Surgeon General: 'The next few weeks will be tough'
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What we covered here
Novak Djokovic has arrived back in Belgrade after deportation from Australia.
Tickets for the Beijing Winter Olympics will no longer be sold to the general public, after the Chinese capital reported its first case of the Omicron variant.
India has curtailed political activities ahead of upcoming elections after reporting more than 250,000 daily Covid-19 cases for five days in a row.
1 in 5 Americans have been infected with Covid-19 during the pandemic
From CNN's Virginia Langmaid
Twenty percent of Americans have now been infected with Covid-19 over the course of the pandemic, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
According to JHU data, at least 66,356,336 cases of Covid-19 have been detected over the course of the pandemic in the US. More than 800,000 people have died.
The US is currently averaging 777,453 new cases and 1,797 new deaths per day, according to JHU data.
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Health expert: Fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccine “too late” for fighting Omicron in the US
From CNN's Leinz Vales
A person receives a fourth dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine at Ichilov Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Centre in Israel's Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv on January 3.
Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images
Dean for the National School of Tropical Medicine Dr. Peter Hotez said Monday that a fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine would be “too late” to combat Omicron in the United States.
“By the time you get that through and get the FDA and CDC to sign off on it and by the time we get an immune response and vaccinated health care providers and that’s the group I suggested that we tried it for it will be three or four weeks from now and by then possibly the Omicron wave will have subsided substantially and we’ll be having to worry about the next variant,” Hotez told CNN’s Poppy Harlow.
Early results from an Israeli study show a fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine can increase antibodies, but it still not be enough to prevent Omicron breakthrough cases.
Israel began 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 last month.
Hotez cautioned that experts in the US still need to review the final data from Israel before any recommendations on treatment.
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Canadian officials call Pfizer antiviral drug approval "a new tool" in the toolbox
From CNN’s Taylor Romine
Pfizer's Paxlovid pill, a COVID-19 antiviral drug.
Health officials recommend that the drug, which is five-day treatment that can be taken at home, be prioritized for residents in high-risk groups with mild to moderate Covid-19 symptoms. But ultimately, provinces will make their own guidelines for distribution, they said.
Health officials said that this will include those who are moderately or severely immunocompromised and people 80 years-old and older who do not have up-to-date vaccinations, said Dr. Theresa Tam, chief public health officer of Canada. In addition, she said people who are age 60 and older who live in rural or underserved areas or are part of the First Nations are recommended for priority access.
It will be required that anyone taking the drug have a positive Covid-19 test, either a PCR or a rapid test, and start treatment within five days of symptoms, health officials said.
Tam said the tests will be distributed on a per-capita basis. Canada ordered an initial quantity of one million treatment doses in December, she said, but officials are still working to firm up an official delivery schedule. Regardless, the antiviral pill will be in short supply when it is first distributed as the drug is in high demand around the world, Tam said.
Several reporters asked about concerns of long wait times for Covid-19 test results and how that might interfere with getting timely treatment, but several health officials said that they hope that those in high-risk categories are prioritized for test results and will allow quick treatment.
Tam added that each community is going to be “a little different” in how they roll out the drug and that it is best to pay attention local guidelines.
Health officials said that ultimately, they hope that the anti-viral will help blunt the severity of the illness and will help keep more people out of the hospital to reduce the strain on the health care system.
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Moderna should have data on Omicron-specific vaccine in March, company CEO says
From CNN's Virginia Langmaid
A pharmacist prepares a booster dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic on December 29 in Lawrence, Massachusetts.
Charles Krupa/AP
Moderna should have data available on its Omicron-specific Covid-19 vaccine in March, company CEO Stéphane Bancel said Monday.
“It should be in the clinic in the coming weeks. And we’re hoping in the March timeframe, we should be able to have data to share with regulators to figure out the next step forward,” he said in a panel conversation at Davos.
“That’s always been a great partnership between public health experts, the regulators and vaccine makers to figure out what’s the best path,” he said.
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Tell us if you have tried to get a free at-home Covid-19 tests at a retailer
From CNN's Tami Luhby
Many Americans can now get at-home Covid-19 tests at no cost through their private insurance. They can obtain the tests from pharmacies, retailers and online vendors.
The program, which began Saturday, is part of the Biden administration’s effort to increase access to testing around the US.
But some people are having trouble getting the free tests and many Medicare enrollees are discovering that they don’t qualify.
If you’ve tried to obtain home Covid-19 tests at no cost, share your story with us. You could be featured in an upcoming story.
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Djokovic must comply with local health rules to compete in Madrid Open, Spain's prime minister says
From CNN’s Al Goodman in Madrid
Tennis star Novak Djokovic arrives in Belgrade Monday.
Darko Bandic/AP
Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic has to comply with Spain’s health rules to be able to compete in Madrid Open that kicks off in late April, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday.
Sanchez lauded Australia’s decision to deport Djokovic, saying he has “total respect for the decision of the Australian government.”
Spain currently requires visitors to show proof of full vaccination, a recent PCR negative test within 72 hours before arrival or a certificate of having recovered from Covid-19, according to its health ministry.
International sporting events in the country may add additional rules for participants such as Covid-19 testing on a daily basis during the tournament, a senior government official told CNN on Monday.
Hear what Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic had to say about Djokovic getting deported:
Greece's vaccine mandate goes into effect for those aged 60 and over
From CNN’s Chris Liakos
A man wearing a face mask sits on a bench as pedestrians walk outside Evangelismos hospital in Athens, Greece, Monday, January 17, 2022.
Thanassis Stavrakis/AP
A vaccine mandate for those aged 60 years and is now in effect in Greece.
Greek government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou suggested the mandate had helped get that group vaccinated.
“It is important that 90%, nine out of 10, of our fellow citizens over the age of 60, have now been vaccinated. Almost half of those who were unvaccinated, when the mandate was announced, made … the choice to get vaccinated,” he said during a news briefing.
The mandate, which came into effect midnight Sunday into Monday Greek time, does not apply to those who have exemption approval due to health reasons and does not impose fines on those who need to be vaccinated at home and are awaiting for a slot.
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Chairman of Joint Chiefs Gen. Milley tests positive for Covid-19
From CNN's Barbara Starr
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley.
Anna Moneymaker/Pool/Getty Images
Gen. Mark Milley tested positive for Covid-19 Sunday and “is experiencing very minor symptoms,” Joint Staff spokesperson Col. Dave Butler said in a statement Monday.
Milley “is working remotely and isolating himself from contact with others,” Butler said, adding that the top US general “can perform all of his duties from the remote location.”
“He has received the Covid-19 vaccines including the booster,” Butler said.
According to the statement, Milley most recently had contact with President Joe Biden on Wednesday, Jan. 12, at Gen. Raymond Odierno’s funeral.
“He tested negative several days prior to and every day following contact with the President until yesterday,” Butler said.
“All other Joint Chiefs of Staff except for one tested negative for COVID-19 yesterday,” he said.
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Moderna: Combined Covid-19 and flu booster could be available by fall 2023
From CNN’s Livvy Doherty
Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said Monday, January 17, 2022, that a combined Covid-19 and flu booster shot from Moderna could be available in some countries by fall 2023. Vials of the Moderna Inc. Covid-19 vaccine is seen in this file photo dated December 28, 2021.
Veejay Villafranca/Bloomberg/Getty Images
A combined Covid-19 and flu booster shot from Moderna could be available in some countries by fall 2023 at the earliest, CEO Stéphane Bancel said Monday.
Speaking at the Davos Agenda, a virtual event being held this week by the World Economic Forum, Bancel said this date was a “best case scenario,” but that he believed it was possible for some countries next year.
He explained it was a goal for the company to have a single annual booster shot available to avoid “compliance issues” where people are wary about getting multiple shots every winter.
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Paris police orders masks to be worn in outdoor markets and other crowded areas
From CNN’s Joseph Ataman in Paris
Visitors wear protective masks at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, in this file photo dated January 12, 2022.
Nathan Laine/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Masks are to be worn outside in certain crowded areas in Paris, the prefecture police announced Monday.
The new decree imposes obligatory wearing of masks in areas where “the density of people does not guarantee, without the wearing of masks, the proper upholding of barrier measures,” the prefecture statement said, referring to acts like social distancing against Covid-19 infections.
According to the statement, masks should be worn in outdoor markets, at rallies or gatherings of 10 or more people in public, when waiting for public transport or outside stations and malls, as well as outside teaching and cultural institutions.
This comes after Paris’ administrative tribunal ruled on Thursday that the city-wide outdoors mask mandate was “disproportionate.” Courts in the towns of Versailles and Nantes also ruled against city-wide mask mandates last week.
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China will not sell tickets for Winter Olympics to general public due to Covid-19
From CNN's Beijing Bureau
\Workers set up Winter Olympics-themed installation at Dongdan area on January 14, 2022 in Beijing, China.
Jiang Qiming/China News Service/Getty Images
Tickets for the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics will not be sold to the general public in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee announced Monday. Instead, they will be distributed by authorities.
“In terms of the grim and complex situation of epidemic prevention and control [and] in order to protect the health and safety of Olympic personnel and spectators, we have decided to change the original plan of public ticket sales,” the committee announced.
This announcement comes after the Chinese capital reported its first case of the highly transmissible Omicron variant on Saturday.
The prevention control policy issued in September had already restricted ticket sales to only spectators residing in mainland China and who met the requirements of the Covid-19 countermeasures.
Audiences will still be required to “strictly comply with Covid-19 prevention and control requirements before, during and after watching the Games,” the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee added.
The Games are set to begin Friday, Feb. 4.
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Unvaccinated adults will face fines under Austria's new vaccine mandate
From CNN's Nina Avramova in London
Austria will implement a wide-ranging Covid-19 vaccine mandate, which includes fines for unvaccinated adults, from February 1.
The government announced last November that a vaccine mandate was necessary to address the low vaccination rate in the country. The first draft of the law was published in December, and a revised draft was published Monday and is now going through parliament.
Everyone age 18 and over living in Austria must be vaccinated against Covid-19, according to the latest draft. A few groups of people are exempt, such as pregnant people, people recovered from a Covid-19 infection (who are exempt for 180 days from a positive PCR test), and people who cannot be vaccinated without endangering their health.
“The mandatory vaccination isn’t coming in a sudden way, instead it is coming in a phased approach,” Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer told public broadcaster ORF Sunday.
No fines will be issued during the initial phase, which lasts until mid-March, said Nehammer. From March 15, law enforcement will start checking if people are adhering to the new law, for example by examining their vaccination status during traffic controls.
In the third stage of the mandate, these reminder dates will be followed up with “vaccine dates.” People who haven’t got shots or an exemption by then will be issued with fines.
There will be two “vaccine dates” each year. A person can be given a maximum of four fines annually, which would total €2,400 ($2,741).
The vaccine mandate is planned to last until January 31, 2024 and it will be continually assessed until then, according to the Austrian health ministry.
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Germany sees record Covid-19 incidence rate, as ICU admissions decrease
A sign reminds pedestrians along a shopping center in Frankfurt, Germany, on Monday, January 17, 2022 that mask wearing are mandatory to be worn out in public.
Sebastian Gollnow/Picture Alliance/Getty Images
Germany is seeing a record-high weekly incidence rate of Covid-19 due to the Omicron wave, but intensive care admissions are starting to decrease, according to health officials.
On Monday the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases reported a seven-day incidence rate of 528.2 cases per 100k people, as overall infections surpassed 8 million since the pandemic began.
Berlin is a new hotspot in the country with various parts of the capital reporting up to 1,596 infections per 100k people, according to RKI figures.
Meanwhile, intensive care units are starting to feel some relief with fewer patients being admitted, tweeted Christian Karagiannidis of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency on Sunday.
However, health minister Karl Lauterbach warned that recovery from Omicron does not replace vaccination in a tweet on Sunday.
“[People] non-vaccinated with Omicron infections will have little protection next fall against other variants,” he warned. “This is the price of an escape variant.”
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Covid-19 vaccination to be required for athletes competing in France, says sports ministry
From CNN’s Joseph Ataman in Paris and Aleks Klosok in London
View of Philippe-Chatrier court at Roland Garros in Paris, France in this file photo dated on September 21, 2020.
Stephane Cardinale/Corbis/Getty Images
All professional athletes who wish to compete in France will have to be vaccinated against Covid-19, France’s sports ministry told CNN on Monday.
France’s vaccine pass law, approved by parliament on Sunday, will require people to have a vaccine certificate to enter public places such as restaurants, cafes, cinemas and sports arenas, among others.
“The rule is simple. The vaccine pass will be required once the law comes into force in institutions that were already subject to the health pass (sporting or cultural). This will apply to everyone (spectators, professional sportspeople),” a French Sports Ministry spokeswoman told CNN.
The French Open previously allowed for unvaccinated players to compete as they operated in a bubble around the tournament.
Djokovic is the reigning men’s singles champion on the clay courts of Roland Garros.
“As for Roland Garros, it’s in May. The situation may change by then and it is hoped that it will be more favorable. So we’ll see, but now clearly it’s not exception [from the rules],” the spokeswoman added.
The World No.1, who has not been vaccinated against Covid-19, was deported from Australia on Sunday after losing his legal challenge against a decision to revoke his visa for a second time.
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Novak Djokovic arrives back in Belgrade after deportation from Australia
From CNN's Stephanie Halasz
Novak Djokovic looks as his documents after landing in Belgrade, Serbia, Monday.
Darko Bandic/AP
Novak Djokovic has arrived back in the Serbian capital of Belgrade after his deportation from Australia ended his hopes of playing in the Australian Open.
Djokovic, the world number one men’s tennis player, traveled to Serbia from Melbourne via Dubai.
He lost a court challenge on Sunday against the Australian government’s decision to cancel his visa on public health and order grounds.
Under Australian law, Djokovic can be banned from the country for three years, though Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews hasn’t ruled out an exemption.
“Any application will be reviewed on its merits,” she said.
Djokovic arrived in Melbourne nearly two weeks ago and promptly had his visa canceled for failing to show why he was medically exempt from having the Covid-19 vaccine.
Travelers to Hawaii may soon need a Covid booster to avoid isolation period
From CNN's Lilit Marcus
Hawaii will likely soon require visitors to have a Covid booster shot if they want to travel to the islands.
State Governor David Ige told reporters that his office is strongly considering changing its definition of “fully vaccinated” from two doses of an approved Covid vaccine to three.
That would mean that travelers who have not had booster shots will have to isolate for five days upon arrival in Hawaii at their own expense.
Currently, only American travelers can visit Hawaii with very few exceptions for international tourists. Tourism is regulated through the state’s Safe Travels program, where people can upload their vaccination records to the online portal ahead of their flight.
Credit Suisse chairman resigns after investigation that reportedly examined Covid-19 rule breaches
From CNN's Michelle Toh
The chairman of Credit Suisse has resigned following an investigation commissioned by the Swiss bank’s board that reportedly looked at claims that he broke Covid-19 rules.
António Horta-Osório said in a statement issued by Credit Suisse on Monday that “a number of my personal actions have led to difficulties for the bank and compromised my ability to represent the bank internally and externally.”
“I therefore believe that my resignation is in the interest of the bank and its stakeholders at this crucial time,” he added.
The statement did not reveal the nature of the investigation into Horta-Osório, who only joined the bank last April following a decade at the helm of British bank Lloyds (LLDTF).
But the Wall Street Journal said the inquiry focused on conduct including travel that breached Covid rules and his personal use of corporate aircraft.
Europe's loud, rule-breaking unvaccinated minority are falling out of society
From CNN's Rob Picheta
Before Covid-19, Nicolas Rimoldi had never attended a protest.
But somewhere along the pandemic’s long and tortuous road, which saw his native Switzerland imposing first one lockdown, then another, and finally introducing vaccination certificates, Rimoldi decided he had had enough.
Because he has chosen not to get vaccinated, student and part-time supermarket cashier Rimoldi is – for now, at least – locked out of much of public life.
Without a vaccine certificate, he can no longer complete his degree or work in a grocery store. He is barred from eating in restaurants, attending concerts or going to the gym.
As the pandemic has moved into its third year, and the Omicron variant has sparked a new wave of cases, governments around the world are still grappling with the challenge of bringing the virus under control.
Vaccines, one of the most powerful weapons in their armories, have been available for a year but a small, vocal minority of people – such as Rimoldi – will not take them.
Beijing locks down building after single Omicron case detected
From CNN's Jessie Yeung and Beijing Bureau
At an office building in China’s capital on Sunday, masked Covid control personnel lugged boxes of pillows and bedding through the closely guarded entrance for white collar workers stuck inside, preparing for what may be days of lockdown as Beijing rushes to prevent the spread of Omicron ahead of the Winter Olympics.
The snap lockdown meant the building in the west of the city was sealed off without advance warning, with everybody inside unable to leave and subject to compulsory Covid testing. The decision to lock the office down came after an employee tested positive for Omicron on Saturday – the city’s first recorded case of the highly transmissible variant.
For the past week, officials in Beijing had been on high alert as an Omicron outbreak spread in Tianjin, a major port city just 30 minutes away by high-speed rail. The cluster had already spread to two other cities hundreds of miles away.
According to detailed surveillance data collected by officials, the Beijing woman infected with Omicron had not come into contact with a confirmed case and hadn’t left the capital in the past 14 days, raising fears the variant may already be spreading in the community.
Unlike most of the world, China is pursuing a zero-Covid strategy that relies on stringent restrictions including mass testing, lockdowns and long quarantine for international arrivals.
India reports more than 250,000 Covid-19 cases for fifth day in a row
From CNN's Manveena Suri in New Delhi
India has reported more than quarter of a million confirmed Covid-19 cases, the fifth consecutive day that infections have surpassed that number.
The country logged 258,089 new confirmed Covid-19 cases, bringing its total tally to 37,380,253, according to figures released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday.
The total death toll stands at 486,451, with 385 new deaths recorded Monday.
With cases steadily rising, the Election Commission of India has extended a ban on all physical political rallies, roadshows and other forms of political gatherings for upcoming state elections until January 22, according to an order issued Saturday.
On Sunday India recorded 271,202 new cases, levels not seen since late May during its devastating second wave.
Sunday also marked a year since India launched its vaccination drive. Since then, around 70% of the adult population have been fully vaccinated while 92% have received their first dose.
