What we know today, December 23 – virus latest at a glance
EUROPE
The World Health Organisation (WHO) does not have enough data on the Omicron variant of Covid-19 to say if it is more severe than the Delta variant, an official said on Wednesday. Omicron will become the dominant variant in Europe by the start of 2022 and three to four weeks are needed to determine the severity of the COVID-19 it causes, the WHO’s European head said.
France has cancelled its order for Merck & Co’s antiviral drug following disappointing trial data and hopes instead to receive Pfizer’s competing drug before the end of January, the health minister said.
The British government said that from Wednesday it was reducing the self-isolation period to seven days from 10 days for people in England who get a negative result on a lateral flow test two days in a row. Britain also said it would start vaccinating vulnerable children aged five to 11 after the country’s medicines regulator approved the use of a lower dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot in that age group.
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AMERICAS
Americans are facing a second Christmas of disrupted holiday plans, with a surge in infections caused by the now-dominant Omicron variant forcing some people to cancel plans.
US President Joe Biden said he received another test, five days after exposure to the virus from a member of his staff, but has not received the results.
Pfizer Inc said the US Food and Drug Administration authorised its antiviral Covid-19 pill, making it the first at-home treatment for the coronavirus and expected to become an important tool in the fight against the Omicron variant.
Global deaths: 5,390,977
