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Israeli ministers on Monday agreed to ban travel to the United States, Canada and eight other countries amid the rapid, global spread of the omicron variant. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office announced the decision following a Cabinet vote. The rare move to red-list the U.S. comes amid rising coronavirus infections in Israel and marks a change to pandemic practices between the two nations with close diplomatic relations. The U.S. will join a growing list of European countries and other destinations to which Israelis are barred from traveling, and from which returning travelers must remain in quarantine. (12/20)

Nations across Europe moved to reimpose tougher measures to stem a new wave of COVID-19 infections spurred by the highly transmissible Omicron variant, with the Netherlands leading the way by imposing a nationwide lockdown. All non-essential stores, bars and restaurants in the Netherlands will be closed until January 14 starting Sunday, caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte said at a hastily arranged press conference Saturday night. Schools and universities will shut until January 9, he said. In what is surely to prove a major disappointment, the lockdown terms also rein in private holiday celebrations. Residents only will be permitted two visitors except for Christmas and New Year's, when four will be allowed, according to Rutte. (12/19)

The number of people hospitalized with coronavirus is starting to rise in London, the latest sign that omicron has taken hold in the capital. It comes as the U.K. reported its third consecutive day of record numbers of new coronavirus cases. Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, warned on Wednesday that the “phenomenal pace” at which the strain is spreading will trigger a surge in admissions to hospital over Christmas. That now appears to be happening in London. There were more than 1,500 people hospitalized with coronavirus in the city on Friday, a rise of almost 30% from a week earlier, the latest data from NHS England show. (Capel, 12/17)

Several experts said data is signaling the country is heading for a rough next few weeks coinciding with the holiday season, with Michael Osterholm, the director for the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. He called it “a perfect storm in all regards.” “We're going to end up in a viral blizzard here in this country in the next three to eight weeks,” the former Biden adviser told The Hill.  (Coleman, 12/19)

The Omicron variant has been detected in 89 countries and has a "substantial growth advantage" over the Delta variant, the World Health Organization announced. COVID-19 cases detected with the newest variant are doubling every 1.5 to 3 days in areas where there is community spread, WHO said. "Omicron is spreading rapidly in countries with high levels of population immunity," said the organization. It added: "Given current available data, it is likely that Omicron will outpace Delta where community transmission occurs." (Doherty, 12/18)

A growing body of preliminary research suggests the Covid vaccines used in most of the world offer almost no defense against becoming infected by the highly contagious Omicron variant. All vaccines still seem to provide a significant degree of protection against serious illness from Omicron, which is the most crucial goal. But only the Pfizer and Moderna shots, when reinforced by a booster, appear to have initial success at stopping infections, and these vaccines are unavailable in most of the world. (Nolen, 12/19)

Johnson & Johnson’s Covid vaccine was going to be a shot for the world. Now, under the weight of a mountain of bad PR, one wonders if the world will want it. On Thursday, a panel advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted unanimously that the shots developed by Pfizer and Moderna should be recommended over the J&J one. That won’t matter much to J&J as a business — in the third quarter the vaccine generated only $500 million of the company’s $23 billion in revenue. But the recommendation is confusing news for the public, a slight to one of the world’s largest drug companies, and a disappointing setback for researchers, both inside and outside J&J, who hoped that the shot and the technology behind it would make a huge difference in the fight against a raging global pandemic. (Herper, 12/17)