Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:
German Vaccination Law Passes
German MPs pass a draft law requiring health workers and soldiers to get vaccinated, a first step toward possible mandatory jabs for all adults.
Czechs Make Jabs Compulsory For Over 60s
The Czech Republic is making vaccines mandatory for people aged 60 and over from 1 March.
Slovakia Opens Despite Peak
Neighbouring Slovakia – which has the world's highest infection rate – allows shops, ski resorts and churches to reopen to the vaccinated or those who have recovered from COVID after partially locking down late last month.
Rio New Year Party Back On
Rio de Janeiro's famed New Year's Eve party is to go ahead after all, five days after it was cancelled over concerns over the Omicron variant, which may be less severe than feared.
Mouse Bites Back
Taiwan is investigating whether a mouse bite may have been responsible for a worker at a high-security laboratory testing positive for the virus, the island's first local infection in weeks.
Crowdless Chinese Football
The Chinese Super League will be played behind closed doors when it resumes Sunday because of the pandemic, as the country prepares to host the Beijing Winter Olympics in February.
Premier League Woes
England's Premier League sides are told to return to emergency protocols to limit the spread of the virus, after Tottenham's match with Brighton is cancelled over a big outbreak at the north London club.
More Than 5.2 Million Dead
The coronavirus has killed at least 5,286,793 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1100 GMT on Friday.
The United States (US) has suffered the most COVID-related deaths with 794,648, followed by Brazil with 616,457, India with 616,457, Mexico with 296,188 and Russia with 287,180.
The countries with the most new deaths are the US with 1,310, followed by Russia with 1,176 and India with 624, after the Asian nation revised its figures upwards.
Taking into account excess mortality linked to COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates the overall death toll could be two to three times higher.