TOP HEADLINES

· Pfizer's late-stage trials have shown its Paxlovid COVID-19 oral antiviral drug can cut the risk of hospitalization or death by 89 percent.

The U.S. pharmaceutical company said it will add the data for the drug to its rolling submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for an emergency use authorization.

· The Latvian parliament on has allowed businesses to fire workers who refuse to either get a COVID-19 vaccine or transfer to remote work. 

The new law allows businesses to suspend the unvaccinated without pay if they refuse to either get the jab or, if possible, to get transferred to remote work. They can then fire the employees if they do not get the vaccine in three months of the suspension.

· A gene has been discovered that doubles the risk of lung failure and death from COVID-19. University of Oxford scientists say 60 percent of people from South Asian backgrounds and 15 percent of people of European ancestry carry the high-risk version of the gene. Vaccines help to significantly reduce the risk, they add.

The study, published in The Nature Genetics, used existing research and artificial intelligence to identify the exact gene responsible, called LZTFL1. 

· German state leaders said hospitals could soon become swamped by coronavirus patients and a new lockdown might be needed unless urgent action is taken to reverse a surge in cases.

"If we take too much time now, it will end in a lockdown like last year," the leader of the eastern state of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer, said. 

The premier of Thuringia, Bodo Ramelow, said it was a matter of days until the situation would mean that there were not enough intensive care beds at hospitals.

· Authorities in Austria's capital Vienna said they would ban people not vaccinated against COVID-19 from cafes, restaurants and events with more than 25 people, pre-empting measures that are likely to be introduced across Austria soon as infections are surging.

Roughly 64 percent of Austria's population is fully vaccinated, matching the European Union average and among the lowest rates in Western Europe. Many Austrians are skeptical about vaccines, a view encouraged by the far-right Freedom Party, the third biggest in parliament.

· Belgium reported a jump in infections and hospitalizations rose back to levels that had forced a lockdown in October 2020, as the U.S. advised against traveling to the EU and NATO host nation.

Data from Belgium's Sciensano health institute showed 6,728 daily new cases on average in the past 14 days, up 36 percent from the previous week. An average of 164 patients with COVID-19 were admitted to hospitals daily over the past seven days, a 31 percent increase, and 343 coronavirus patients were in intensive care.

On Monday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control added Belgium to its highest risk level, discouraging international travel there for those not fully vaccinated.

· French health authorities reported 9,502 daily new infections on Thursday, pushing the seven-day moving average of new cases to a six-week high.

That average – which smoothes out daily reporting irregularities – rose to 6,226, a level unseen since September 22, from a three-month low of 4,172 on October 10.

· Vaccine developer Novavax said it has completed the submission process for emergency use listing of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate with the World Health Organization (WHO). 

The company submitted to the health agency all modules required to evaluate NVX-CoV2373, its protein-based vaccine, days after receiving its first emergency use authorization from Indonesia.

· The White House said that understanding the origins of COVID-19 remains a key focus of the Joe Biden administration and will continue pushing for answers. "It's incredibly important for us to get to the bottom of this," said spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre. "Time is of the essence.”

· The World Health Organization (WHO) called for vaccine makers to prioritize deliveries of jabs to the COVAX dose-sharing facility for poorer countries. It said that no more doses should go to countries with more than 40 percent coverage.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said boosters should not be administered except to immunocompromised people.

· Europe registered a 55 percent rise in cases in the past four weeks, despite the availability of vaccines, which should serve as a "warning shot" to other regions, WHO officials said on Thursday. 

WHO emergency director Mike Ryan said that some European countries have "sub-optimal vaccination coverage," despite availability.

FROM OUR GLOBAL COLLEAGUES

CGTN Europe: Austria's COVID-19 sniffing dogs with a 80% success rate

CGTN China: China to enhance COVID-19 border checks for Winter Olympics 

CGTN America: U.S. can start giving children 5-11 the Pfizer Covid vaccine: CDC 

CGTN Africa: Uganda eases COVID-19 travel restrictions for inbound travelers