Several European Union nations on Sunday banned flights from the U.K. and Germany was considering limiting such flights to make sure that a new strain of coronavirus sweeping across southern England does not establish a strong foothold on the continent.

The Netherlands banned flights from the U.K. for at least the rest of the year while Belgium issued a flight ban for 24 hours starting at midnight and also halted train links to Britain, including the Eurostar. Austria and Italy said they would halt flights from the U.K. but did not give details on any timing of the ban.

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has been authorised for use in Switzerland following a two-month rolling review, the Swissmedic regulatory authority said Saturday.

The United States on Friday authorized Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, as the country grapples with a brutal winter surge that is killing over 2,500 people a day.

India surged past 10 million coronavirus cases on Saturday, official data showed, the second highest in the world although new infection rates appear to have fallen sharply in recent weeks.

The number of cases increased by just over 25,000 in 24 hours, according to the health ministry, while the total number of deaths from the virus in India now stands at 145,136.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence received a Covid-19 jab on live television Friday as the country prepared to greenlight its second vaccine in a boost to the planet's unprecedented immunization campaign. 

Tens of millions of people are expected to travel to family gatherings or winter vacations over Christmas, despite pleas by public health experts who fear the result could be another surge in COVID-19 cases.

Spain will start immunising people against the coronavirus on December 27, a day after it receives the first doses of a vaccine, Health Minister Salvador Illa said on Friday.

The announcement comes a day after European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced that the EU would start Covid-19 jabs between December 27 and 29, saying it was "Europe's moment" in the battle against the virus.

Australian officials declared Sydney's northern beaches a coronavirus hotspot Friday as a cluster of cases grew to 28 and triggered a return of domestic travel restrictions.

President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he will receive the Russian-developed Sputnik V coronavirus jab once it is approved for people his age, praising the vaccine as safe and effective. 

The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, has entered self-isolation, his spokesman said Thursday, after meeting France's President Emmanuel Macron earlier in the week.