Live updates: follow the latest news on Covid-19 variant Omicron
India will start giving Covid-19 vaccines to children aged 15 and older, and offer booster shots to at-risk adults as the Omicron coronavirus variant threatens to trigger a third wave of infections.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the decision in a late-night address to the nation on Saturday.
The vaccination of children between 15 and 18 years will begin on January 3, while a third “precaution dose” will be available to healthcare and frontline workers, senior citizens and people with underlying health conditions from January 10.
“Coronavirus is not gone. The world is now talking about Omicron,” Mr Modi said.
“This decision is taken to not only fight against corona but also to give a sense of relief to those students and their parents who are going to schools and colleges."
The government on Sunday gave emergency use approval to the home-grown Covaxin vaccine for immunising 12 to 18-year-olds. It is the second shot to get the nod for use in children after ZyCoV-D, a locally developed vaccine requiring three doses that received approval in November.
The vaccination of children comes as schools and colleges across the country reopen after nearly two years.
Nearly 8 per cent of India's 1.3 billion population is between 15 and 18 years of age.
The government said in November that it was in no rush to administer jabs to children and that its top advisers were studying the scientific data.
India began inoculating frontline workers and senior citizens in January this year before extending the campaign to everyone over 18.
About 90 per cent of its 944 million adults have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine and 61 per cent have been fully inoculated with two doses. Along with Covaxin, the vaccines being used are Covishield – a locally produced version of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and Russia's Sputnik V.
However, scientific studies worldwide show that currently available vaccines are not as effective at preventing infection by the Omicron variant, which was first detected in southern Africa in late November. The new variant has since spread globally and is blamed for surging infections in Europe and the US.
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A man wearing a protective face shield and two mask waits be vaccinated in Quito, Ecuador. Elderly people waited hours to be inoculated. AP Photo -
An aerial view of cars queuing at a drive-in Covid-19 testing site in the car park of Hiram Bithorn baseball stadium, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Reuters -
A shopper wearing a mask is reflected in a window as she walks down Oxford Street in London. Daily numbers of Covid-19 cases have passed 100,000 for the first time in the UK. AP Photo -
A nurse holds a vial of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine, in the Israeli town of Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv. Israelis over the age of 60 and medical teams are being offered a fourth Covid shot. -
An official hands out Covid-19 testing kits in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, in New York. The resumption of holiday travel and the emergence of Omicron has left Americans scrambling to find Covid tests. AFP -
Amelie and Ludo Khayat hold each other during a visit at the Covid-19 unit of Marseille University Hospital Timone, in Marseille, southern France. Ludo, 41, is recovering after spending 24 days in a coma. AP Photo -
Christmas shoppers brave the rain in Sydney's central business district. Covid-19 cases are rising in the Australian city and elsewhere in New South Wales, where health authorities have reported cases of the Omicron variant. Getty -
Travellers and vehicles crowd the departures and arrivals areas outside Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport during the holiday season. Reuters -
Medical workers prepare to conduct Covid-19 tests at a pop-up screening clinic in front of Seoul Station in South Korea. New coronavirus cases in the country have fallen to 7,000, but critical cases and deaths have surged to record highs of 1,083 and 109, respectively. EPA -
Car queue at a drive-through testing centre at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Australia. New South Wales has broken another daily record for Covid-19 case numbers as Omicron takes hold, with hospital admissions almost doubling in a week. EPA -
A queue for Covid screening in Manhattan. Test provider CityMD closed 13 branches in New York temporarily because of staff shortages as demand surged. AFP -
Travellers queue outside the security checkpoint at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia, US, as the Omicron variant spurs a rise in case numbers in many countries. Reuters -
Cars line up at a drive-through Covid-19 testing site at Tropical Park in Miami, Florida. As Covid-19 cases rise in the US, healthcare workers are urging people to take precautions during holiday get-togethers. AFP -
People wait in the check-in queue for Air France/KLM at Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport. EPA -
Christmas shoppers pictured out and about in Nottingham, England. The UK government has not imposed further restrictions in England to slow the spread of the Omicron variant. PA -
Pastor David Shrimpton, 57, known as the ‘flying padre’, puts on a face mask as he prepares to speak to pupils about Christmas at a school in Broken Hill, Australia. Since 2003, he has flown to some of Australia’s most isolated communities to preach. Reuters -
Medical workers treat a patient with Covid-19 in intensive care during the fifth wave of the pandemic in Neuchatel, Switzerland. EPA -
A protester wears a latex mask with syringes attached to it during a rally in front of the government headquarters in Bucharest, Romania. Marchers object to a Covid-19 ‘green certificate’ in workplaces to limit infections. AP -
Dr Sydney Sewall fills a syringe with a Covid-19 vaccine at a clinic in Augusta, Maine, US. AP -
A coronavirus test centre employee waits for clients on the shop-lined Kurfuerstendamm street in Berlin. Germany has announced new restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the Omicron variant. AP -
A drive-through testing centre in Bellingham, Washington. The US state, which was hit hard early in the pandemic, has reported at least 400 cases of Omicron. AP -
New Yorkers check their Covid-19 results outside a rapid testing centre in Manhattan. AP -
People line up to be tested for Covid-19 in Washington, DC. Omicron variant is now the main coronavirus variant in the US. AFP -
Holiday travellers transit through Dulles International Airport in Virginia. United Airlines chief executive Scott Kirby has said the coming two weeks are expected to be its busiest since the pandemic began, despite Omicron. AFP -
Early closing for Oliver St John Gogarty, a pub in Temple Bar, Dublin. Under Irish coronavirus rules, which will last until January 30, hospitality venues must shut by 8pm. Getty -
People enjoy refreshments at a Christmas market in Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester. The UK government has faced pressure to tighten coronavirus restrictions. AFP -
A Ferris wheel in the historic centre of Antwerp, Belgium. The government will meet to decide whether new Covid-19 measures will be taken. AP -
A child watches a Covid-19 test being administered in Washington, DC. EPA -
A poster featuring Father Christmas and Wee Jimmy Krankie, a popular character from children’s TV, on Leith Walk, Edinburgh. The Scottish government is considering whether to tighten Covid restrictions. PA -
A man receives his Covid-19 vaccine inside a National Health Service bus in the town of Farnworth, near Manchester in north-west England. AFP -
A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at the start of trading on Monday after Friday’s steep decline in global stocks amid fears about the Omicron variant. Stocks fell sharply in morning trading, with the Dow falling more than 500 points. Getty -
People arrive to receive a booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine at an inoculation centre in Kuwait City. EPA -
People crowd together without social distancing at a railway station in Bangalore, India. EPA -
Women wear masks in Tehran. The Iranian Health Ministry said it had found a case of the Omicron variant in the country. EPA -
People wait to receive a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in Bangkok, Thailand. Bloomberg -
Churchgoers wearing masks observe social distancing as they attend a pre-dawn Mass at a church in Paranaque, Metro Manila, Philippines. Getty -
An intubated Covid-19 patient receives treatment in the intensive care unit of Westerstede Clinical Centre in north-west Germany. AP
India reported its first Omicron infection on December 2, with the total number of confirmed cases rising to 456 on Sunday.
The Health Ministry said analysis of 183 Omicron infections showed that 87 were in fully vaccinated people and three involved patients who had received booster doses.
The head of the government’s Covid task force has said an Omicron outbreak could cause as many as 1.4 million infections a day – much higher than the peak of about 400,000 daily cases seen during the country's second wave in April and May.
Several Indian states have re-imposed restrictions to curb the spread of the new variant but infections are spreading fast across the country.
India reported 6,967 Covid infections on Sunday and 162 deaths. Nearly 35 million people have been infected since the coronavirus pandemic began in early 2020, of whom nearly 480,000 died.
