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United Kingdom
Vaccinations Begin
The first vaccine for COVID-19 was administered to a 90-year old woman from Northern Ireland this morning in the United Kingdom, and vaccines will continue to be distributed in what is to be the largest scale vaccination campaign in the country’s history. The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) last week signed off on the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, paving the way for the U.K. to be the first country in the world to begin vaccinations. The British government has secured 40 million doses of the Pfizer/BioTech vaccine with other manufacturers’ vaccines expected to be approved soon. This map by Bloomberg shows the sites being prepared as mass vaccination hubs across England. The vaccine will initially be distributed to home care residents and workers, as well as people over 80 years of age and healthcare workers before others can receive it. The vaccine needs to be stored at temperatures between -94°F and -112°F (between -70°C and -80°C). Patients need two doses of the vaccine, meaning not enough shots have yet been secured for the entire UK population.
This map depicts the the NHS sites in England that are being prepared as mass COVID-19 vaccination hubs and current cases of COVID-19 in the country. Click on the map to learn more.
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China and Nepal
Mount Everest Now Taller
China and Nepal have agreed on a new official elevation of 29,031.69 feet (8,848.86 meters) above sea level for Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world that sits in the Himalayan Mountain chain along the Nepal-Tibet border. The new height, which is approximately 2 – 13 feet taller than current estimates, was announced in a joint statement by the Survey Department of Nepal and Chinese authorities this morning, following more than year of surveying efforts. In May 2019, a team of Nepalese surveyors and guides summited the mountain using a GPS receiver and ground-penetrating radar to measure the depth of snow piled onto the rock. This year, Chinese surveyors measured the north side of the mountain using a network of satellites to combine with measurements from the Nepalese team. Recent efforts to survey the mountain are the first since 1999, when GPS was initially used to measure the mountain. Surveyors warn it is impossible to establish an exact point of altitude, but the latest measurement represent the “MPV,” or most probable value.
This map depicts the current elevation of Mount Everest. Many maps will require updating when the new measurement becomes finalized. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: The Times
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Japan
Bird Flu Outbreak
On Monday, the Japanese agriculture ministry announced the H5N8 virus (bird flu) had been detected at two egg-producing farms in Mihara city, in southwestern Japan’s Hiroshima prefecture, making it the fifth prefecture to detect the virus. The first case in the country was reported in Kagawa prefecture on Shikoku island, followed by Fukuoka, Hyogo, Miyazaki, and Nara prefectures; where local officials carried out massive culls of chickens in and around infected farms. The lastest outbreak was in January 2018, with the most recent wave being the worst the country has experienced since 2016 when an estimated 1.67 million chickens were culled due to the H5N6 strain. As of the end of November, an estimated 13 countries have reported cases of the virus including Britain, Germany, South Korea, and Iran.
This map depicts the prefectures with reported cases of the H5N8 virus. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: At an estimated length of 77 kilometers (47 miles), which glacier holds the title of being the longest outside of the Earth’s polar regions?
A: Fedchenko Glacier
Fedchenko Glacier is located in eastern Tajikistan in the Pamir Mountains which include some of the world’s highest peaks. Melt waters from the glacier feed into the Muksu, Vakhsh, and the Amu Darya rivers before eventually making their way to the Aral Sea some 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) away. Since 1933, the glacier has shrunk by 1,400 meters (4,600 feet).
Source
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Q: Besides being the smallest in terms of land area, which province is also China’s southernmost?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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