The Omicron variant can partially evade protection from two doses of Pfizer and partner BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine, the research head of a laboratory at the Africa Health Research Institute in South Africa said on December 7.

Worldwide coronavirus cases surpassed 90 million on Jan. 11, according to a Reuters tally, as nations around the globe scramble to procure vaccines and continue to extend or reinstate lockdowns to fight new coronavirus variants.

Novavax

Vaccine maker Novavax Inc. pushed back the start of a U.S.-based, late-stage trial for the company’s experimental Covid-19 vaccine.

The coronavirus pandemic is accelerating, with Thursday’s 150,000 new cases the highest in a single day and nearly half of those in the Americas, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.