This photograph taken on March 5, 2021 shows the flag of the World Health Organization at their headquarters in Geneva amid the COVID-19 outbreak. (FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP)
LONDON / GENEVA / PARIS / BOGOTA / HAVANA / OTTAWA / NEW YORK / RABAT / BRUSSELS / HARARE / LUSAKA / KIGALI / PANAMA CITY / BUDAPEST / ZURICH – The World Health Organization on Monday called on the world to pull together to end the COVID-19 pandemic within the next year.
The UN health agency said, "2022 must be the year we end the pandemic."
With festivities coming at the end of the year, "all of us want to get back to normal," said the WHO, adding that "we need to protect ourselves now."
It is better to cancel events now and celebrate later than to celebrate now and grieve later, it said.
Since the Omicron variant was first discovered in South Africa, it has been found in dozens of countries, said the organization, noting that the new variant is not more severe than the Delta variant, but is possibly more contagious and resistant to vaccines.
On the inequity in access to vaccines, the WHO said, "if we are to end the pandemic in the coming year, we must end inequity."
A woman looks at ornaments at a stand in a small Christmas market in the center of Brussels, on Dec 16, 2021. (OLIVIER MATTHYS / AP)
Belgium
Belgium's health ministers met on Monday to approve the rollout of vaccination against coronavirus for all children aged five to 11, Belgian media has reported.
Vaccination of young children, starting from January 2022, will be done on a voluntary basis, with the agreement of parents or legal guardians, said the office of the Federal Minister of Health Frank Vandenbroucke.
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks at a press conference in London's Downing Street on Dec 8, 2021, after ministers met to consider imposing new restrictions in response to rising cases and the spread of the Omicron variant. (ADRIAN DENNIS / POOL VIA AP)
Britain
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday he would tighten coronavirus curbs to slow the spread of the Omicron variant if needed, after the Netherlands began a fourth lockdown and as other European nations consider Christmas restrictions.
Speaking after UK media reported Britain might impose new curbs after Christmas, Johnson said the situation was "extremely difficult" and hospitalizations were rising steeply in London.
"I have to say to the British public, and I say to everybody, we will not exclude the possibility of going further if we have to do things to protect the public," Johnson said after a cabinet meeting.
Any limits on Christmas celebrations would come at a high political cost for Johnson, already under fire over reports he and his staff broke lockdown rules last year. read more
Asked about speculation the government would ban indoor socializing and limit tourism, Johnson said: "We're looking at all kinds of things … we will rule nothing out."
Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly arrives for a G7 Foreign and Development Ministers Session with Guest Countries and ASEAN Nations in Liverpool, England on Dec 12, 2021. (OLIVIER DOULIERY / POOL VIA AP)
Canada
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said on Monday a rapid COVID-19 test that she had taken proved to be positive, adding she was working in isolation until the result could be confirmed.
Joly, 42, was named foreign minister in October and would be one of the most prominent domestic politicians to come down with the coronavirus, which is spreading rapidly as the Omicron variant picks up speed.
"I have taken a rapid test and tested positive for COVID-19. Following public health guidelines, I am in isolation and will continue my work virtually, as I have been for a number of days, until I get the results of my PCR test," she tweeted.
Earlier in the day, Quebec, Canada's second-most-populous province, ordered bars, gyms and casinos shut on Monday and directed people to work only from home.
Quebec Health Minister Christian Dube said the province had a record 4,500 new cases of the coronavirus a day and predicted worse was yet to come.
A girl gets a shot of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine at a school in Bogota, Colombia, on Nov 8, 2021. (FERNANDO VERGARA / AP)
Colombia
Colombia's national health institute has identified three cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in the country, the health ministry said on Monday.
The cases were found in people living in the coastal cities of Cartagena and Santa Marta.
Two of the people had visited the United States and one had visited Spain, Health Minister Fernando Ruiz said in a statement. Two are Colombian and one is from the United States.
"This is in line with what we have been announcing for several weeks in terms of the imminent arrival of the variant to Colombia, which is now circulating in more than 80 countries," Ruiz said. "As it stands we have not identified any community transmission."
Those who were in contact with the three people are being traced, the statement added.
A girl gets a dose of the Cuban made Soberana-02 vaccine for COVID-19 in Havana, Cuba, Aug 24, 2021. (RAMON ESPINOSA / AP)
Cuba
Cuba has vaccinated more of its citizens against COVID-19 than most of the world's largest and richest nations, a milestone that will make the country a test case as the highly contagious Omicron variant begins to circle the globe.
The Caribbean island has vaccinated over 90 percent of its population with at least one dose, and 83 percent of the population is now fully inoculated, placing it second globally behind only the United Arab Emirates among countries of at least 1 million people, according to official statistics compiled by 'Our World in Data.'
While many of its neighbors in Latin America, as well as emerging economies globally, have competed for vaccines produced by wealthier nations, health officials say Cuba vaulted ahead by developing its own.
Infections and deaths from COVID-19 have plunged on the island in recent weeks, falling to less than 1 percent of their peak on Aug 22, when fewer than half its citizens were vaccinated.
Children attend a ceremony to mark the resuming of the 2020-2021 school year at the educational centre Ciudad Escolar Libertad in Havana, on Nov 15, 2021. (Yamil LAGE / AFP)
Nearly all of Cuba's children aged 2 to 18 have now been vaccinated with home-grown vaccines.
Schools have reopened and foreign tourists are once again welcome. Hospitals and morgues, overflowing in August, appear to be operating at pre-pandemic levels, according to Reuters witnesses.
"It is a truly remarkable accomplishment, given the size of Cuba, and also the US embargo, that restricts their ability to import," said William Moss, director of the Johns Hopkins International Vaccine Access Center, a US-based university group that works to ensure equitable access for low-income countries.
Cuba has said its homegrown, protein-based Abdala, Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus shots give upwards of 90 percent protection against symptomatic COVID-19 when offered in three-dose schemes.
This file photo taken on Nov 17, 2020 shows vials with COVID-19 Vaccine stickers attached and syringes with the logo of US biotech company Novavax. (JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)
European Union
The European Union on Monday approved the use of Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine in people 18 years and older, giving a boost to the US biotech after long delays and paving the way for a fifth shot in the EU as the Omicron variant spreads.
Data from two large studies showed the vaccine has an efficacy of around 90 percent, the European Medicines Agency said.
It is not clear yet how Novavax performs against the Omicron variant, or whether a booster dose will be needed. Some early data has suggested that many two-dose vaccines do not work well against the variant while a third shot improves their efficacy.
Novavax said earlier this month it could begin manufacturing a vaccine tailored for the Omicron in January and would start shipping vaccines to the EU's 27 member states in January as part of its deal to supply up to 200 million doses.
"May this authorization offer a strong encouragement to everyone who has not yet been vaccinated or boosted, that now is the time to do so," said the head of the bloc's executive Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in a statement.
The endorsement for the two-dose vaccine, branded Nuvaxovid, comes well ahead of possible authorization in the United States, where Novavax has had to resolve manufacturing issues.
ALSO READ: Germany eyes contact restrictions to soften COVID-19 wave
A woman waits to receive Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site, in Fontainebleau, south of Paris on Dec 6, 2021. (THIBAULT CAMUS / AP)
France
France's Haute Autorite de Sante (HAS) health regulator approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for all children aged 5-11 on Monday.
The vaccine, which will be administered in a paediatric formulation when it becomes widely available, showed high efficacy among children, said Lise Alter, one of the doctors charged with the risk evaluation of new drugs.
"The HAS suggests that all parents who want it can have their children aged 5 to 11 years vaccinated," she added.
Last week France started vaccinating 5-11 year olds with medical conditions that require special protection and ramped up logistics to roll out vaccination of all children in the age group once the HAS approves the move.
Hungary
Hungary decided to rejoin the European Union's COVID-19 vaccine procurement process to shield its population from the Omicron variant, ordering 9.5 million doses of the jab developed by BioNTech SE and Pfizer.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban also told a news conference on Tuesday that he expected the European Commission would publish a clear stance before the end of the year including nuclear energy in its "sustainable finance taxonomy", a rulebook that will restrict which activities can be labelled as climate friendly investments.
This file photo taken on June 4, 2021 shows a vial of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a pharmacy in Paris, France. (STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)
Moderna
COVID-19 vaccine maker Moderna does not expect any problems in developing a booster shot to protect against the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and could begin work in a few weeks, Chief Executive Stephane Bancel said in an interview.
Moderna hopes to start clinical trials early next year on a vaccine to protect against the fast-spreading Omicron variant but for now is focussing on a booster dose of its current mRNA-1273 vaccine.
"It only needs minor adjustments for Omicron. I don't expect any problems," Bancel said in an interview with the Swiss newspaper TagesAnzeiger published on Tuesday.
The company was now awaiting important information on the variant to begin development.
"That will take another week or two," Bancel said.
"It will take a few months before we can produce 500 million doses after (regulatory) approval. But our capacities are much higher today than a year ago," he said.
If approval bodies such as the US Food and Drug Administration and Switzerland's Swissmedic require further studies, that would add at least three months.
"Some authorities want a study, others are still undecided. In my opinion, it depends very much on how severely the disease progresses," he said.
Few people walk in the Jemaa el-Fna square in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh, on May 6, 2021, which has been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis since its start due to the scarcity of tourism. (FADEL SENNA / AFP)
Morocco
Morocco on Monday banned all New Year's Eve celebrations as part of measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a statement by the Moroccan government, the ban also includes parties and special events organized in hotels, restaurants and tourist establishments.
A night curfew on New Year's Eve will be implemented from 12 am to 6 am, the statement added.
Panama
Panama has detected its first case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the Central American country's health ministry said on Monday, while neighboring Costa Rica detected three more confirmed cases.
A 50-year-old who works in mining and recently traveled to South Africa was found to have contracted the coronavirus with the Omicron variant, said Luis Sucre, Panama's health minister.
In Costa Rica, health authorities said they had detected the variant in another child and two adults. The first case was reported over the weekend.
In this file photo taken on Oct 21, 2021, a healthcare worker administers a dose of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine to a patient at a vaccination center in the GUM State Department store in Moscow. (DIMITAR DILKOFF / AFP)
Russia
The Russian maker of the COVID-19 Sputnik V vaccine is due to submit its latest clinical data by the end of December, with manufacturing site inspections expected to follow in February, a World Health Organization official said on Monday.
Moscow rushed to approve the shot for domestic use last year and it has been exported to countries around the world, but it has still not been certified by either the WHO or the European Medicines Agency, the EU's drug regulator.
Rogerio Gaspar, WHO regulation director, gave the new timelines for the vaccine made by the Gamaleya Institute, which is seeking WHO emergency use listing, during a WHO briefing for journalists in Geneva.
It was hoped that Gamaleya would complete submission of its data and application in two parts, at the end of December and by the end of January, he said.
"We are starting already for the planning exercise for the forthcoming GMP (good manufacturing practices) inspections that will be necessary looking at the new data to be submitted," Gaspar said, referring to on-site inspections for quality control.
"So our planning right now, provided that all information is on board and with the technical information being answered by the end of December, we would be able to perform GMP (good manufacturing practices) inspections locally on Sputnik in February," he said.
ALSO READ: Study: Omicron more likely to reinfect than Delta, no milder
A medical worker injects a second dose of AstraZeneca vaccine to a patient in a coronavirus vaccination centre in Kigali, Rwanda on May 27, 2021. (LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP)
Rwanda
With Christmas and New Year holidays around the corner, the Rwandan government has imposed restrictions for unvaccinated people in the country, excluding them from indoor restaurants, worship places, public transport and bars starting on Dec 20 to minimize the spread of coronavirus and encourage vaccine skeptics to get their jabs.
The measures were announced by the office of the Prime Minister on Monday and will be reviewed upon health assessment.
The government also prohibited wedding related receptions while traditional, civil and religious weddings should not exceed 40 persons, according to the statement.
Parties and any other kind of celebrations are prohibited, it added.
It also instructed business owners countrywide to ensure their employees are fully vaccinated
Patients wait to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot at a mobile vaccination station on 59th Street below Central Park on Dec 2, 2021, in New York. (JOHN MINCHILLO / AP)
United States
COVID-19 cases surged in New York City and across the United States over the weekend, dashing hopes for a more normal holiday season, resurrecting restrictions and stretching the country's testing infrastructure ahead of holiday travel and gatherings.
The fast-spreading Omicron variant of the coronavirus has become dominant in the United States with lightning speed, and claimed the life on Monday of an unvaccinated man in Texas, officials said.
The Omicron variant now accounts for 73 percent of US coronavirus infections based on sequencing data for the week ended on Saturday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday.
With a rapid rise in infections, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser on Monday reinstated an indoor mask mandate until the end of January and required government workers to get vaccinated, including a booster shot.
In New York City, COVID-19 cases rose 60 percent in the week that ended on Sunday as the Omicron variant spread rapidly around the US Northeast. New York has set records for the most new cases reported in a single day since the pandemic started for three consecutive days.
Breakthrough infections are rising among the 61 percent of the country's fully vaccinated population, including the 30 percent who have gotten booster shots.
Zambia
The Zambian government on Monday officially announced that the country has entered into the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic following a surge in a number of positive cases.
Sylvia Masebo, the Minister of Health, said the fourth wave, which the government has been predicting, has now become a reality as seen in the significant rise in cases.
The minister said the genomic sequencing from the Zambia National Public Health Institute, the country's disease intelligence arm, has revealed a big rise in the number of cases, admissions and deaths, with the majority of the cases being Omicron variant.
According to health ministry figures, the country recorded 5,431 new cases, 158 admissions and nine deaths last week compared to the previous week when the country recorded 765 cases, 29 admissions and three deaths.
A military personnel inoculate a dose of SinoVac vaccine to a citizen at a mobile clinic in Emganwini township, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe on 3 Aug 2021. (ZINYANGE AUNTONY / AFP)
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe on Monday received a batch of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine donated by China, which will boost the country's vaccination campaign as it battles the fourth wave of COVID-19 pandemic.
The latest donation – on top of other batches of vaccine that China has already donated to Zimbabwe – follows a pledge made by China at the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) to provide another 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to Africa.
The sum includes 600 million doses as donation and 400 million doses to be provided through such means as joint production by Chinese companies and relevant African countries.
