COVID-19 vaccination in the United States

Early indications of the severity of the Omicron COVID-19 variant are "a bit encouraging," top U.S. pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci said on Dec. 5, while cautioning more information was still needed.

Australia on Dec. 5 cleared the first COVID-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11, with the next stage of its vaccine rollout expected to start in early 2022.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said medical regulators had granted provisional approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to be administered to younger children for the first time.

German biotech company BioNTech should be able to adapt its coronavirus vaccine relatively quickly in response to the Omicron variant, said its CEO Ugur Shahin, adding that despite the mutations, the vaccines must continue to protect people against serious illness.

COVID vaccination will probably be needed each year. This was stated by the CEO of Pfizer. Scientists believe they have found a link between the appearance of blood clots and the Astra Zeneca vaccine.

The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said that the time had come for the European Union to consider mandatory vaccination of the entire population, Euronews reports.

Turkey is not presently considering imposing lockdowns or other stricter measures despite the emergence of the new COVID-19 strain, Omicron, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said, renewing calls for the public to get vaccinated and adhere to basic anti-virus rules, noting that millions of people are still not fully protected.

The European drug regulator announced on Tuesday that it would approve vaccines adapted to Covid's new version, Omicron, within three to four months if necessary, but existing drugs would continue to provide protection, Reuters reported.

A bill to introduce compulsory vaccination against Covid-19 in Austria provides for a fine for refusing vaccination of up to 7,200 euros, the Austrian newspaper Die Presse reported, citing a document developed by the Austrian government.

The head of drugmaker Moderna said Covid-19 vaccines were unlikely to be as effective against the coronavirus Omicron variant as before, raising new concerns in financial markets about the trajectory of the pandemic, Reuters reported.

Unvaccinated players will not be allowed to compete at the 2022 event