Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking during his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, December 23, 2021. Putin urged the West on Thursday to “immediately” meet Russia’s demand for security guarantees precluding NATO’s expansion to Ukraine, saying the U.S. is “on the threshold of our home”. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo)
Pedestrian stroll along Via Montenapoleone fashion district decorated with seasonal lights, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, December 23, 2021. The Italian government is weighing possible outdoor mask mandates, increased testing and other measures to combat the new surge in infections fueled by the omicron variant. (Photo by Luca Bruno/AP Photo)
Christmas shoppers are seen in the CBD during a rain storm on December 23, 2021 in Sydney, Australia. New South Wales COVID-19 case numbers are on the increase across the state, with health authorities also reporting new cases of the Omicron variant. (Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)
Amelie and Ludo Khayat hold each other during a visit at the COVID-19 intensive care unit of the la Timone hospital in Marseille, southern France, Thursday, December 23, 2021. Ludo, 41 years old, is recovering from spending twenty four days in a coma and on a ventilator in a COVID-19 intensive care unit. Amelie began visiting her husband daily after he started to test negative for the virus. (Photo by Daniel Cole/AP Photo)
Coronavirus test center employee Denise waits for clients on the famous “Kurfuerstendamm (Ku’damm)” shopping road in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, December 21, 2021. Germany has announced new restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the new omicron variant of COVID-19. The new rules, which go into effect on Dec. 28, fall short of a full lockdown but include contact restrictions for vaccinated people. (Photo by Michael Sohn/AP Photo)
A woman gets her shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, in Quito, Ecuador, Thursday, December 23, 2021. The government of Ecuador has declared COVID vaccination mandatory after a marked rise of infections and the arrival of new variants of the disease. (Photo by Carlos Noriega/AP Photo)
People walk along La Rambla in downtown Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, December 23, 2021. Spain is reporting almost 700 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over 14 days, more than double the accumulated cases before last year’s Christmas holidays. The omicron strain has soared from 5% of new cases in Spain to 47% within one week. (Photo by Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo)
Medical workers treat a patient with COVID-19 in the intensive care unit (ICU) at the hospital ‘Reseau hospitalier neuchatelois (RHNe)’ Pourtales site during the fifth wave of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Neuchatel, Switzerland, 21 December 2021. (Photo by Laurent Gillieron/EPA/EFE)
A patient with COVID-19 lies on a bed with a ventilator with her son’s hat placed on her bed by medical workers at the request of the family, in the intensive care unit at the la Timone hospital in Marseille, southern France, Thursday, December 23, 2021. (Photo by Daniel Cole/AP Photo)
In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, people line up for COVID-19 tests in Xi’an in northwestern China’s Shaanxi Province, Thursday, December 23, 2021. China is redoubling efforts to control new virus outbreaks with a lockdown of the 13 million residents of the northern city of Xi’an following a spike in coronavirus cases. (Photo by Liu Xiao/Xinhua via AP Photo)
A man wearing face masks with a mustache attached, walks down Regents Street in London, Thursday, December 23, 2021. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that his government reserves the “possibility of taking further action” to protect public health as Omicron spreads across the country. (Photo by Frank Augstein/AP Photo)
People wait in long lines in Manhattan to get tested for COVID-19 on December 22, 2021 in New York City. CityMD, which is one of the most popular testing businesses, temporarily closed 13 locations in the city due to staffing issues amid a surge in demand. New York City has once again seen COVID-19 case numbers rise as the new omicron variant has become the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S., accounting for 73 percent of new cases. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP Photo)
Medical workers prepare to conduct Covid-19 tests at a pop-up screening clinic in front of Seoul Station in Seoul, South Korea, 23 December 2021. South Korea’s new Covid-19 cases fell below 7,000 but critical cases and deaths surged to record highs of 1,083 and 109, respectively, amid concerns over the spread of the new omicron variant. (Photo by Yonhap/EPA/EFE)
Pakistani Christians hold candles during a celebration for Christmas, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, December 22, 2021. (Photo by K.M. Chaudary/AP Photo)
A man dressed in an elf costume looks on before the draw of Spain’s traditional Christmas Lottery “El Gordo” (The Fat One) at the Royal Theatre, in Madrid, Spain, December 22, 2021. (Photo by Juan Medina/Reuters)
Alpine Rescue Team members dressed as Santa Claus rappel down the Policlinico Umberto I Hospital to greet children hospitalised in the paediatric ward, in Rome, Italy, December 23, 2021. (Photo by Yara Nardi/Reuters)
People take pictures with Christmas decorations in front of a shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand on December 22, 2021. (Photo by Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP Photo)
A Palestinian man dressed as Santa Claus gestures as he rides a camel in Jerusalem’s Old City during Christmas celebrations, on December 23, 2021. (Photo by Ahmad Gharabli/AFP Photo)
Motorcyclists dressed as Father Christmas driving along Oxford Street, London on Thursday, December 23, 2021 as the government refused to rule out introducing further restrictions to slow the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus. (Photo by Stefan Rousseau/PA Images via Getty Images)
