 | | | | Millions of Americans are pushing ahead with holidays that include cross-country flights, busy tourist attractions and indoor dining, even as the surge in COVID-19 infections fueled by the Omicron variant forces them to adapt some plans on the fly. | | | | | | The United States has administered 500,222,330 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Thursday morning and distributed 611,897,975 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. | | | | | | Canada has delayed the implementation of new rules designed to cut drug prices to allow the government to focus on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said on Thursday. | | | | | | The rapid spread of Omicron infections has hospitals in the U.S. Midwest "preparing for the worst," with their intensive care units and medical personnel already severely strained from a wave of the potent Delta variant of COVID-19. | | | | | | The U.S. government has paused the distribution of COVID-19 antibody treatments from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly , saying the therapies were unlikely to be effective against the Omicron coronavirus variant. | | | | | | Endo International Plc has agreed to pay $63 million to resolve claims by the state of Texas and local governments that the drugmaker helped fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic, the state's attorney general said on Thursday. | | | | | | Available data indicates that both Merck's and Pfizer's COVID-19 anti-viral treatments are effective against the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, a top U.S. Federal Drug Administration official said on Thursday. | | | | | | There is a lower risk of hospitalisation for people with the Omicron coronavirus variant compared to Delta, but the higher transmissibility of Omicron could still lead to significant numbers needing hospital treatment, the UK government said. | | | | | | The White House is grateful that former U.S. President Donald Trump received and promoted getting the COVID-19 vaccine booster shot, press secretary Jen Psaki said on Thursday. | | | | | | France had its worst-ever day in terms of new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, with more than 91,000 new cases being recorded while the number of deaths also climbed, as the country battles against a fifth wave of the virus. | | | | | |
