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The U.S. will invest an additional $400 million toward COVID-19 vaccination distribution efforts, such as bolstering cold chain infrastructure and supporting delivery, USAID administrator Samantha Power announced Monday. While the problem of COVID-19 vaccine supply across the world is starting to ease in some places, the logistics of getting the vaccine in arms has emerged as a major bottleneck. (Reed, 12/6)

Federal health authorities issued a warning Monday against travel to several European countries as well as Jordan and Tanzania amid growing fears of the omicron variant, telling people to make sure they are fully vaccinated if they must visit. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said to avoid travel to France, Portugal, Cyprus, Andorra and Liechtenstein, grouping all in a Level 4 category that represents a “very high” level of the coronavirus. Countries and territories in this group have an infection incidence rate of more than 500 new cases per 100,000 people over the past 28 days (or, in places with fewer than 100,000 residents, more than 500 cases cumulatively over the past 28 days). (Knowles, 12/6)

Nearly 70 nurses and doctors working in the intensive care unit at a Spanish hospital have tested positive for COVID-19 after attending a Christmas party, health authorities said on Monday. Sixty-eight medics at the University Regional Hospital in Malaga had been diagnosed with the coronavirus, the Andalusian regional government said. ... Those who contracted COVID-19 all had antigen tests or the third booster vaccinations before attending the party, health authorities said. (12/7)

The Omicron variant has prompted South Korea to accelerate efforts to vaccinate schoolchildren, and penalize those who don’t comply, sparking debates over the safety of Covid-19 shots and education access. In recent days, South Korean officials have given a February deadline for individuals between the ages of 12 and 17 to get vaccinated. If they don’t, the students risk being denied entry to restaurants, libraries and after-school academies that are central to many students’ education. (Yoon, 12/6)

The South African Medical Research Council said it cannot access the country’s Covid-19 vaccination data and it is working to amend a data-sharing agreement with the Department of Health. The inability to access the data may impinge on the organization’s ability to determine the impact of the omicron variant on mortality, it said in a statement on Monday. The council produces a weekly report on national excess deaths, a measure of mortality above the historical average that is seen as a more accurate measure of the impact of Covid-19 than official data. (Sguazzin, 12/6)

The European Medicines Agency’s drug advisory board backed the use of Roche Holding AG’s Roactemra for adults who are severely ill with Covid-19, providing doctors with another tool as the latest wave of the pandemic spreads. The medicine, sold as an arthritis treatment under the name Actemra, has already been in broad use in many countries to treat Covid. The EU recommendation is for patients who are taking steroids and need oxygen or are on ventilators. (Kresge, 12/6)

In a bid to expand access to the Pfizer (PFE) Covid-19 pill, an advocacy group is trying to create a path for generic manufacturers to sell the treatment in the Dominican Republic, which was excluded from a licensing deal the drug maker reached for its medicine to become available in mostly poor countries. The effort by Knowledge Ecology International involves a two-pronged approach that could not only broaden availability of the Pfizer pill, but also pressure the Biden administration to take yet another step toward ensuring low- and middle-income nations have access to Covid-19 medical products. For these reasons, the initiative is likely to be closely watched. (Silverman, 12/6)

The coronavirus pandemic has derailed the global campaign against malaria, increasing deaths from the mosquito-borne disease for the first time in three years. The number of malaria cases and deaths in 2020 were at least 40% higher than the Word Health Organization’s targets, according to the agency, which said its 2030 goals are now at risk. “While African countries rallied to the challenge and averted the worst predictions of fallout from Covid-19, the pandemic’s knock-on effect still translates to thousands of lives lost to malaria,” Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s regional director for Africa, said in a statement. “African governments and their partners need to intensify their efforts so that we do not lose even more ground to this preventable disease.” (Kew, 12/6)