The 101-year-old woman became the first German to be vaccinated with Covid-19 on December 26, the day before the official vaccination campaign began in the EU.

Mrs. Edith Kwoizalla is one of about 40 residents and the first 10 employees at the Saxony-Anhalt state nursing home, Germany, to be vaccinated with the Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech.

Germany has previously urged the European Pharmaceutical Authority (EMA) to quickly approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine so it can start the vaccination process as early as December 29.

"Every day counts for us," said Immo Kramer, a German vaccination official.

On December 26, tens of thousands of doses of Covid-19 vaccine were delivered to regional health authorities in Germany and continued to be distributed to local immunization centers.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn called December 26 a "day of hope".

"Vaccines are the key to pandemic control. It's the key that allows us to regain our lives," said Spahn, but warned that the immunization of the entire population will be an effort.

Germany had been in good control of the first Covid-19 outbreak, but was heavily influenced by the second wave of translation.