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France's Haute Autorite de Sante (HAS) health regulator on Tuesday backed vaccinating fragile children aged 5 to 11 against COVID-19 if they were at risk of developing a serious form of the disease, or if they lived with vulnerable people.

Norwegians should wear face masks on crowded public transport, in shopping malls and in taxis following a record surge in coronavirus infections, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Tuesday.

The Swedish health agency on Tuesday recommended that all travellers above the age of 6 entering Sweden from outside the Nordic region take a COVID-19 test within seven days due to the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

BioNTech and Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine will likely offer strong protection against any severe disease from the new Omicron virus variant, BioNTech's Chief Executive told Reuters, as the firm weighs the need to upgrade its commonly used shot.

The crush of new COVID-19 infections in Mississippi has become so dire that the state has turned to efforts reminiscent of the earliest days of the U.S. pandemic, when a field hospital was set up in New York's Central Park and a medical ship was moored in the Hudson River.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc's COVID-19 antibody treatment could be less effective against Omicron, the drugmaker said on Tuesday, adding to fears about the efficacy of existing treatments after Moderna's top boss raised similar concerns about the company's vaccine.

The University of Oxford on Tuesday said there was no evidence that vaccines would not prevent severe disease from Omicron, but that it was ready to rapidly develop an updated version of its vaccine developed with AstraZeneca if necessary.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) voiced concern on Tuesday that some countries were introducing blanket measures against the Omicron coronavirus variant that may not be necessary and penalised African nations unfairly.

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Switzerland is considering tighter restrictions to contain the rising number of new COVID-19 cases and the emergence of the Omicron variant, the government said following an emergency meeting on Tuesday.