The latest on the coronavirus pandemic and the Omicron variant

President Joe Biden answers speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on December 21.

President Biden acknowledged his administration has struggled to meet demand for Covid-19 tests in an interview with ABC News Wednesday, telling David Muir, “Nothing’s been good enough.”?

Biden acknowledged the administration is “chasing” the highly transmissible Omicron variant, telling ABC, “We are chasing Omicron, but the fact that matter is, we’re chasing whatever comes on the scene that hadn’t been there before– and this wasn’t there this last summer, for example.”?

“But what do you plan for? You plan for what you think is available, that is the most likely threat that exists at the time, and you respond to it,” Biden continued. “And I think that that’s exactly what we’ve done, and so for example, Omicron is spreading rapidly, but the death rates are much, much lower than they were. This is not March of 2020 is a very different time that we’re in now.”?

Biden said he expects the rapid tests his administration have ordered “will start going out in the beginning of January, because they’re being produced now,” and confirmed that he, and members of his family, would test before celebrating Christmas together in person this weekend.

He also confirmed that while vaccine requirements for domestic air travel were considered, “the recommendation I’ve gotten is not necessary.”

A staffer who was in close contact with US Vice President Kamala Harris throughout the day Tuesday received a positive test result for Covid-19 this morning, Symone Sanders, senior advisor and chief spokesperson for the vice president, said in a statement.?

Per the White House, Harris is tested “on a regular basis” and tested negative on an antigen test this morning. “Earlier today, after being notified of the staffer’s positive test, the Vice President received a PCR test and tested negative. She will be tested again on Friday then again on Monday per CDC guidance,” Sanders wrote.

Harris will not quarantine, and will travel to Los Angeles this evening for the holidays.

Washington, DC, reported 1,524 new Covid-19 cases Tuesday – a new daily record for the city. The number of daily cases has gone up every day over the past week with the city averaging more than a thousand new cases a day since Dec. 19.?

The DC Health Department reported no new deaths for Tuesday.?

The three day period from Friday through Sunday saw 3,763 new Covid-19 cases in the district, according to the health department.

At a news conference Wednesday, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the city will require proof of vaccination at restaurants, gyms and other gathering places for patrons over 12-years-old beginning Jan. 15. Patrons will be required to show proof of at least one vaccine dose.

Bowser also announced that beginning March 1, Covid-19 vaccines will be mandated for all students in DC who are eligible to receive vaccines.

The majority of New York state’s new Covid-19 cases are concentrated in New York City and its surrounding counties, newly-released state data shows.?

Nearly 60% of new Covid-19 cases reported across New York state are in New York City. Of the 28,924 new Covid-19 cases reported across New York state, 17,221 cases are in New York City, the data shows.

Of New York City’s five boroughs, Brooklyn currently has the highest seven-day Covid-19 positivity rate of 8.65%, followed by Queens and Manhattan at 8.33% and 8.30% respectively.?

The counties outside of the city with the next-highest case counts comprise nearby Long Island, just east of New York City. Nassau County has 2,468 new cases and Suffolk County has 2,138 new cases. Westchester County, which borders New York City to the north, has 1,400 new cases.

All 54 of New York state’s remaining counties have new case counts of under 600, with the majority having case counts of under 100.

The state data also shows that 57 more New Yorkers have died due to Covid-19, bringing the state’s overall pandemic death toll to 47,728 people.

This image provided by Pfizer in October 2021 shows the company's COVID-19 Paxlovid pills.

White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients welcomed news of the FDA’s emergency authorization of Pfizer’s antiviral pill Wednesday, telling reporters the treatment “dramatically reduces the risk of hospitalizations and deaths for those at risk.”

“Knowing that these pills take time to manufacture, Pfizer continues to increase their production plans, and now that the pill is authorized, we’ll have discussions to explore how we can help them improve their manufacturing capacity even further by providing any resources needed,” he continued. ?

Per Zients, the White House has purchased 10 million courses of Pfizer’s antiviral treatment, with 265,000 available in January and “with monthly totals of pills ramping up across the year and all 10 million treatment courses delivered by late summer.”

“As quickly as Pfizer gets the pills manufactured and delivered, we will immediately provide them to states and jurisdictions for distribution,” Zients told reporters, with a focus on equitable distribution according to need.

“We are not only urging states to ensure equity in their own distribution plans, but we are also distributing antivirals directly to community health centers across the country — this will help ensure these life-saving antivirals are available to the most vulnerable communities and hard-hit populations across the country,” he added.

Earlier Wednesday: President Biden applauded in a statement the FDA emergency use authorization of Pifzer’s antiviral pill, writing, “With today’s action, we add the first-ever oral treatment to our nation’s medicine cabinet and take a significant step forward in our path out of the pandemic.”

“As soon as emerging science showed the promise of this antiviral, we acted quickly and aggressively to pre-purchase 10 million treatment courses — more than any other country in the world,” Biden writes, pledging over 250,000 treatment courses to be available starting in January, adding “we will be working with states to ensure those are being distributed equitably and fairly and that our hardest-hit communities are reached.”

In closing, Biden pledged “any resource needed” to ensure distribution, including using the Defense Production Act “if warranted.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro ?Sánchez announced he would be holding an “extraordinary cabinet meeting” on Thursday to approve the mandatory use of face masks outdoors starting on Dec. 24.??

The country previously ended outdoor mask requirements in June, but wearing masks remains mandatory in crowded outdoor spaces and public indoor spaces.?

In a news conference earlier Wednesday, Sánchez outlined some situations where wearing a mask outdoors would not be necessary, including when practicing sports. He also stressed the government’s plan to “intensify the process of vaccination” to ensure people’s protection against the virus.?

“What we want to do is to intensify the vaccination campaign. The most important measure to fight back during this stage of the pandemic is to intensify and accelerate the process of vaccination, by emphasizing the third dose,” Sánchez said.?

“Science tells us that it protects against contagion and severity of the disease,” he added.

The prime minister went on to offer further details on how the government expects to accelerate vaccinations, with the aim of vaccinating 80% of the population between 60 and 69 years old with a third dose before the end of the year.

Sánchez reminded everyone that Spain is in a much better position when compared to last year, due to the availability and circulation of the vaccines.?

“These are formidable and extraordinary figures. We are better prepared to face the pandemic,” the prime minister added.?

Sánchez was later asked why the Spanish government opted to reinstate masks outdoors, rather than take other nationwide actions, such as limiting the capacity of clubs and restaurants, to which the Spanish prime minister said regional governments are in control of their jurisdictions, meaning it’s up to them to “make that decision.”

The announcement of Spain’s latest measures comes as the country registered at least 60,041 new daily cases, making it the second consecutive day of record increase in cases in a single day, according to the Spanish Ministry of Health’s latest data.

A person gets tested for COVID-19 at a mobile testing site in Times Square on December 17, in New York.

New?York?state reported 28,924?new?Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, marking a nearly 24% increase from the state’s previous daily case record of 23,391 cases reported on Monday.?

Wednesday’s case report marks the fifth time in less than a week that?New?York?state has broken its own record of highest daily cases. Cases temporarily decreased by over 1,000 on Tuesday, before breaking the record again on Wednesday.

Currently, at least 4,452 people across?New?York?are hospitalized due to Covid-19, but Gov. Kathy Hochul noted that while the hospitalization rate is “creeping up,” the state’s rate is still only two thirds of what it was in December 2020.

“We’re not panicking. We have the resources we need,” Hochul said.

The governor also said Wednesday that 12?new?state-run Covid-19 testing sites will open in?New?York?state, including at least one in each borough of?New?York?City.

Additionally, two walk-in testing sites will be set up at the Times Square-42nd Street and Grand Central Terminal subway stations beginning on Monday.?Covid-19 testing at five additional to-be-announced subway stations will also begin next week.

“This marks the first time state-funded COVID-19 PCR testing will be conducted at subway stations in?New?York?City,” according to a press release from the MTA.

The state-funded program allows anyone to be tested for Covid-19 without an appointment, including tourists and other visitors to?New?York?City, the MTA said.

President Biden applauded the FDA emergency use authorization of Pfizer’s antiviral pill Wednesday, pledging more than 250,000 treatment courses to be available starting in January.

He said in a statement, “We will be working with states to ensure those are being distributed equitably and fairly and that our hardest-hit communities are reached.”

Biden pledged “any resource needed” to ensure distribution, including using the Defense Production Act “if warranted.”

More on the pill: This is the first antiviral Covid-19 pill authorized for ill people to take at home, before they get sick enough to be hospitalized.

High-risk individuals age 12 and older who weigh at least 88 pounds and have a positive SARS-CoV-2 test are eligible for this treatment and will need to have it prescribed by a doctor.

The pill “should be initiated as soon as possible after diagnosis of Covid-19 and within five days of symptom onset,” according to an?FDA statement.

Paxlovid combines a new antiviral drug named nirmatrelvir and an older one called ritonavir and is administered as three pills given twice a day for five days.

CNN’s Jamie Gumbrecht and Amanda Sealy contributed reporting to this post.

A healthcare worker administers a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to a person at a drive-thru site in Tropical Park on December 16, in Miami.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published its latest data Wednesday on vaccination efforts in the United States. Here’s a snapshot of the figures:

Note: CDC data on Covid-19 vaccinations are estimates. The agency notes that data on people who are fully vaccinated and those with a booster dose may be underestimated, while data on people with at least one dose may be overestimated.?

Covid-19 cases in Canada jumped to 11,300 Tuesday, up from the national average of 5,000 per day last week. The Omicron variant is increasingly responsible for the rapidly rising cases, officials announced.

While the virus’ Delta variant is still present, Omicron has already become the predominant variant in some of the country’s provinces and territories, Canada’s Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Howard Njoo said.

Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam echoed Njoo’s message, adding that modeling shows by January, “we could have a very high number of cases, which underscores the need to act urgently now to reduce the acceleration.”

To flatten the curve, the Canadian government is distributing millions of rapid tests nationwide, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. The government delivered about 85 million rapid tests through November and 35 million rapid tests in the first few weeks of December, he added.

To mitigate the financial and economic fallout of possible Omicron-induced lockdowns, officials also decided to supplement the incomes of both employers and employees in the event of a government-imposed lockdown.

The government passed two bills, C-2 and C-3, which provide protections to companies and workers affected by government-imposed lockdowns, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said.

ICU nurse?Haleigh Seizys

Front line workers have returned to exhausting work days as Covid-19 cases rise rapidly across the United States. ICU nurse?Haleigh Seizys, who works at a hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, says elected leaders and officials who oppose mask mandates should spend a day in the hospital.

“I think that?a lot of opinions would be?different if they could see that?just as much as we do,” she added.

The hospital staff is “very?worried about what’s to come?after the holidays,” she told CNN.

“I think that masks help that kind?of steady plateau outside of our?spikes,” she said. “As far as spread goes within?those small groups, I think that?vaccinations are what would help?that most, just protect your?small circles who in turn are?going to take it to that larger?population.”

Her biggest support system is her coworkers, she said.

“I think since we’re all going?through the same thing, we can?kind of rally around each other?and encourage each other, but I?think also just continuing to?acknowledge my own mental health?and needs, that’s the biggest?part of it,” she said.

Belgium is canceling indoor events and activities, including indoor Christmas markets and villages, cinema showings and shows due to uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant, Belgium Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said in a news conference on Wednesday.

The measures will come into force on Sunday, and will also extend to indoor spaces of amusement parks and zoos, the Prime Minister added.

Some activities such as weddings and funerals will still be allowed, while museums and gyms will be kept open, he said.

“One thing is clear: we have to be more careful than ever,” he added.?“We see that pressure in our hospitals has decreased slightly but this diminution remains very small.”

Washington,?DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Wednesday the city will require proof of vaccination for restaurants, gyms and other gathering places for people over 12 years old.

The vaccine requirement for gathering places will go into effect on Jan. 15, when patrons will be required to show proof of at least one dose. On Feb. 15, patrons will be required to show proof?of?two doses.?

Bowser also announced Covid-19 vaccines will be mandated for all students in DC who are eligible to receive vaccines, after the DC Council voted on legislation Tuesday.

On March 1, eligible students in all DC schools — including public, charter, independent, and private — will be required to be vaccinated.

DC officials stressed at a news conference that the requirement for proof of vaccines will be directed at places where people are likely to congregate. Officials said grocery stores, retail stores and museums would not be required to check for proof of vaccines.

Religious institutions would be exempt, but a DC official said “it depends” when asked whether office space would be exempt.

Officials said there will be further guidance issued next week, but Bowser outlined four categories of businesses that would need to verify proof of vaccinations:

Patrons can prove their vaccination status’?using the original or photocopy of the CDC-issued vaccination card, an immunization record print-out from a health care provider, and using various vaccination apps including VaxYes and CLEAR.?

Cars line up at a Covid-19 testing site at Tropical Park in Miami on December 21.

The Covid-19?Omicron?variant has been identified in every US?state, as well as in Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico,?according to public statements from hospital systems and state officials in their respective?states.

It’s been 22 days since the US detected its first case of Omicron.???

South Dakota was the 50th state it was detected in.?

South Africa has passed the peak of its Omicron outbreak, according to one of the country’s top scientific researchers.

Ridhwaan Suliman, senior researcher at the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, told CNN on Wednesday that the country has “surpassed the peak of the Omicron wave now, driven by the significant decline in the populous province and epicenter, Gauteng.”

This was echoed by one of the country’s top scientists, Dr. Michelle Groome of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, who told a media briefing earlier on Wednesday that all indications show “that we’ve surpassed the peak of infections in Gauteng.”?

Most other provinces in the country have also passed their peaks, Suliman added

Suliman characterized the country’s fourth wave as a “steeper wave,” that was “significantly shorter” than those prior, saying in a tweet it took “about half the number of days to reach the peak compared with previous waves in South Africa.

There was a 20.8% decrease in the number of new Covid-19 cases detected in South Africa as of Saturday, according to the NICD’s epidemiology brief published Wednesday.?

According to Suliman, although test positivity remains “still high at 29.8%,” the fact the figure is decreasing confirms “the decline in infections is real and not a testing artifact.”

On hospitalizations and deaths: South African vaccinologist Shabir Mahdi also told CNN on Wednesday that although there may be a “slight increase in deaths” the figure will be “substantially lower” than that experienced with the Delta variant.?

Suliman also said that hospitalizations and deaths from this wave have proven to be “significantly lower relative to that experienced in previous waves.”

The World Health Organization is discussing whether to reclassify the Alpha, Beta and Gamma variants out of “variant of concern” status?as the Delta and Omicron variants now make up more than 97% of variants sequenced, WHO Technical Lead for Covid-19 Maria van Kerkhove said Wednesday.

“Since Oct. 20, less than 0.1% of the sequences uploaded to platforms like GISAID have been Alpha, Beta and Gamma. Ninety-six percent of the sequences available are still Delta, and about 1.6% of sequences that have been shared in recent weeks is Omicron. We definitely see increasing growth rates of Omicron where it’s being detected, and it’s now been recorded in more than 106 countries to date,” Van Kerkhove said in a media briefing.?

“The discussion that we’ve been having is how we reclassify them, and once you have a variant of concern, how do you reclassify it as something else when in fact the properties of that variant are really what allowed us to classify it as a variant of concern?”

Currently, the WHO has identified five variants of concern and two variants of interest. Van Kerkhove said the Omicron variant is unlikely to be the last variant of concern of the pandemic.

Van Kerkhove said the virus is likely to eventually become endemic, but the world is not there yet.

“It is a respiratory pathogen, as you know, so we expect to see some kind of seasonal variation, you know, just due to behavioral factors, but we haven’t seen that yet. This virus thrives wherever we allow it. And we don’t get that reprieve in those summer months or certain times of the year,” she said.

“We expect to see flareups. It will depend on how big those outbreaks are as we go forward, but they will occur in under-protected populations, people who don’t have vaccine and people who are, don’t yet have their full dose of vaccine. So I think there is some understanding of where this virus is going. But we remain humble to it because I think it still has quite a few tricks up its sleeve,” she added.

A booster dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine is drawn up in a vaccination clinic set up at St Columba's Church in Sheffield, England, on December 15.

Unbalanced Covid-19 vaccine distribution around the world means that booster programs in high-income countries could prolong the pandemic by leaving poorer countries unvaccinated, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday.

“While some countries are now rolling out blanket booster programs, only half of?WHO’s member states have been able to reach the target of vaccinating 40% of their populations by the end of the year, because of distortions in global supply. Enough vaccines were administered globally this year that the 40% target would have been reached in every country by September if those vaccines had been distributed equitably,” he continued.

Tedros has previously called for a moratorium on booster doses worldwide, and Wednesday referenced a new statement from?WHO?examining the use of booster doses worldwide.

“Today, the?WHO?strategic advisory group of experts on immunization, or SAGE, is issuing an interim statement on booster doses. SAGE concluded that the focus of immunization must remain on decreasing deaths and severe disease and expressed concern that blanket booster programs will exacerbate vaccine inequity,” Tedros said.

In this statement, the organization cited a preprint study from Mid-November, showing that when studied together, the Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines saw vaccine effectiveness against severe Covid-19 decrease by about 8% over six months.

In people over age 50, the study showed a decrease in effectiveness of 10% against severe disease after six months.?WHO?called this a “minimal to modest” reduction in efficacy, but said the Omicron variant could change the situation.

“It’s important to remember that the vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths are in unvaccinated people, not unboosted people. And we must be very clear that the vaccines we have, remain effective against both the Delta and Omicron variants,” Tedros said.

The statement said in the interest of equity, the focus inside countries should be on “improving coverage of the primary vaccination series in high risk populations as the top priority use of vaccine doses.”

The?WHO?and SAGE statement also noted that 126 member countries have recommended some form of booster or additional vaccination, mostly high- and middle-income countries. “In several of these countries which are administering booster doses the coverage rates for complete primary vaccination are below 30%,” the statement said.

People walk in downtown Madrid on December 21.

Spain is set to reimpose a nationwide requirement to wear face masks outdoors, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office on Wednesday. The office of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he will convene a cabinet meeting on Thursday to approve the measure.

The country previously ended outdoor mask requirements in June, but wearing masks remains mandatory in crowded outdoor spaces and public indoor spaces.

The announcement comes as the prime minister meets on Wednesday afternoon with the presidents of Spain’s 17 regional governments to discuss pandemic measures and the rise of the Omicron variant.

Spain registered its highest daily number of new Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, with 49,823 cases recorded in the past day, the country’s health ministry said late Tuesday, in the latest available figures.?The Ministry said, in a separate report, “at the present time, the data drawn from sequencing of specific PCR indicates that there’s a rapid substitution of the Delta variant by the Omicron.”??

Germany will soon require negative PCR tests from travelers arriving from “areas of variants ofconcern,” which includes the United Kingdom, South Africa and other southern African nations, according to the German government website.

The government did not specify when the requirement will come into force.

Negative PCR tests taken within the last 48 hours will soon be required to enter Germany from all areas of concern, according to the government. The requirement will apply to all passengers ages 6 and up, as well as for passengers transiting through Germany.?

The government’s list of “areas of variants of concern” changes continuously, but as of this week includes?Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and all British Overseas Territories, and?Zimbabwe.?

People wait in line at Times Square to get tested for Covid-19 on December 20, in New York City.

New York City has been conducting around 170,000 Covid-19 tests per day recently, according to Dr. Ted Long, Executive Director of the NYC Covid-19 Test & Trace Corps.

The city’s Test & Trace Corps is responsible for the New York City’s Covid-19 testing operations, as well as contact tracing for all of the city’s residents.

The new record of 170,000 daily tests includes both PCR and antigen tests. New York City’s previous record of daily Covid-19 tests was around 120,000 per day, Long said.

Long added that with the addition of the seven city-run testing sites announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio Wednesday morning, the newest 30 city-run testing sites are anticipated to have an additional testing capacity of 24,600 tests per day, Long said. He added that he expected testing capacity to reach 180,000 daily tests in the coming days.

President Biden on Wednesday tested negative for Covid-19, the White House announced, his second negative PCR test since coming into close contact with a staffer who later tested positive for the virus.

Biden tested negative on a PCR test on Monday, after receiving a negative rapid result on Sunday.

The White House revealed on Monday evening that a mid-level staff member who is “a close contact” of the President tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday morning after spending about 30 minutes “in proximity to the President on Air Force One” on Friday.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends testing five to seven days after close contact with someone with suspected or confirmed Covid-19.

Paxlovid is seen manufactured in Ascoli, Italy, in this undated handout photo.

The US Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized the first oral antiviral treatment for Covid-19: Paxlovid, a pill made by Pfizer.

This is the first antiviral Covid-19 pill authorized for ill people to take at home, before they get sick enough to be hospitalized.

Paxlovid combines a new antiviral drug named nirmatrelvir and an older one called ritonavir.?

Last week, Pfizer released updated results that showed the treatment cut the risk of hospitalization or death by 89% if given to high-risk adults within a few days of their first symptoms.?If given within the first five days of symptoms, the efficacy was similar: 88%.

Some more background: In November, the Biden administration announced that it would purchase 10 million treatment courses for $5.295 billion. A five-day course of Paxlovid includes three pills given twice a day. President Biden said he was encouraged by the “promising data” from Pfizer and said the drug would “mark a significant step forward in our path out of the pandemic.”

He called Paxlovid a “potentially powerful tool in our fight against the virus, including the Omicron variant,” but stressed that getting vaccinated and receiving a booster shot remained “the most important tools we have to save lives.”

Separately, Merck has requested emergency use authorization for its antiviral pill, molnupiravir. It was narrowly recommended by FDA’s advisers in a 13-10 vote at the end of November after data showed it cut the risk of hospitalization or death by 30% among high-risk adults. This was lower than an earlier analysis suggesting that number could be around 50%. The FDA has not announced whether it will authorize the treatment.

Remdesivir, sold under the brand name Veklury, is the only antiviral approved by FDA for treatment of Covid-19. It’s given intravenously, not as a pill that can be taken at home.

Given the rapid rise of Covid-19 cases across the United States, 2022 will be off to a “much?weaker start” than predicted earlier, according to Moody’s Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi.

The Delta variant has already impacted the US economy in the summer of 2021, with GDP growth of 2% instead of the earlier predicted 5-6%, Zandi said, adding that he expects Omicron?to do as much damage, especially given the example of the variant’s impact in the United Kingdom.

If President Biden’s Build Back Better legislation is entirely shelved, “that’s going to cut?at least a half a percentage?point off of growth and probably?a bit more in calendar year?2022,” Zandi said.

“That’s consequential … The folks getting checks in?December aren’t going to get?money in January.?That’s going to be a hit to the?economy right away,” he said Wednesday.?“I think at this point we should?focus on the growth aspects [of the legislation.]?I don’t think inflation is going?to be the issue people think it?is.”

The Regent cruise ship Seven Seas Mariner is seen docked at the Port of Oakland on Thursday, May 21, 2020, in Oakland, California.

A total of seven positive Covid-19 cases have been detected aboard the Seven Seas Mariner cruise ship, the Colombia’s Cartagena Department of Health Authority (DADIS) announced Wednesday.?

Among the seven positive cases are six cruise members and one tourist who are in quarantine. It is not clear if the seven Covid-19 cases on the ship are of the Omicron variant.

“Immediately after receiving the information, the cruise operation contingency protocol was activated and determines if the infected will remain isolated in quarantine inside the ship,” reads the press release from DADIS.

All other travelers and crew members on the ship must remain onboard due to the “epidemiological risk” until further notice, DADIS said.

DADIS also stated the outbreak does not create a risk for the city.?

On Monday, the first three cases of the Omicron variant were identified in Colombia according to the country’s National Institute of Health.?

In a video posted on Twitter, Health Minister Fernando Ruiz said that all three cases were travelers coming from the United States and Spain. Two of the cases are in the city of Cartagena and one case is in the city of Santa Marta.

The United Kingdom reported 106,122 Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, crossing the 100,000 threshold for the first time since the pandemic began, according to government figures.?

The UK has seen a 58.9% increase in confirmed cases in the last seven days.?

On Tuesday, British Prime Minister Boris?Johnson?said there will be no further Covid-19 restrictions brought in for England before Christmas, adding that there is not currently “enough evidence” to justify tougher measures.

He did not rule out bringing in any further measures after Christmas, however, adding “if the situation deteriorates we will be ready to take action if needed.”

CNN’s Livvy Doherty and Lauren Kent contributed reporting to this post.?

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava speaks to the media about the need for South Floridians to be safe during the holidays at a drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination site on December 16, 2021 in Miami, Florida.

The mayor of Miami-Dade announced “new and expanded measures” to address “the very alarming rise in cases” of Covid-19.

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told reporters during a press conference Wednesday that the county is expanding testing by extending hours and opening three to five additional sites.

“Over the last several days we’ve seen over 200% increase in the demand for testing across the county,” Levine Cava said, adding the county is testing between 40,000 and 50,000 people a day.

Levine Cava also announced she is reimplementing the indoor mask mandate in county buildings, effective immediately.

Additionally, the mayor said she has requested more monoclonal antibody treatments from the state health department and the federal government. Levine Cava said the county will distribute thousands of at-home testing kits and is laying the groundwork to provide Pfizer’s antiviral pills as soon as they are approved and available.

The mayor said the county will continue measures such as on-site vaccinations for nursing home residents, testing wastewater, and requiring hospitals to report on daily Covid-19 case counts.

Most people who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 experience some side effects, but most are mild or very mild, and serious adverse effects are rare, according to a study published Wednesday in the medical journal JAMA Open Network.

After receiving a second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccine or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, about 80% of people reported some side effects – the most common being fatigue, muscle pain, headache and chills. But only 0.2% of people reported experiencing an allergic reaction or anaphylaxis after full vaccination – a total of 27 people out of more than 11,000 responses.

For this study, researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, conducted daily, weekly and monthly surveys about health and Covid-19-related events among an online cohort of adults between March 26 and May 19, 2021. The survey included nearly 20,000 participants, though not all participants responded to all questions.?

The study also found that there was a “strong association” to adverse reactions to the Covid-19 vaccine among those who reported being infected with Covid-19 prior to being vaccinated.

People who received the Moderna vaccine were about twice as likely to report experiencing side effects than those who received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, as were women. Those who received the J&J vaccine had lower odds of adverse effects, along older people and those with asthma.

More on the study: The researchers note that while the surveyed group was diverse, rural residents and people reporting lower subjective social status are underrepresented. Also, not all participants responded to all surveys, which may affect results.

People walk by a COVID 19 testing center on Times Square on August 30, 2021 in New York City.

New York Sen. Chuck?Schumer, the Senate majority leader,?said he’s sending a letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requesting 100 more Covid-19 mobile testing sites for New York.

Schumer?made the announcement during a Wednesday morning press conference with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

He said that although FEMA has announced that they are sending six additional testing sites, New York needs more.

Rep. Antonio Delgado, a Democrat from New York, announced Wednesday that he has tested positive for Covid-19, one of several members of Congress to announce they are positive in the past several days.

Delgado said he is vaccinated and boosted.

GOP Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York tested?positive?for Covid-19?on Monday, her communications director Natalie Baldassarre tells CNN.

On Sunday, three other Democratic members of Congress announced that they have breakthrough coronavirus infections.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren?of Massachusetts and?Cory Booker?of New Jersey as well as Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado shared that they had tested positive for Covid-19 via tweets from their official accounts.

The House and Senate are not in session at this moment.

See Rep. Delgado’s full statement:

CNN’s Greg Clary and Annie Grayer contributed reporting to this post.

New York City is adding additional testing capacity to grapple with the demand, and hospitals are tightening restrictions on visitation as Omicron continues to spread at a rapid pace, officials said Wednesday.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city is adding seven additional city-run Covid-19 testing sites — bringing the total up to 119 city-run locations — and adding an additional five sites for the sole purpose of handing out at-home tests kits beginning Thursday.

This comes as the head of NYC’s 11 public hospitals says they are restricting visitors following an “outbreak” that they believe is connected to a visitor.

The 119 testing sites include fixed sites and mobile distribution all around the five boroughs, de Blasio said.

At the city-run testing locations, de Blasio says “lot of them do not have big lines thankfully and are very good at getting you a quick turnaround time.”

These locations are in addition to partner and private sites. The goal is to minimize lines, he said.

New York Senator Chuck?Schumer?said he’s sending a letter to FEMA requesting 100 more Covid-19 mobile testing sites for New York.

CEO of Health + Hospitals Mitch Katz acknowledged “some challenges in meeting the demand,” with regards to testing.

“Today we are expanding hours on all our health and hospitals sites from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.,” he said.

This has been made possible by going virtual for ambulatory care visits so that nurses and staff from clinics can be available in testing areas, he said.

Katz also said they have acquired a significant number of testing kits to distribute to those who feel comfortable testing at home.

For a temporary period, the city’s 11 public hospitals will also “be tighter about restricting visitors,” Katz said.

Certain exceptions will be made, he said, including for women in labor who will be able to bring someone with them.

He also noted for end of life hospice situations and in the case of sick children, family will be permitted.

“In order to make sure we don’t cause more disease we need to limit the number of visitors,” Katz said.

Royce Hall on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as UCLA lecturers and students celebrate after a strike was averted Wednesday morning. Lecturers across the UC system were planning to strike Wednesday and Thursday over unfair labor practices. UCLA on Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021 in Los Angeles, CA.

Several University of California campuses will require Covid-19 boosters and will move the start of the winter session online, as Covid-19 cases tick up during the holiday break.?

The president of the university system, Michael Drake, encouraged chancellors at each campus to implement a plan for the next term.

UCLA will begin the winter quarter as planned on Jan. 3, but classes will be held remotely for the first two weeks. Booster shots will be required for all eligible students, faculty and staff.

UC Irvine encourages boosters?and testing before returning to campus.?“At the present time, however, we know it is not prudent to return to in-person instruction immediately after winter break,” according to a letter from UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman.?

UC Riverside, in addition to an online start, says its approach will be aggressive. “All students must take a COVID-19 test before returning to campus, or immediately upon their arrival, then sequester and test again five days after arriving on campus. If you test positive before returning to campus, do not come to campus until you have completed your home isolation period and your symptoms have improved,”?said an announcement from Chancellor Kim Wilcox. Boosters are “strongly” encouraged for those who are eligible but are required for all health care workers and medical students by Jan. 31.?

“This shift in instructional delivery will give us two weeks to identify COVID-19 cases and take appropriate measures to mitigate further spread through our campus community,” said an online update to UC Santa Cruz students.

UC San Diego, shifting to an online start for the winter quarter, will require testing twice a week of those who are unvaccinated or did not receive a booster shot. The tests must be three to five days apart, according to a note to students on its website.?

UC Santa Barbara recommends a booster ahead of the winter session.?“The decision to delay in-person teaching is related to supporting students and instructors, particularly those who either test positive over winter break and cannot travel back to campus on time, or who test positive upon arrival and need to isolate,” said the campus announcement.

UC Davis will start classes remotely for one week instead of two and will require booster shots for all students, staff and faculty. The school will also continue to test everyone – every two weeks for vaccinated and every four days for those who are not vaccinated. Anyone without an exemption will be required to get a booster shot.

UC Berkeley will plan for an in-person spring semester, which starts mid-January. It is one of the UC’s two campuses that uses a semester system rather than quarters. The university said on its website that remote instruction during the fall semester was challenging for students and instructors.

CNN has requested more information from UC Merced about its January instruction plans.?

The UC system has more than 285,000 students, 227,000 faculty and staff across 10 campuses, five medical centers, three affiliated national laboratories, and a statewide agriculture and natural resources program.

Following a week of predicted increases, an ensemble forecast published Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts that new Covid-19 deaths in the US will have a stable or uncertain trend over the next four weeks.

The CDC forecasts also include caution about the Omicron variant for the first time, with all three saying: “Current forecasts may not fully account for the emergence and rapid spread of the Omicron variant and should be interpreted with caution.”

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, there have been 810,164 Covid-19 deaths in the United States.

For the fifth straight week, hospitalizations are predicted to increase, with 5,400 to 27,500 new confirmed hospital admissions likely reported on Jan. 14.

According to US Department of Health and Human Services data, there were 69,037 people hospitalized with Covid-19 on December 21.

The forecast?for cases?did not predict an increase or decrease.

“More reported cases than expected have fallen outside the forecast prediction intervals for 3- and 4-week ahead case forecasts. Case forecasts at those horizons and assessments of likely increases or decreases will not be shown until sustained improvements in performance are observed,”?the?CDC said.

?Princess Anne, Princess Royal and Timothy Laurence at The Gatcombe Horse Trials at Gatcombe Park on September 14, 2019 in Stroud, England.

The United Kingdom’s Princess?Anne?is quarantining after her husband,?Sir Tim Laurence, tested positive for Covid-19, a royal source told CNN on Wednesday.?

Laurence is isolating and following the appropriate coronavirus rules, the source added.?

The Covid-19 exposure means that Princess?Anne?and her husband will not attend Christmas Day celebrations at Windsor Castle.?

Princess?Anne, officially known as The Princess Royal, is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II.?

The Transportation Security Administration?announced?that it screened just shy of another two million people at airports nationwide on Tuesday.?

The 1.98 million people screened ends a five-day streak of air travel figures higher than two million, but peak travel days are still ahead.?

The TSA says Thursday, Dec. 23 will be one of the busiest of the holiday travel period.

The TSA anticipates 20 million people will fly between Dec. 23 and Jan. 3,?rivaling pre-pandemic figures from 2019.

Confetti are flying in the air on a mostly empty Times Square for New Years Eve in New York City on January 1, 2021.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he is still discussing New Year’s Eve celebration plans with other city leaders, and he’s “hopeful” the event will still happen despite a rise in coronavirus cases.

The mayor did not elaborate on the possible additional measures.

“We?should not assume the answer to?Omicron is shutdown.?We should assume the answer to?Omicron is find the measures?that work to keep things moving,” he added. ?

Paris, London Rio de Janeiro, Rome and other major cities have all canceled their New Year’s celebrations.

De Blasio said Omicron “is here; it’s coming on like a freight train,” but booster shots are effective in minimizing dangerous effects of the virus.

While there were over 9,000 cases reported in the city yesterday, there were 200 hospitalizations, according to a tweet from the mayor.

De Blasio said the city has over 112 city-run test centers, plus many private ones, and while New Yorkers have encountered long lines, “you?can get a test for sure.”

He added: “The President should?take the Defense Production Act?and take it to the maximum,?because we’re going to need?billions over the next few?months — billions of at-home tests.”

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach looks on during a press conference on the situation of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic in Germany, in Berlin on December 22, 2021.

Omicron is likely to become the dominant strain of Covid-19 in Germany in a few weeks, according to experts, and German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach warned mandatory vaccination may be needed to counter the next wave of infections.?

Speaking during a joint news conference in Berlin on Wednesday, the president of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Lothar Wieler, warned that “in two to three weeks at the latest, the variant could be the predominant form of the coronavirus in Germany.”?

Germany has so far detected 540 cases of Omicron, according to Wieler, although the RKI suspects that there may be several thousand undetected cases of the new variant.?

In the face of rising infections, Lauterbach, also an epidemiologist, warned that mandatory vaccination may be needed to cope with the next wave of Covid-19.?

In early December, Germany banned unvaccinated people from most areas of public life, limiting them to essential businesses such as pharmacies and supermarkets. 70.5% of people are fully vaccinated in Germany according to the latest government data published Wednesday.

Lauterbach strongly urged Germans to take up the offer of a booster vaccine, calling it the “most important component in combating the Omicron variant.”

At least 33.8% of the population have received a booster dose in Germany, according to the latest government data published Wednesday.

The government of India’s union territory of Delhi, which encompasses the national capital of New Delhi, has announced a ban on all social, cultural, political and festival gatherings until further notice due to a rise in Covid-19 cases.?

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority has also reiterated that the rule of “no mask no entry” should be enforced at all stores and offices. Bars and restaurants will be allowed to operate at only 50% capacity.?

On Tuesday, the Indian government issued a warning of “initial signs of a surge in cases of Covid-19” and “increased detection” of the Omicron variant across the country.

The letter from the health ministry asked state governments to impose containment measures in districts with a 10% or higher Covid-19 positivity rate or with 40% or higher hospital bed occupancy rate.

The letter quoted scientific evidence that suggests that Omicron is more contagious and therefore recommended implementing night curfews, regulating large gatherings, curtailing the numbers at marriages and funerals, restricting numbers at offices and on public transport in districts that fall within the government’s parameters.

At least 200 cases of Omicron have been detected in India since they were first reported on Dec. 2?and a total of at least 34,758,481 Covid-19 cases have been recorded in the country as of Wednesday, including at least 478,325 deaths, according to the Indian Health Ministry.

First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford speaks during a press conference at the Welsh Government Building in Cathays Park on December 22, 2021 in Cardiff, Wales. A revised version of alert level two measures will be introduced from Boxing Day at 6am to help mitigate the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

The Welsh government will introduce new Covid-19 measures on Dec. 26 amid rising rates of the Omicron variant, reports the UK’s PA Media.

The measures, announced by First Minister Mark Drakeford on Wednesday, constitute a return to Wales’ alert level two.

They include a two-meter social distancing requirement in public premises and workplaces; a maximum group size of six people in hospitality venues, cinemas and theaters; and table service in hospitality venues, where patrons will have to wear a face covering apart from when they are seated.

“We are facing a very serious situation in Wales. A wave of infections caused by the new, fast-moving and very-infectious Omicron variant is headed our way,” said Drakeford.

“This new form of coronavirus could infect large numbers of people in Wales, disrupting daily lives and businesses, and could cause an increase in the number of people who need hospital care in the coming weeks.”

Indoor events will be limited to 30 people, with a maximum of 50 allowed at outdoor events. Team sports will be one exception, with 50 people allowed to gather in addition to those playing.

There will not be any new rules regarding socializing in private homes, but there will be guidance on limiting visitor numbers, testing prior to the visit and meeting outdoors where possible.

The safety of holiday gatherings has less to do with a person’s journey there and more to do with the way they behaved the week leading up to it, said Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on NBC’s “Today” show Wednesday.

“We really do want people to be able to gather, and safe gathering includes, of course, being vaccinated, ideally being boosted if you’re eligible to be boosted, and making sure that all the people who you gather with are also vaccinated and boosted,” Walenksy said when asked if people who are vaccinated and boosted can forego testing and spend time with friends and loved ones.

“But I want to remind folks that, you know, so much about the safety of your gathering has less to do with the plane ride or the train ride that you’re going to do to get there and very much to do with the behaviors that you have in the week prior to your gathering,” she added.

“Have you been practicing those safe prevention strategies? Or have you been out and gathering in indoor settings, public indoor settings without a mask on? Because that’s really when your exposure would have happened,” said Walensky.

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about the omicron variant of the coronavirus in the State Dining Room of the White House, December 21, 2021 in Washington, DC. As the omicron variant fuels a new wave of COVID-19 infections, Biden announced plans that will expand testing sites across the country, distribute millions of free at-home tests and boost federal resources to hospitals in need.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday gave credit to the Trump administration for the development of the Covid-19 vaccine and praised his predecessor,?Donald Trump, for?getting a booster shot?– marking a rare moment where the two men have found common ground since Inauguration Day.

“I got my booster shot as soon as they were available,” Biden said during a speech from the White House about his administration’s efforts to address the Omicron variant of Covid-19, adding, “and just the other day former President Trump announced he had gotten his booster shot.”

“It may be one of the few things he and I agree on,” Biden continued. “People with booster shots are highly protected. Join them. Join us.”

Read the full story here.

The Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S., on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020.

“Help.”

That word, in big black letters and surrounded by white space, called out from Ohio’s largest newspaper – a desperate plea from six Cleveland-area medical systems facing a crush of Covid-19 cases.

“We need your help,”?read the bottom of the ad. “We now have more COVID-19 patients in our hospitals than ever before.

“And the overwhelming majority are unvaccinated.”

The ad was sponsored by Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, MetroHealth, Summa Health, the US Department of Veterans Affairs and St. Vincent Charity Medical Center.

It follows a similar plea from hospitals in Minnesota earlier this month, who took out a full-page newspaper ad that said, “We’re heartbroken. We’re overwhelmed.”

Sunday’s ad in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer was a response to the latest?Covid-19 health crisis?exploding in Northern Ohio, nearly two years into a pandemic that has killed more than 810,000 Americans and battered many of the nation’s hospitals.

Read the full story here.

Amid the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus,?Thailand?has announced some changes to its inbound quarantine-free travel status for some visitors.

Thailand reported its?first Omicron case December 6?and decided to change its travel policies shortly afterward.

As of midnight on December 22, no new applications for quarantine exemptions under the Thailand Pass scheme will be considered. The government says this is a temporary suspension rather than a permanent ban, but there’s no date yet for when the hold might be lifted.

Thailand Pass was one of the southeast Asian country’s significant moves toward reopening to travel.

Tourism is one of Thailand’s biggest industries, with nearly 40 million visitors in 2019. Under the conditions of the?Thailand Pass, fully vaccinated people hoping to visit from a low-risk country could apply to bypass quarantine on arrival.

Read the full story here.

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director?Rochelle Walensky speaks to CNN’s John Berman.

Surrounding unvaccinated children with vaccinated people is the best way to keep them safe, said US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director?Rochelle Walensky on Tuesday.

Everyone will need to assess their own personal risk when it comes to holiday activities, said Walensky, but vaccinating adults helps protect unvaccinated children.

“As for the children who are under five, really the best way to keep them protected is to surround them, cocoon them with people who are vaccinated and if eligible, who are boosted,” she told CNN’s John Berman.

Walensky continued to echo other public health experts by promoting vaccines, boosters, and masks as tools we have right now to protect ourselves.

White flags are seen on the National Mall on September 18, 2021 in Washington, DC. Over 660,000 white flags were installed here to honor Americans who have lost their lives to COVID-19 epidemic.

Covid-19 claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in the US in 2020, driving a record increase in the death rate and a drop in life expectancy of nearly two years, according to final 2020 death data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics.

Life expectancy at birth fell 1.8 years in 2020, from 78.8 years in 2019 to 77 years, the largest single-year decline in more than 75 years.

The death rate – about 835 deaths per 100,000 people – jumped nearly 17% from 2019, the sharpest increase in more than a century since the CDC has been tracking this data.

The year-over-year increase was even starker among racial and ethnic minorities, with death rates for Hispanic people increasing about three times as much as White people, and death rates for Black people increasing about twice as much as White people.

Covid-19 was the third leading cause of death overall, accounting for more than 10% of all deaths in 2020. Final death data from the CDC shows that Covid-19 was the underlying cause of death for 350,831 people in 2020, in line with data reported by Johns Hopkins University.

Heart disease and cancer remained the top causes of death in 2020 and, together with Covid-19, accounted for about half of all deaths in the US for the year.

Other leading causes include unintentional injuries, stroke, chronic lower respiratory diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, influenza and pneumonia, and kidney disease.

Death rates for most of these causes increased, with a nearly 15% increase in death rates for diabetes and nearly 17% for unintentional injuries, which includes drug overdose deaths.?

Death rates also increased for each age group 15 years and older.

But infant mortality rates reached a record low: about 542 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020, down about 3% from 2019.

Oregon Governor Kate Brown will extend her declaration of a state of emergency ahead of an expected surge in Covid-19 cases across the state, she announced Tuesday.

The declaration will allow the state to prepare for and respond to the impending Omicron variant surge in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations, the governor said in a?news release.

“As Oregon prepares for what could be our worst surge in hospitalizations during this pandemic, I know that this is not the beginning of the new year any of us had hoped for,” said Governor Brown.?

Extending the emergency declaration ensures that the state will continue to receive federal funding to help handle the Covid-19 pandemic, the release stated.?

The emergency declaration will remain in effect until June 2022, unless it is rescinded earlier or extended, the release stated.?

France will vaccinate children aged 5-11 against Covid-19 starting Wednesday, the country’s health minister,?Olivier Veran, told CNN’s French affiliate BFMTV.

On Monday, the French National Authority for Health (HAS) said it was in favor of opening “optional” vaccination to children aged 5-11.?

Veran added that the Omicron variant, which now makes up 20% of total Covid-19 cases in France, will represent 35-45% of cases in a few days.?

“It will represent the majority of cases between Christmas and the New Year,” he said. “We will surpass the 100,000 contaminations per day by the end of the month according to projection models.”?

Veran said the third shot vaccination campaign will accelerate to “allow the booster dose as early as 4 months after the injection from next week, instead of January,” but no new restrictions are expected soon.??

A healthcare worker attends to a Covid-19 patient at an intensive care unit (ICU) at Pyeongtaek Bagae Hospital in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021.

South Korea reported yet another record number of Covid-19 patients in critical condition, according to the Korea Disease Control Agency (KDCA) data from Tuesday.

As of 12 a.m. local Wednesday, a total of 1,063 Covid-19 patients are in critical condition, and 84% of them are aged 60 and above, KDCA said.

Health Minister Kwon Deok-chul said on Wednesday the government will add a total of 6,944 hospital beds for Covid-19 patients in moderate and critical condition by the end of January 2022.

National university hospitals are already cooperating to provide 308 hospital beds for critically ill Covid-19 patients, according to Kwon.

He added that public hospitals, like the National Medical Center, will convert to treating only Covid-19 patients by January.

Hospitals for Covid-19 patients in need of special treatment, such as dialysis, pregnancy and mental health will also be added, Kwon said

He also said more public medical workers, including military doctors, will be allocated to treating Covid-19 patients and the government will prepare the national health system to be able to handle 10,000 patients a day, with a worst-case scenario in mind.

The announcement is in line with President Moon Jae-in’s instructions from Monday to expand medical response capability by securing more hospital beds and medical workers.?

South Korea reported 7,456 new Covid-19 cases from Tuesday, increasing the country’s total number of confirmed cases to 583,065, according to the KDCA. The death toll rose to 4,906 after 78 deaths were added from Tuesday.

As of 12 a.m. local Wednesday, 85.1% of the population received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, 82.1% of the population received a second dose of vaccine, and 25.5% received a booster shot, according to the KDCA on Wednesday.

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has defended recent federal and state measures to combat the spread of Covid and did not rule out tougher measures.?

“What we decided today has an effect,” Lauterbach told public broadcaster ARD.?“But we’re not ruling out anything. So if the number of cases actually developed in such way that a hard lockdown also had to be discussed, then there would be no red lines. We are not there at this point in time.”

On Tuesday afternoon, the federal and state governments imposed strict contact restrictions for the German public, including for those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered, to fight a fifth wave of the virus fueled by the Omicron variant.?

View of a dose of an AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 at a vaccination point in Bogota, on December 21, 2021.

Oxford University and AstraZeneca are taking preliminary steps to produce an Omicron variant vaccine in case it is required for the next phase of the pandemic, the British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical company told CNN on Wednesday.?

“Together with Oxford University, we have taken preliminary steps in producing an Omicron variant vaccine, in case it is needed, and will be informed by emerging data,” a spokesperson for the company said.?

The Omicron variant is now the dominant strain in a host of countries including the US, Denmark, Portugal and the UK.

Preliminary data has shown it is more effective at evading neutralizing antibodies offered by Covid-19 vaccines than previous variants.?

Israel is to begin rolling out a fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine with immediate effect for people ages 60 and over, medical workers and people with suppressed immune systems, the Prime Minister’s Office announced Tuesday, following a recommendation from the country’s panel of coronavirus experts.

Those eligible for the fourth dose can receive it provided at least four months have passed since the third dose, it said. In Israel, almost all vaccinated citizens have received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

One of the members of the expert panel told Israeli radio Tuesday evening that the decision to recommend a fourth dose had not been an easy one.

“We don’t really have data yet on the level of immunity, like we did when we decided on the third dose, but on the other hand, there is really scary data out there in the rest of the world, Professor Galia Rahav said.

“In a situation like this, if you don’t act immediately, you miss the train,” she added.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett welcomed the recommendation and encouraged citizens to get the shot as quickly as they could.

“Wonderful news, do not waste time – go get vaccinated,” he said in a Tuesday statement.

Bennett also applauded Israel’s efforts in tackling the virus so far, saying that the country continues to “stand at the forefront of the global effort to deal with the pandemic.”

Read the full story here.

A health worker collects samples for Covid-19 testing at Shahdara, New Delhi, India, on December 18, 2021

India’s central government warned the country’s states on Wednesday of “initial signs of a surge in cases of Covid-19” and “increased detection” of the Omicron variant across the country.

The letter from the central health ministry asked state governments to impose containment measures in districts with a 10% or higher Covid-19 positivity rate, or with 40% or higher hospital bed occupancy rate.

The letter quoted scientific evidence that suggests that Omicron is three times more transmissible than Delta, therefore it recommended implementing night curfews, regulating large gatherings, curtailing the numbers at marriages and funerals, restricting numbers at offices and public transport in districts that fall within the government’s parameters.?

The advisory added that samples from covid clusters must now be sent to India’s genome sequencing laboratories, while emergency operation centers set up during the second wave should be reopened.?

On the same day that the advisory was issued, more than 200,000 women attended an event on women’s empowerment where Narendra Modi spoke, according to the Prime Minister’s office.

With five states heading to the polls in 2022, political parties have been holding rallies with hundreds of thousands in attendance. Although Modi has not held election rallies in Uttar Pradesh, a critical state in the upcoming elections, he has been addressing large gatherings in the state for various policy announcements and inaugurations.

Following India’s second covid wave that peaked during the months of April and May, restrictions on gatherings, travel and entertainment have been lifted by state governments over the recent months.?

While the central government had imposed a nationwide lockdown in March 2020, they have since issued guidelines and advisories to state governments, leaving them to decide on local containment measures depending on their specific covid situation.?

At least 200 cases of Omicron have been detected in India since December 2 and a total of 34,758,481 covid cases have been recorded in the country as of Wednesday, including 478,325 deaths, according to the health ministry.

The World Health Organization?on Tuesday warned of a “storm coming”?as Omicron spreads in a host of countries across Europe.?

Omicron has now become the dominant strain of Covid-19 in countries such as Denmark, Portugal, and the UK where cases are doubling every 1.5 to three days, WHO Regional Director for Europe Dr. Hans?Kluge said.

Countries in WHO’s Europe region recorded at least 2,749,122 new Covid-19 cases in?the past week, according to WHO data released Tuesday.?The “sheer volume” of new Covid-19 cases may culminate in more hospitalizations and the disruption of other critical health services, Kluge said.

He also hailed boosters as “the single most important defense against the Omicron” variant.?Despite the ability of vaccination to prevent severe disease and hospitalizations, it does “not necessarily interrupt transmission,” Kluge said, stressing the need for other complementary measures.

“We need to double the number of people in our region wearing masks indoors,” Kluge said as an example.?Acknowledging that although it “is important to celebrate Christmas” and New Year’s, Kluge said there is a firm need to “celebrate safely” in Europe this year.

On Monday, WHO Director-General?Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged people to consider canceling festive events, saying that “an event canceled is better than a life canceled.”