German states are planning a relaxation of restrictions to allow gatherings of up to 10 people over the Christmas period while Italy's prime minister has warned citizens not to go skiing during the holidays.
EUROPE
* The European Union has struck a deal for up to 160 million doses of US firm Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine candidate, taking the EU's potential stock of COVID-19 shots to nearly 2 billion.
* Italy reported 853 COVID 19-related deaths on Tuesday, the highest daily toll since March 28, as the country is set to receive 16 million shots of the potential vaccine developed by AstraZeneca in the first months of 2021.
* The UK reported 608 deaths within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test, the highest daily total since May.
* Elderly residents and staff in nursing homes will be the first to get vaccinated in Spain, starting as early as January.
* The acting head of a big Russian state fur company floated the idea of vaccinating minks, after millions of infected minks were destroyed in Denmark and cases of the disease were found elsewhere.
AMERICAS
* Millions of people in the US appeared to be disregarding public health warnings and travelling ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
* Canada could approve one or more COVID-19 vaccines early in the first quarter of 2021 under a new accelerated process similar to the US emergency use authorisation.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* China recorded 22 new infections on Monday, up from 11 a day earlier, while an official from the city of Tianjin said two confirmed cases this month caught the virus from pig heads from North America.
* Malaysia said it would close some factories of the world's biggest rubber glove maker as more than 2000 of its workers had tested positive.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Iran plans to use foreign vaccines while also developing its own, President Hassan Rouhani said as new daily cases hit a record high in the Middle East's worst-hit country.
* Nigeria will bar passengers who fail to follow the country's COVID-19 protocol from flying for six months.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* The European Medicines Agency could produce a scientific opinion on COVID-19 vaccines seeking regulatory approval by the end of the year in a best case scenario.
* Russia's Sputnik V vaccine will cost less than $A27 per person on international markets and Moscow aims to produce more than a billion doses at home and abroad next year, its backers and developers said.
* AstraZeneca must prove its claim that its potential vaccine has the lowest price of the main candidates so far, non-governmental organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres said.
Australian Associated Press
