TOP HEADLINES 

· Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna combined are making more than $1,000 every second and $93.5 million every day from their COVID-19 jabs, according to the Peoples Vaccine Alliance. The organization also reported that Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech distributed the overwhelming majority of their vaccines to wealthy nations, with only 0.2 percent of Moderna's jab and less than 1 percent of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot going to low-income countries.

· Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel said the number of cases reported in her country is "dramatic." She also called for a faster roll-out of booster jabs and asked people to get vaccinated.

WATCH: ANGELA MERKEL'S ASSESSMENT OF THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK IN GERMANY

· Germany's Christmas markets face strict safety rules, or even cancelation, as the country deals with record-breaking case numbers. For example, only people vaccinated or fully recovered will be able to attend the Christmas market on Hamburg's main square this year.

· Both Hungary and Poland are facing their highest daily number of cases since last spring. Poland reported 4,239 new cases on Wednesday, its highest rate since April. And Hungary reported 10,265, its highest count since the end of March.

Eastern Europe is dealing with a surge in infections and Romania, Czechia, Slovakia and Poland have already tightened their restrictions as a result.

· As of Monday, people who are not vaccinated or still recovering from the virus will no longer be able to access public events and services in Czechia. The country's prime minister announced the new restriction on Wednesday – a day after Czechia reported 22,479 new cases. 

· France's top scientific adviser Jean-Francois Delfraissy said he is not against authorities asking companies to encourage more people to work from home. During an interview on France Inter radio on Wednesday, he said that "probably yes … home-working is one element of our toolbox" to deal with a surge of new cases.

· The Netherlands' plan to remove one of the options for unvaccinated people to get a "corona pass," faced strong opposition in parliament. The pass is currently available for people who have been vaccinated, have fully recovered or have tested negative. But on Friday, the country's caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte suggested dropping the last criteria.

However, several politicians argued against dropping the option, saying that doing so would cause social division.

FROM OUR GLOBAL COLLEAGUES

CGTN Europe: AstraZeneca joins Sinovac in delivering over 2bn doses of COVID-19 vaccine

CGTN China: Over 2.4 bln COVID-19 vaccine doses administered on Chinese mainland

CGTN America: Global food prices are at highest level in 45 years

CGTN Africa: Nigeria plans mass vaccination drive, considers booster shot

Video editor: Beijing Feng.