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President Vladimir Putin told fellow world leaders last week that both of Russia’s Covid-19 vaccines, including one he championed as the world’s first inoculation against the disease, are safe and effective. That doesn’t mean he’s taken a jab. “We have not yet begun widespread vaccination and the head of state can’t take part in vaccination as a volunteer. It’s impossible,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Tuesday, in response to a question on whether Putin had been inoculated. “The president can’t use an uncertified vaccine.” (Arkhipov and Biryukov, 11/24)

International travelers heading to England could cut their mandatory quarantine time by more than half under new rules announced by the British government Tuesday. Starting Dec. 15, certain travelers could cut their 14-day mandatory quarantine down to five days if they take a COVID-19 test and the results are negative. (Diaz, 11/24)

Mexico’s Roman Catholic Church announced the cancellation Monday of what’s considered the world’s largest Catholic pilgrimage, for the Virgin of Guadalupe, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mexico’s Episcopal Conference said in a statement that the basilica will be closed from December 10-13. The Virgin is celebrated on Dec. 12 and for weeks in advance, pilgrims travel from across Mexico to gather by the millions in Mexico City. (11/23)

Pope Francis, never one to shy from controversy, wades boldly into the coronavirus debate with a new book in which he criticizes those who blame the virus on foreigners and people who protest church closings and mask mandates. In his book, Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future, based on conversations he had with papal biographer Austen Ivereigh, Francis also speaks out on the protests against racial injustice, poverty, and the arms trade. ... While dispensing homespun counsel, Francis does not hold back from provocative statements, especially concerning the way people and governments have reacted to the pandemic. "What matters more: to take care of people or keep the financial system going?" he asks. He has harsh words for governments that prioritized the protection of the economy, saying they "mortgaged their people." (Gjelten, 11/23)

After the two most senior Serbian Orthodox Church leaders died within a month after testing positive with the coronavirus, health experts and even hardcore believers are starting to worry. The spread of the virus within the largest religious group in the Balkans is getting more alarming by the day. A senior Orthodox Church priest, who took part in the prayers at the funeral of Serbian Patriarch Irinej on Sunday when most of the preventive measures against the coronavirus were ignored, has tested positive for COVID-19, Serbia’s state TV said Monday. (Stojanovic and Becatoros, 11/23)

When Marina Gómez and her fellow mortuary worker enter a room at a nursing home to remove the body of a COVID-19 victim, they work methodically and in silence. They disinfect the mouth, nose and eyes to reduce the risk of contamination. They wrap the body in the bed sheets. Two white body bags are used, one inside the other, and the zippers are closed in the opposite direction: the first bag is sealed head to foot; the second, foot to head. The only sound in the room is from the whisper of the zippers, sealing the dead from view for the last time. (Morenatti, 11/24)