to receive the vaccine in Poland on Sunday. The first batch of 10,000 doses was transported from Pfizer's facility in Belgium to a warehouse in central Poland a day earlier. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called the launch "a great step in fighting the epidemic."

EU leaders and scientists have gone to great lengths to insist the vaccine is safe. In the Czech Republic, Prime Minister Andrej Babis (seen here) was at the head of the line for his vaccination on Sunday. In Vienna, three women and two men over the age of 80 got the vaccine in the presence of Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

Sweden, which has received praise and criticism for its looser handling of the pandemic, is expecting an initial batch of 10,000 shots, along with Norway. Denmark expects to have enough shots to initially vaccinate 40,000 people in care homes, followed by health care staff and those people with a high risk of illness. Iceland will receive 10,000 doses early in January.

An 84-year-old man became the first patient to receive the coronavirus vaccine in Cyprus. While Europe has some of the best-resourced health care systems in the world, the sheer scale of the effort means some countries are calling on retired medics to help. Other countries have loosened rules for who is allowed to give the injections.

A health care worker at the Hospital Favoriten in Vienna was one of the first in line to receive the vaccine. Austria is rolling the vaccine out through a three-stage program, starting with health care workers and people over the age of 65. Austria has recorded over 350,000 cases and more than 5,800 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Mauricette, a 78-year-old French woman, was the first person to receive a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the Rene-Muret hospital in Sevran, on the outskirts of Paris. France is aiming to vaccinate the first million people by the end of February. The country has been one of the hardest hit in Europe, with over 2.6 million recorded cases and nearly 63,000 deaths.

Italy began distributing the first batch of 10,000 shots on Sunday at the Niguarda hospital in Milan (seen here). In Rome, a 29-year-old nurse was the first to receive the jab at Rome's Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases. Health workers were first in line, with those over 80 to follow.

The first phase of Portugal's vaccine rollout aims to inoculate 10% of the population, with front-line workers and those over 50 with preexisting conditions taking priority. Here, a medical worker receives the vaccine at Santa Maria hospital in Lisbon.

Spain is set to receive 350,000 doses from Pfizer-BioNTech per week, with a total of nearly 4.6 million to be delivered over the next three months. The government has said it aims to vaccinate between 15 million and 20 million people in the first half of 2021. Here, a 72-year-old receives the first injection at the Vallecas nursing home in Madrid.

Wuhan was locked down for about 11 weeks after becoming the first global coronavirus hot spot. Until mid-May, 50,000 of the 80,000 official cases in China were in Wuhan. But now life is almost back to normal on the city's crowded street markets.

During the lockdown, residents were not even allowed to leave their homes. Now, they can even dance together in the park. According to the Reuters news agency, there have been no local transmissions of the virus for months now.

Vegetables, fish, and meat — even wild animals — all used to be for sale at this wet market. But it closed its doors on January 1, 2020 after a mysterious lung disease started spreading and its origin was traced to the market. Scientists have not yet determined the market's exact role in spreading the virus, if it had one at all.

Before the pandemic, Lai Yun used to find most of the products for his Japanese restaurant at the covered market. "I would send the kids to school, have breakfast and then go to the market," says the 38-year-old. Since re-opening in June, he has to go elsewhere — and some of the ingredients he needs now cost five times more. "Our aim for next year is simply to survive," he told DW.

Though the wet market on the ground floor is still closed, the second floor has re-opened. But most of the stores sell glasses and other specialty products for opticians. "Some people might have a weird feeling, but it's only an empty building now," one of the saleswomen, who did not give her name, told DW.

Since the market closed down, some people have started selling meat and other fresh goods on the streets. Even if the sellers here are wearing masks and gloves, some say the conditions fall short of certain hygiene standards. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the covered market hall was criticized for its poor health and sanitation regulations.

Most Wuhan residents wear masks in public, particularly as the coronavirus has not disappeared and there have been a number of new cases elsewhere in China. "Many people are beginning to hoard masks, disinfectant and other protective equipment," 29-year-old English teacher Yen told DW.