Pope Francis will not lead New Year's celebrations at the Vatican, due to discomfort with sciatica, the Vatican reported.
Japan on alert for an upturn in covid-19 cases.
In Victoria, Australia, authorities reported a new coronavirus outbreak after more than two months without local reports.
Pfizer has no data to show that a single dose of its vaccine protects against COVID-19 after 21 days.
China approves use of Sinopharm vaccine.