December 28 coronavirus pandemic and Omicron variant news

At least 86 cruise ships are being investigated for Covid-19 outbreaks by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while another three are being monitored after reporting positive cases onboard.

The?CDC’s website?shows that 86 ships are being investigated for coronavirus outbreaks under the yellow status while another three ships have orange status, which means they have reported Covid-19 cases on board but do not meet the agency’s threshold for investigation at this point.

No ships are in the red status area, which the CDC classifies as “at or above the CDC investigation threshold for passenger and crew.”

The color-coding system is for foreign-flagged cruise ships operating in US waters, the CDC says.

Indonesia has recorded its first locally transmitted case of the Omicron coronavirus variant, state news media Antara reported Tuesday.

“The Omicron case from local transmission was reported in a man, with no history of foreign travel nor having come in contact with foreign travelers,” Siti Nadia Tarmizi, the Director of Prevention and Control of Vector and Zoonotic Diseases at the Health Ministry, said in a virtual news conference in Jakarta, according to Antara’s report.

The 37 year-old man had traveled from Medan and arrived in Jakarta on Dec. 6. Two weeks later, when he was going back to Medan, his antigen test came back positive, Tarmizi said.

The PCR test a day later also came back positive.

Contact tracing is ongoing and his wife who accompanied him in his travels, has tested negative for Covid-19, Tarmizi added.

Indonesia reported its first case of the Omicron variant on Dec. 16.

Since then the government says it has upped security at the country’s borders, urged people not to travel abroad and expedited vaccination to meet the national target, Antara’s report said.

Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales (NSW), announced a near doubling of its daily Covid-19 case tally Wednesday with 11,201 new cases – up from 6,602 the previous day.

Most of the cases were found in state capital Sydney.?

Three new deaths were also announced by NSW Health in its Wednesday statement.

Speaking to Sydney radio station 2GB Tuesday NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet defended his decision to relax restrictions earlier this month, including reintroducing broad freedoms for unvaccinated people.

“We’ve always said as we open up, case numbers will increase,” Perrottet said. “These are the difficulties we’ll go through.”

“I think NSW, despite this, is in a very strong position, and I’m very confident about 2022,” Perrottet added.

The New York City Ballet announced it will cancel all remaining performances of George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker,” through Jan. 2, 2022, due to Covid-19 concerns, according to?an announcement?on the organization’s website on Tuesday.?

“The Nutcracker” has been performed by the NYCB?every holiday season?in New York City since its premiere in February 1954, with the exception of the 2020 season, during which all performances were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.?

“The Nutcracker” was originally scheduled to be performed from Nov. 26 to Jan. 2 with a total of 47 performances at Lincoln Center in New York City. All audience members were?required to be fully-vaccinated?and to wear masks during performances, the New York City Ballet said.?

The ballet company said it looks forward to welcoming guests back at the Lincoln Center for future performances.

The National Football League has reduced the amount of time that players who test positive for Covid-19 may?have to isolate from their team, according to a league memo that was distributed to teams Tuesday and obtained by CNN.??

NFL players who test positive for Covid-19 and are?asymptomatic will now have to isolate for five days rather than the previous period of 10 days.?The new protocols are in line with updated guidance provided by the?US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday.

The memo clarifies that fully vaccinated players may “test out” of isolation in less than five days if they return multiple negative tests as outlined under previous protocols.?Non-fully vaccinated players will not be able to rejoin the team in less than five days under any circumstances, the memo explains.

All players cleared to return to the team after five days of isolation as described in Tuesday’s memo will be required to wear a?KN-95 or N-95 mask?“at all times other than when actively engaged in physical activity at practice or in a game” for an additional five days.

Other changes to the NFL’s protocols announced Tuesday include that all team meetings must be held either virtually or outdoors or in a team’s “practice bubble” with all individuals physically distanced. The memo explained that teams have the option to meet indoors in person if their meeting spaces have been approved by the league. All players and staff must wear masks indoors at team facilities regardless of vaccination status.?No more than 15 players will be allowed in the weight room at one time, and group dining at team facilities has been prohibited.

All changes take effect immediately and will remain in place through the conclusion of the regular season, according to the memo.

The National Hockey League (NHL) has postponed an additional 10 games due to issues caused by the on-going Covid-19 pandemic.?

On Tuesday, the NHL revealed nine of the games were being postponed due to attendance restrictions in host cities within Canada. The tenth game, Wednesday’s Detroit Red Wings at New York Islanders contest, was postponed due to Covid-related issues impacting both teams.?

The NHL says upcoming games hosted in Ottawa, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg will be rescheduled when attendance restrictions “may be eased or lifted.”

The league has postponed a total of 80 games this season.

Specific games impacted within Canada are outlined within Tuesday’s league announcement here.?

Many countries in Latin America were hit with soaring Covid-19 death rates early in the pandemic, as coronavirus raged throughout the region. The tide is turning in many Latin American nations today, where vaccination rates are outpacing countries in Europe and North America and helping drive down deaths.

The vaccine rollout was slow at the start, with just getting the vaccines in hand a major issue. Just six months ago, Latin America and the Caribbean were reporting just under half of all Covid-19 related deaths worldwide. Now, the region accounts for about 10% of Covid-19 related deaths, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.

That’s due to the accelerated delivery of European, American, Chinese and homegrown vaccines that a number of Latin American nations have received in the second half of this year, according to Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) data.?

Cuba, Chile and Brazil are among the top ten countries globally in terms of those fully vaccinated, according to statistics compiled by PAHO.?

One reason for those successful vaccination campaigns can be chalked up to history: Many countries in Latin America have long-standing and trusted national inoculation drives against other diseases, such as polio.

Cuba has, perhaps, fared best in this regard, with its bet on its homegrown vaccines – approved for emergency use by its drug regulators this summer – paying off.

The country has the highest rate of vaccination in the region – and one of the highest in the world – with 84.1% of its inhabitants fully vaccinated, according to PAHO. In September, Cuba became the first in the world to begin the mass vaccination of kids as young as 2 against Covid.

Scientists say the Cuban-made vaccines are safe and effective in preventing serious illness and death. The government applied for World Health Organization approval for its vaccines in September.?

Meanwhile Brazil, home to one of the highest Covid-19 death rates in the world, has emerged from its darkest days of the pandemic with a successful vaccination drive. Major cities like Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo have seen more than 99% of the adult population receive at least one dose of the vaccine, Reuters reports.

Brazil has administered more than 315 million doses, with 65.7% of the population fully vaccinated, according to PAHO data up to Dec. 23.

Chile’s record is even better – with 85.6% of the population fully vaccinated. Uruguay has vaccinated 76.6% of its inhabitants and Argentina’s vaccination rates sit at 70%.?

In Ecuador, 69.1% of its eligible population is already fully vaccinated. There, Covid-19 vaccinations will be made mandatory for people who are eligible for the vaccine from ages five and older, the Ecuadorian health ministry said on Thursday, becoming the first country in Latin America to impose such measure for the entire eligible population. The vaccination will not be mandatory for those with pre-existing medical conditions, the health ministry statement said.?

And in Peru, which has suffered the highest rate of Covid-19 deaths anywhere in the world, 63.9% of the eligible population is now fully vaccinated.

Regionally, over 868 million doses have been administered as of December 22 in Latin America and the Caribbean, PAHO reported, with around 57% of Latin America and the Caribbean’s population fully vaccinated. That compares to 67.8% in Europe and 61.3% in the United States.

Cruise ships with Covid-19 positive passengers will be allowed to disembark in Mexico and the country will provide medical assistance to passengers, according to a news release Tuesday from the Mexican Government.?

“The Secretaries of Health and Tourism of the Government of Mexico reiterate the commitment to respect the provisions of the International Health Regulations of the World Health Organization (WHO), for which cruises will be received in ports maritime of the country,” the statement continued.

Mexico has no testing requirement for entry into the country. “People who do not present symptoms will be able to carry out their tourist activities with respect to the basic prevention measures,” the release said.?

Here’s the latest data on vaccination efforts in the United States, published?Monday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

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?the number of?people with at least one dose may be overestimated.?

The US Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that quick antigen tests may have less sensitivity to picking up the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Throughout the pandemic, the FDA and the National Institutes of Health have been evaluating the tests to determine how well they work. Studies on antigen tests that used patient samples that had the live virus showed that while the tests detect the Omicron variant, they did so with less sensitivity. Sensitivity measures how often a test can give a positive result when someone has the disease.

The FDA suggests people should still continue to use these tests and to make sure they follow the instructions closely. Antigen tests are generally not as sensitive at picking up early infections as lab tests, known as PCR tests.?

The FDA continues to recommend if someone tests negative with an antigen test but suspects they may have Covid-19 because they have symptoms or have been exposed to someone with Covid-19, they should follow up with a molecular test.?

Health workers administer Covid-19 tests at a drive-through testing site in Stamford, Connecticut, on December 28.

The US reached a seven-day average of 254,496 new cases on Tuesday, the highest this number has ever been over the course of the pandemic, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.?

Tuesday’s number beat the previous record of 251,989 new cases, set on Jan. 11, 2021.?

The US has seen a rapid acceleration in new cases since late November. Hospitalizations and deaths have not seen a similar increase in pace, but these are lagging indicators that may drag weeks behind case increases.?

The seven-day average of new deaths is currently 1,453, according to data from JHU, and 76,779 people are hospitalized in the US with Covid-19, according to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services.?

Note: This seven-day average is an in-progress data point and not yet the final number for Dec. 28, 2021. This number may rise as the day ends.?

Spain reported 99,671 new cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday, the highest number for a single day since the start of the pandemic. It’s double the previous record set just last week, the country’s Health Ministry said.?

The latest record pushed Spain over six million total coronavirus cases since the pandemic started to 6,032,297. But officials say the pressure now is on neighborhood public health clinics and not on hospitals, where Covid-19 cases account for 18.7% of the intensive care ward beds nationwide, according to the the Health Ministry. That figure is up from 8% of Covid-19 cases in the ICUs, from Dec. 1.?

Spain’s Covid-19 infection rate on Tuesday was 1,360 cases per 100,000, up from 1,206 cases per 100,000 on Monday, the Health Ministry said.?

As the Omicron variant of the virus continues to spread and health experts continue to call for an increase in testing and vaccinations, one primary health specialist believes the six-month requirement for the Covid-19 booster should be shortened to four months.

“Four months will actually be a much better idea in the surge than waiting that extra two months,” said Dr. Saju Mathew, a primary care physician. “I think that basically if you?look at the number six months,?it’s fairly arbitrary.?There’s not necessarily a hardcore science behind it.”

In November, the US Food and Drug Administration authorized boosters of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines for everyone 18 and older. The use of a single booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson Janssen Covid-19 vaccine could be administered after two months.

Mathew went on to explain why health officials went with the six month window for people to get a booster dose.

“Six months is optimal, because after you get that?second shot, you want the body?to recover and develop what’s?called immune memory,” Mathew said.?“So six months is optimal, but?you can shorten it as close to?four months to actually get the?booster shot.”

“The reason that I say that is?you also want to time it when?the infection is at its peak,” Mathew added.?“With Omicron, lots of people are?getting infected.?Lots of breakthrough infections.?This is the time to balance?getting longer durability with?actually controlling the?infection.”

As New York City faces a surge in Covid-19 cases, the city’s seven-day average Covid-19 percent positivity rate slowly crept up to 19.97% over the past week and continues to trend upward, according to?data?made available by the city’s health department.

The positivity rate is the percentage of people who test positive for the virus of those overall who have been tested.

Addressing the Omicron variant and the increase in Covid-19 cases at Tuesday’s?news conference, Mayor Bill de Blasio said “what we’re finding is something that has been fast and intense but, obviously thank God, to date more mild than we feared and we’re very happy about that.”

Covid-19 hospitalizations—although trending upward—are still lower than they were during peak Covid-19 hospitalizations in March 2020 in New York City.

At peak hospitalizations in NYC, on a seven-day average, there were 1,848 Covid-19 hospitalizations in the city on March 31, 2020, as compared to data from Dec. 25, 2021 showing 219 Covid-19 hospitalizations on a seven-day average, according to?city Covid-19 data.

CNN’s Taylor Romine contributed reporting to this post.

People line up to get tested for Covid-19 in Paris on December 24.

Several European countries — such as France, the UK, Italy, and Portugal — are currently seeing a large increase in daily new cases, many even setting new records since the pandemic began as the Omicron variant continues to spread. Despite the rising trend in daily cases, those figures haven’t translated into more deaths and hospitalizations, particularly when compared to the same period a year ago.?

France reported a record high of 179,807 new confirmed coronavirus cases in a 24-hour period on Tuesday, setting the highest number since the start of the pandemic, the French health authorities said.?

The latest data shattered the previous record of 104,611 new daily cases, which was set on Saturday.

The increase in daily figures is a huge increment of 176,847 new cases when compared to last year’s figures, yet despite a rise in hospitalizations and ICU occupancy, France latest data is showing less deaths.

French authorities’ data shows that in the last 24 hours, France recorded 290 coronavirus related deaths, 484 people hospitalized and 83 people in ICU beds.

A year ago, the country recorded 363 deaths, 25 hospitalizations and 44 people under intensive care.

Meanwhile, the?UK has also set a new daily record of Covid-19 cases with 129,471,?according?to British government data released?Tuesday.?

Elsewhere in Europe, Portugal has also recorded the highest number of new daily cases since the start of the pandemic, with a total of 17,172 new coronavirus cases, the Portuguese Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

The highest count of daily infections took place on Jan. 28, with 16,432 cases reported at the time.

Looking back at last year’s figures, the latest data shows a large increase of 15,079 new daily cases, however, despite the rise in cases, Portugal is showing a lower number on deaths, hospital admissions and ICU occupancy.

The data shows that currently, Portugal has 936 people hospitalized, with 152 of them in intensive care and 19 deaths, whereas a year ago Portugal was recording 2,967 hospitalizations, with 503 of them in ICU units and a total of 58 deaths.?

Italy is seeing a similar situation, with the country also reporting their highest daily new cases since the start of the pandemic with 78,313 people infected in the last 24 hours, according to the country’s Health Ministry data.

The latest figures show that the trend of rising cases continues after the country reported recently new daily case records for three consecutive days.

Despite the rise in daily cases, Italy has recorded lower figures in hospitalizations and deaths when compared with data from a year ago.

On Dec. 28, 2020, Italy recorded 8,585 new infections, 445 Covid-19 related deaths and 2,565 ICU beds occupied, which reveals a significant contrast to the most recent numbers of 78,313 new infections, 202 deaths and 1,145 ICU occupancy.

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that France’s ICU occupancy and hospitalizations are down in comparison with last year. The country’s latest data shows only deaths are down in comparison.

A paramedic unloads a patient from an ambulance outside the Royal London hospital in London on December 28.

Covid-19 hospitalizations in England have risen by 25% over the course of one week as the country continues to grapple with the Omicron variant.??

The latest data from the UK government dashboard showed an additional 1,374 hospital admissions in England on Tuesday. This represents a 25% increase compared with the Dec. 21 figure of 1,098.

There are currently 9,546 people in hospital with Covid-19 in the country.

This comes as England set a new daily record for Covid-19 cases on Tuesday when 129,471 cases were reported.??

The UK’s public health agency, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has warned there may be “temporary pauses” in ordering or receiving home testing kits as authorities try to cope with the “exceptional demand.”

The agency has ramped up delivery capacity since Dec. 18, delivering 900,000 test kits daily.?They encouraged people to revisit the UK government site “every few hours” to try get tests, urging them to make sure they are using “any tests they already have at home before ordering or collecting more.”?

Since Dec. 12, fully vaccinated close contacts of a positive Covid-19 case in England have been advised to take lateral flow tests for seven days, causing a huge spike in demand for LFTs in the country.?

Hopes of New Year’s Eve celebrations were kept alive on Monday when the UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced that no further restrictions would be imposed in England before Dec. 31.?

UK Care Minister Gillian Keegan advised people on Tuesday to “be cautious,” take a lateral flow test before heading out to New Year’s celebrations and seek out “ventilated spaces.”

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added three European destinations to its highest-risk category for travel on?Tuesday, including Sweden.

In its weekly update of Covid-19 travel advisories, the CDC also added Malta and Moldova to its “Level 4: Covid-19 Very High” category.

The CDC places a destination at Level 4 when more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents are registered in the past 28 days.

Last week, the CDC added eight destinations to the Level 4 category.

Separately on Tuesday, President Biden revoked a proclamation put in place last month that enacted travel restrictions on eight southern African nations, including South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday released?new isolation and quarantine guidelines?for people infected with or exposed to Covid-19.

Important to note: These are guidelines, not mandates, but many industry groups and organizations use them to set their own policies. While?these guidelines?offer more detail, the old adage applies: If you feel sick, stay home.

Here is a list of basic things to know:

For people who test positive for Covid-19:

For people exposed to Covid-19:

These are based on what studies show about how and when people are likely to infect others.

If you are boosted, have received your first two Pfizer or Moderna doses in the last six months or your single J&J dose in the last two months:?

If you are unvaccinated, or are eligible for a booster and haven’t received one:?

Travelers wait in line inside the departures terminal at Cape Town International Airport on December 3.

President Joe Biden issued a presidential proclamation on Tuesday revoking a proclamation put in place last month that enacted travel restrictions on eight southern African nations, including; South Africa, as the Omicron variant began to spread.?

CNN had previously reported Biden’s intent to lift the restrictions.

The travel restrictions had come under fire across the globe, described by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as “travel?apartheid.”

Biden administration officials repeatedly defended the move as an action to give the US more time to understand the variant and its spread.

Tuesday’s proclamation noted that scientists have determined that people vaccinated against Covid-19 “are protected against severe disease and hospitalization from the Omicron variant.”

It also said that the variant is now in over 100 countries and is “prevalent” in the US, where cases have been rising for weeks. It said that “substantial progress” has been made in understanding the Omicron variant.

The previous proclamation will be lifted?at 12:01 am EST on Dec. 31.

New York City public schools, the largest public school system in the country, will reopen as planned on Jan. 3?following a winter recess, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday.?

The city is revamping?its?Covid-19 testing policies in an attempt to keep more students in school during the latest surge,?de Blasio?said.?

Schools will?be?provided?at-home testing kits for classrooms?when?a student has tested positive,?and?students will take two tests per day over seven days, he said. With this new policy,?any student who doesn’t have symptoms and tests negative?after one day of two rapid tests will return to school the next day,?he continued.??

The previous policy mandated that fully vaccinated students identified as close contacts did not have to quarantine if they were symptom-free and tested, but unvaccinated students had to quarantine for 10 days or test out.

While he emphasized that New York City schools are some of the safest places in the city, the city will adjust its testing process to catch cases sooner and keep more students in school.?

The city will also double the amount of PCR Covid-19 tests they do at schools per week and will include both vaccinated and unvaccinated students, de Blasio said.

New York Gov. Kathy?Hochul and New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams joined Tuesday’s?news?conference to show support for the adjusted school testing plan.?

The announcement comes after?Hochul said on Monday that two million testing kits, which contain two tests each, are going to New York City schools by Friday. An additional 3 to 3.5 million testing kits are expected to be sent to schools throughout the rest of the state, she said.?

CNN’s Elizabeth Stuart and Melanie Schuman contributed reporting.

The Covid-19 vaccine is administered at a pop-up clinic in the international arrivals section of Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California on December 22, 2021.

Covid-19 vaccines help prevent breakthrough infections even among immune-compromised people such as organ transplant recipients and rheumatoid arthritis patients, researchers reported Tuesday.?

But these patients are at higher risk of breakthroughs than other vaccinated people and should take extra precautions, the researchers reported.

Dr. Jing Sun, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and colleagues studied the records of 660,000 people who received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine through Sept. 16.

“Overall, the incidence rate for COVID-19 breakthrough infection was 5.0 per 1,000 person-months among fully vaccinated persons but was higher after the Delta variant became the dominant SARS-CoV-2 strain,” they said. Before June, the rate of breakthrough infections was 2.2 per 1,000 people per year. That rose to 7.3 afterward, as Delta spread.

“People with a breakthrough infection after full vaccination were more likely to be older and women. People with HIV infection, rheumatoid arthritis, and solid organ transplant had a higher rate of breakthrough infection,” they wrote.

People with other types of immunocompromising conditions did not have higher rates of breakthrough infections, they found.

Vaccination protected everyone, the researchers reported. But they said those getting immune-suppressing drugs for rheumatoid arthritis or because of organ transplants, as well as HIV patients, should take care to wear masks and avoid situations where they might be exposed.

Dr. Mary Nakamura, an immunologist at the San Francisco VA Health Care System, and rheumatologist Dr. Alfred Kim of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, said the findings should encourage the immune-compromised to get vaccinated and boosted.

“SARS-CoV-2 vaccine clinical trials did not initially include individuals with immune dysfunction conditions, which has led to some hesitancy in using the available vaccines in this population,” they wrote in an accompanying commentary.

“However, several recent retrospective studies have reported reassuring data regarding the safety of these vaccines in immunocompromised patients,?and the general consensus is that the potential benefits of vaccination substantially outweigh the risks,” the said.

President Joe Biden and the White House COVID-19 Response Team participate in a virtual call with the National Governors Association from the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House Complex on Monday, Dec. 27, 2021 in Washington, DC. President Biden spoke to governors about their concerns regarding the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus and the need for more COVID-19 tests.

The Omicron variant caused 58.6% of new coronavirus cases?in the US last week, which is significantly lower than previously thought, according to estimates?posted Tuesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last week, the agency estimated Omicron accounted for 73.2% of cases the week ending Dec. 18.

A CDC spokesperson told CNN last week there was a broad range of uncertainty for those numbers — as low as 34% and as high as 95%. She added agency would “adjust based on additional sequencing.” The agency has adjusted the estimate for that week even lower, from 73.2% to 22.5%.

Over the past four weeks, Omicron has risen rapidly in estimates – accounting for 0.6% of cases?ending December 4, to 6.9% the following week, then 22.5% and now 58.6%. The Delta variant makes up nearly all of the rest.

More on the CDC estimates: Not every Covid-19 test is sent for the extra genetic sequencing needed to detect which variant has infected someone. The CDC works off samples and extrapolates its estimates based on that extra testing.?

Omicron’s estimated prevalence varies widely based on geography. For example, in the region that includes New York and New Jersey, as well as the region covering Texas and its bordering states, Omicron was estimated to have caused upwards of 86% of cases last week.

A new Covid-19 vaccine designed to be cheap and easy to manufacture has won emergency use authorization in India, Texas Children’s Hospital and the Baylor College of Medicine said Tuesday.

Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine specialist and co-director of Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development, and co-director Maria Elena Bottazzi, designed the vaccine, and made it using traditional vaccine technology.

The idea is to distribute the technology so developing countries can make the vaccine themselves.

“Protein-based vaccines have been widely used to prevent many other diseases, have proven safety records, and use economies of scale to achieve low-cost scalability across the world,” Bottazzi said in a statement.

“Our decade-long studies advancing coronavirus vaccine prototypes has led to the creation of this vaccine, which will fill the access gap created by the more expensive, newer vaccine technologies and that today are still not able to be quickly scaled for global production,” she added.

Hotez told CNN’s Poppy Harlow that they were “over the moon this morning” after the authorization was announced by the Indian regulators alongside the vaccine producer partners.

“This is the first Covid vaccine specifically for global health, for the world’s low and middle-income countries. It’s a recombinant vaccine that uses similar technology that makes the Hepatitis B vaccine,” he added.

“They have now 150 million doses ready to go and are now producing 100 million doses a month with plans to produce a billion doses. As of today, our Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development at Baylor has equaled or doubled the US government commitment to global health equity. It’s so exciting for us,” Hotez told CNN.

More on the vaccine: The vaccine, called Corbevax, was tested in 3,000 volunteers in two trials, the hospital said. No serious adverse events were seen, the hospital said, and the trials showed people developed an immune response that should be expected to correlate with 90% protection or better against the original coronavirus strain and 80% against the Delta strain for preventing symptomatic illness.?

It’s made using a genetically engineered piece of coronavirus grown in yeast, combined with immune-stimulating compounds called adjuvants. It’s been licensed by BCM Ventures, Baylor College of Medicine’s commercialization team, to Biological E. Limited based in Hyderabad, India.?

See Bottazzi’s tweet about the vaccine:

Passengers wear face masks at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport in Vantaa, Finland on July 13, 2020 as Finnish Government eased COVID-19 pandemic in and out travel restrictions with several EU countries.

Finland announced Tuesday it is tightening entry into the country, requiring proof of vaccination against Covid-19 or full recovery from the virus within the past six months.

“Internal border control will be reinstated at Finland’s borders starting on Tuesday 28 December. There will also be other changes to the restrictions on entry, and as of 28 December, the same restrictions will apply to everyone arriving in Finland from abroad,” the Finnish interior ministry said in a news release, adding that the new measures will be implemented until Jan. 16, 2022.

At least 78.8% of Finland’s population has been vaccinated against Covid-19 and received at least two doses of the vaccine, according to the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare.?

An EMS medic from the Houston Fire Department prepares to transport a Covid-19 positive girl, age 2, to a hospital on August 25, 2021 in Houston, Texas.

Dr. Adrienne Randolph, a pediatric critical care physician at Boston Children’s Hospital, told CNN that children are “one of our?most vulnerable populations” for infection from the more transmissible Omicron variant.

“Now with Omicron, it may be more?transmissible than Delta, that still has to be shown.?But we are seeing a very rapid?number of hospitalizations in?children, they are one of our?most vulnerable populations and?have the lowest vaccination?rates currently,” Randolph said.

The doctor noted that while the transmissibility of Omicron is part of the problem, the low vaccination rate is driving the increase in the hospitalizations of children as well.

The doctor offered parents advice, including urging them to get vaccinated and boosted because “if they get sick, they?can’t take care of the children?who get sick.”

“Most of these healthy?children are going to do fine,?have a mild illness.?It is supportive care.?Also they need to try to isolate?them as best you can to keep?others from getting infected?because children are contagious?when they have the virus as much?as adults, so it is important to?prevent the spread further,” Randolph said.

“But most healthy children will?do fine with Covid, and have a?mild cold.?And some don’t have any symptoms?at all,” she added.

Here’s what we know about children and Covid-19 hospitalizations: Nearly 2,000 children across the?US right now are hospitalized?with confirmed or suspected?Covid-19 cases.?That is up from around 700 just?last month.?In New York City,?pediatric hospital admissions?have jumped nearly five-fold over?a three-week period.?

In Washington, DC, nearly half?of Covid-19 tests at Children’s?National Hospital are coming?back positive.?In Chicago, hospitalizations?have quadrupled over the past?week.?

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed talks to CNN

While Covid-19 cases are sharply rising across the US, the winter season is also a time for the common cold. Symptoms for the two can certainly look the same — sore throat, runny nose, cough and headache, among others.

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed gives guidance to people trying to figure out if they have been infected and need to get tested or if they just have a cold.

If you were exposed to someone with Covid-19, “it increases the probability” that you may have the virus too, El-Sayed said.

Here’s what to pay attention to:

“Even though with Omicron, it’s less likely that you’re going to lose your sense of smell or sense of taste, those are really specific for Covid-19,” he said.

Another common symptom with Omicron is a headache, El-Sayed added.

Watch CNN’s interview with the doctor here.

A medical worker administers a COVID-19 test at a new testing site inside the Times Square subway station on December 27, 2021 in New York City. After a week of record-breaking positive COVID test rates, New York City officials and agencies are working to ramp up testing accessibility and turnaround times.

CNN readers from around the world have asked more than 150,000 questions (and counting) about coronavirus. We’re reading as many as we can and answering some of the most popular questions here.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new isolation guidelines have sparked new questions about how to follow the measures and safely plan for New Year’s Eve events.?

Here are answers to some key questions:

Q: What should I do if I test positive for Covid-19? How long do I need to isolate?

A: “Given what we currently know about COVID-19 and the Omicron variant, CDC is shortening the recommended time for isolation from 10 days for people with COVID-19 to?5 days, if asymptomatic, followed by 5 days of wearing a mask?when around others,” the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a Dec. 27 update.

The update did not explicitly say how long infected people who still had symptoms need to isolate. The CDC has previously said?people with symptomatic Covid-19 should isolate for 10 days.

“To calculate your 10 full day isolation period, day 0 is your first day of symptoms,”?the CDC said Dec. 9. “Day 1 is the first full day?after?your symptoms developed.”

The decision to reduce isolation times for those who are asymptomatic after 5 days was motivated by research showing the majority of Covid-19 spread “occurs early in the course of illness, generally in the 1-2 days prior to onset of symptoms and the 2-3 days after,”?the CDC said Dec. 27.

“Therefore, people who test positive should isolate for 5 days and, if asymptomatic at that time, they may leave isolation if they can continue to mask for 5 days to minimize the risk of infecting others.”

Q: What should I do if I was recently exposed to someone who now has Covid-19? How long do I have to quarantine?

A: It depends on whether you’re fully vaccinated and boosted, the CDC says.

Those who have received a booster shot “do not need to quarantine following an exposure, but should wear a mask for 10 days after the exposure,”?the CDC said?in a Dec. 27 update.

“For people who are unvaccinated or are more than six months out from their second mRNA dose (or more than 2 months after the J&J vaccine) and not yet boosted,?CDC now recommends quarantine for 5 days followed by strict mask use for an additional 5 days,” the CDC said.

“Alternatively, if a 5-day quarantine is not feasible, it is imperative that an exposed person?wear a well-fitting mask?at all times when around others for 10 days after exposure.”

For anyone who was exposed to someone with Covid-19, it’s a good idea to get tested 5 days after exposure, the CDC said.

“If symptoms occur,?individuals should immediately quarantine until a negative test?confirms symptoms are not attributable to COVID-19,” the CDC said.

Read the full Q&A here.

A five-fold increase in pediatric admissions in New York City this month. Close to double the numbers admitted in Washington, DC. And nationwide, on average, pediatric hospitalizations are up 35% in just the past week.

The highly transmissible?Omicron variant?is teaming up with the busy holiday season to infect more children across the United States than ever before, and children’s hospitals are bracing for it to get even worse.

“Cases are continuing to rise between Christmas gatherings and we’re going to continue to see more numbers this week from that,” Spinner said in a telephone interview.

“Now we’re going to have New Year’s on top of that this coming weekend, with more people getting together — more exposures and then those numbers will continue to climb,” he added.

Across the country, pediatricians are bracing for a busy January.

“It’s almost like you can see the train coming down the track and you’re just hoping it doesn’t go off the rails,” Dr. Claudia Hoyen, director of pediatric infection control at UH Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland told CNN.

“It’s going to be a very interesting couple of weeks. We’ve just had all of these kids mixing together with everybody else during Christmas. We have one more holiday to get through with New Year’s, and then we’ll be sending everybody back to school,” Hoyen said.

And while the Delta variant infected more children than previous variants, Omicron is looking even worse, Spinner said.

Read more about the rise in pediatric hospitalizations here.

US Army Critical Care Nurse, Captain Edward Rauch Jr., prepares to enter a room of a Covid-19 patient on a ventilator at Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn, Michigan, on December 17, 2021. - Beaumont Hospital is assisted by 23 military medical personnel from the US Army, sent by the Department of Defense, to assist during the health system's fourth Covid-19 surge.

Even as hospitalizations rise more gradually compared to surging Omicron case numbers, some parts of the US are seeing Covid-19 hospitalizations at or near all-time records for the pandemic.?

Four states — Michigan, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire — hit their all-time pandemic peak hospitalization numbers this month, according to a CNN review of data from the US Department of Health and Human Services.

All four have seen hospitalizations decline in the last few days.

Other areas are seeing hospitalization numbers near pandemic peaks.

Washington, DC, with 363 hospitalized as of Monday, is nearly tied with its peak of 383 in January. Ohio, Indiana and Delaware are all seeing hospital numbers at least 80% as high as their all-time records last winter, according to a CNN analysis of HHS data.

Austrian airport authorities turned back about 100 British travelers after it was determined that they did not adhere to the latest requirements for entry in place for safety against Covid-19, according to the Innsbruck Airport deputy head Patrick Dierich.

Those varied from not being boosted in addition to carrying a negative PCR test — a new requirement which came into effect on the Dec. 25 for four countries including the UK — to not being vaccinated at all but carrying a PCR test, and other mishaps, Dierich tells CNN.

About 90% of British arrivals were in possession of the correct requirements. But 60 passengers were checked, found to be wanting of the right requirements and flown straight back, Dierich said. About 40 passengers were put up in an Innsbruck hotel and flown out the next day.

Last week, Austria announced tougher new entry restrictions, but it is unclear when they were made public for English-speaking travelers. The Austrian health ministry now has those restrictions published on its website.

The Austrian authorities agreed to those restrictions last Wednesday, says the ORF national public broadcaster; three days before they came into effect.

The Deputy Minister of Health Care and Public Health of the Community, Antonio Zapatero, and the Director General of Public Health, Elena Andradas, in an appearance to update information on the epidemiological and care situation by coronavirus in the region, on 28 December, 2021 in Madrid, Spain. During his speech, they detailed that the Community of Madrid has performed 93,000 coronavirus tests in a single day last week. In addition, 50,000 more tests have been added in hospitals during the last five days.

The Spanish capital of Madrid will be the only big city in Spain, and one of the few in Europe, to ring in the New Year with a large celebration.

Berlin, London, Paris and Rome have all canceled their traditional festivities.?

Organizers in Madrid have capped celebrations in the Puerta del Sol square, in the city centre, at 7,000 people, roughly 60% of the crowd expected in 2019, before the pandemic hit. People in attendance will be required to wear face coverings and observe social distancing rules, the organizers said.

Madrid is the only one of Spain’s largest cities to carry on with its New Year’s Eve celebrations. Barcelona and Valencia have canceled their fireworks displays in a bid to get people to to stay at home.

Six regional governments in northern Spain have agreed to coordinate early closing hours for restaurants, bars and nightclubs.

The six regions —Aragon, Basque Country, Navarra, Asturias, Cantabria and La Rioja — have a lot of movement between them and authorities in each wanted similar closing hours, the Aragon health department press department said.?

The restrictions are similar to those implemented last week in Catalonia — a region that includes the city of Barcelona, known for its busy nightlife — where authorities announced rules to close non-essential businesses by 1 a.m. They also imposed a curfew between 1 a.m. to 6 a.m.?in towns with more than 10,000 residents where?Covid-19 cases are high.

The measures combined put restrictions on nearly 14 million people, about 29% of Spain’s population.?

The Spanish Health Ministry’s latest data, issued late Monday, shows an increase in the rate of?Covid-19 infections, from 911 cases per 100,000 last Thursday to 1,206 cases per 100,000.

There were 214,619 new?Covid-19 cases since last Thursday, and officials have said the Omicron variant is rapidly gaining in Spain.?

Flight attendants wearing protective masks walk through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., on Wednesday, April 7, 2021.

The Association of Flight?Attendants has criticized the CDC’s new isolation guidelines for those who test positive for Covid-19, saying it will be on the lookout for employees being pressured to return to work prematurely.?

The CDC on Monday?shortened the recommended times?that people should?isolate?when they’ve tested positive for Covid-19 from 10 days to five days if they don’t have symptoms — and if they wear a mask around others for at least five more days.

The association notes that the five-day period only applies to those who are asymptomatic.?

Customers inside an Apple store in New York, U.S., on Friday, Sept. 24, 2021.

Customers will not be able to browse at Apple’s New York City stores as Covid-19 cases there rise. But they can buy products online and pick them up in person, Apple spokesperson Monica Fernandez said.?

“We regularly monitor conditions and we will adjust both our health measures and store services to support the wellbeing of customers and employees,” Apple?said in a statement.?

“We remain committed to a comprehensive approach for our teams that combines regular testing with daily health checks, employee and customer masking, deep cleaning and paid sick leave.”

Arvind Kejriwal, National Convener of Aam Aadmi Party and Chief Minister of Delhi, addresses a gathering during a rally at Khudiyan village lambi constituency on December 16, 2021 in Muktsar, India.

Authorities in the Indian capital of New Delhi have put further Covid-19 restrictions in place,?including a nightly curfew,?after a?surge in Omicron coronavirus cases over the past few days.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced the measures Tuesday after the city registered two consecutive days of a positive testing rate above 0.5%, the threshold that triggers an alert to be issued.

A curfew between 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. will be implemented. Bars and restaurants will be restricted to 50% capacity, while the opening hours of stores in malls and markets will also be restricted. All health complexes, swimming pools, schools and colleges will be closed until further notice.?

?Despite the new measures, Kejriwal sought to keep the city’s resident’s calm.

India reported more than 6,300 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, the health ministry said. The country has also recorded 653 cases of the Omicron variant so far, of which 165 of those are in the wider state of Delhi.?

India’s national drug regulator also issued approvals?Tuesday?for two more?domestically produced?vaccines,?the?Serum Institute of India’s Covovax and Biological E’s Corbevax coronavirus vaccines,?and emergency use of Merck’s Covid-19 pill?molnupiravir.

Passengers wait in line to check in for their flights at the Dulles International Airport on December 27. Thousands of flights have been canceled as a surge in Covid-19 cases impacts airline staff.

More than 2,000 flights have been canceled globally so far on Tuesday, as the surge in Omicron causes huge disruption during one of the industry’s busiest periods.

According to the tracking website FlightAware, 2,046 flights had been canceled as of 4.20 a.m. ET. More than 600 of them were either domestic US flights, or international flights flying in or out of the country. More than 2,000 other flights have been delayed.

Much of the disruption has been caused by staff calling in sick, several major airlines have reported.

Globally, airlines canceled more than 6,000 flights on Christmas Eve, Christmas and Boxing Day. In the US, more than 1,200 flights were canceled and more than 5,000 were delayed on Sunday alone. More than 3,000 flights were cancelled on Monday according to FlightAware.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, wears a face mask during the White House COVID-19 Response Team's regular call with the National Governors Association in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House Campus, Monday, Dec. 27, 2021, in Washington. Fauci says the U.S. should consider a vaccination mandate for domestic air travel as coronavirus infections surge. To date the Biden administration has balked at the idea, anticipating legal entanglements.

Covid-19 numbers keep soaring as travelers scatter back across the country after Christmas and Americans prepare for another holiday weekend.

The US is now averaging more than 198,000 new Covid-19 cases each day, according to Sunday data from Johns Hopkins University. That’s 47% higher than a week ago and the highest such number since January 19.

“I think we’re going to see half a million cases a day — easy — sometime over the next week to 10 days,” CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner told CNN on Sunday.

About 71,000 Americans were hospitalized with Covid-19 as of Sunday, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.

With the highly contagious Omicron variant, “We’re certainly going to continue to see a surge (in cases) for a while,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN on Monday.

Looking ahead to New Year’s Eve on Friday, small gatherings of fully vaccinated people will be safe, Fauci said. But he advised people to avoid large parties where they don’t know the vaccination status of all guests.

“When you are talking about a New Year’s Eve party where you have 30, 40, 50 people celebrating, you do not know the status of the vaccination, I would recommend strongly: Stay away from that this year,” said Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

“There will be other years to do that. But not this year.”

Read the full story here:

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 13: A sign on the door of a coffee shop in Manhattan ask for proof of vaccination and the wearing of a mask on the day that a mask mandate went into effect in New York on December 13, 2021 in New York City. As parts of New York are seeing a surge in Covid cases, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has enacted a new mask mandate with fines up to $1,000 per violation. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Related article New York's latest vaccine mandate begins Monday as Omicron spreads

Students and teachers queue up for COVID-19 nucleic acid testing at Northwestern Polytechnical University during a snowfall on December 25 2021 in Xi an, Shaanxi Province of China.

Northwestern China’s Xi’an recorded 175 locally transmitted Covid-19 cases on Monday — the highest daily infection count in a Chinese city since March 2020.

Xi’an has now recorded 810 locally transmitted cases since its cluster began on December 9, one of the worst localized outbreaks in China since Wuhan became the epicenter of the pandemic in 2019.

Xi’an, home to 13 million people, went into strict lockdown on December 23, closing public venues and transportation except essential services like supermarkets and hospitals.

It further tightened Covid control measures on Monday as local infections increased, requiring all residents to stay at home unless permitted to leave for mass testing.

Soldiers sent to help: State-run newspaper People’s Daily said 150 military medics from the People’s Liberation Army Air Force were sent to Xi’an to assist in local hospitals on Monday, some with experience fighting the initial Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan.

Official says outbreak is under control: While cases are expected to rise in the coming days, the Xi’an outbreak is under control, according to Wei Xiaoli of the city’s CDC. He told a Monday news conference that residents “don’t need to worry too much about the rapid increase of cases,” which have been uncovered by mass testing programs in the city.

According to the National Health Commission, China reported 182 locally-transmitted symptomatic cases on Monday — 180 of them in northwestern Shaanxi province, of which Xi’an is the capital.

One case each was found in southeastern Zhejiang province and southwestern Yunnan province.

Read more about the situation in Xi’an:

Mandatory Credit: Photo by CHINE NOUVELLE/SIPA/Shutterstock (12658973f) (211225) - XI'AN, Dec. 25, 2021 (Xinhua) - Staff members disinfect packed vegetables at a residential area under quarantine in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Dec. 25, 2021. Xi'an initiated closed-off management for communities and villages on Thursday in an effort to curb the spread of the latest COVID-19 resurgence. More than 3,000 nucleic acid testing sites in Xi'an are working to provide services for residents in communities and on roadsides. Tens of thousands of frontline workers and volunteers are working against the clock to contain the virus. To swiftly contain the spread of the virus, local authorities have rolled out urgent measures while ensuring the city's residents have access to daily necessities. China Shaanxi xi'an Covid 19 Prevention and Control - 25 Dec 2021

Related article China tightens Xi'an lockdown as city reports highest daily Covid-19 cases in nearly 2 years

Health workers congregate ahead of the opening of the SydPath COVID-19 testing clinic at Bondi Beach on December 28, 2021 in Sydney, Australia. Covid-19 testing clinics are at capacity in Sydney with increased demand and centres closing for public holidays.

Hundreds of people who were told they did not have Covid-19 have now discovered they do, after a Sydney testing center admitted it sent out incorrect PCR results.

SydPath, operated by St. Vincent’s Hospital, said Tuesday 486 of 950 people who received negative results by SMS have had that result overturned.

On Monday SydPath said it sent negative results by SMS to 995 people tested on December 23 and 24 despite their PCR tests not having been processed. That number has since been revised to 950 people.?

The blunder was detected by the hospital as it investigated how a further 400 people swabbed on December 22 and 23 received a negative result despite being positive for Covid-19.

SydPath said Tuesday the mistake came from a human error, as the clinic “moved from an automated system to a manual system to expedite the release of negative test results.”

A surge in cases and a requirement for domestic travelers to gain a negative PCR result has strained the testing system in New South Wales (NSW).

On Tuesday, NSW recorded a further 6,062 cases and one death, while the state of Victoria recorded 2,737 cases and four deaths.?

There are currently 60 Covid-19 patients in ICU in NSW and 69 receiving active ICU treatment in Victoria.

A five-fold increase in pediatric admissions in New York City this month. Close to double the numbers admitted in Washington, DC. And nationwide, on average, pediatric hospitalizations are up 35% in just the past week.

The highly transmissible Omicron variant is teaming up with the busy holiday season to infect more children across the United States than ever before, and children’s hospitals are bracing for it to get even worse.

Read more:

Healthcare workers put on PPE on the Covid-19 ICU floor of the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Memorial Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S., on Monday, Dec. 27, 2021. On Friday, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported 10,040 new confirmed Covid cases, marking the third consecutive day that a record was set for most cases in a single day in the state. Photographer: Allison Dinner/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Related article New Omicron variant fills children's hospitals

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday?shortened the recommended times?that people should isolate when they’ve tested positive for Covid-19 from 10 days to five days if they don’t have symptoms — and if they wear a mask around others for at least five more days.

The CDC also?shortened the recommended time?for people to quarantine if they are exposed to the virus to a similar five days if they are vaccinated. People who are fully vaccinated and boosted may not need to quarantine at all, the CDC said.

People whose symptoms are getting better may also leave their homes after five days so long as their symptoms are improving, the CDC said. People who have a fever should stay home until the fever clears up, the CDC added.

Read more:

People wait in line as city workers hand out take-home Covid-19 test kits in lower Manhattan on December 23, 2021 in New York City.

Related article CDC shortens recommended Covid-19 isolation and quarantine time