New vax for Omicron by early 2022, says Moderna as countries report cases

The new Omicron coronavirus variant kept spreading around the world on Sunday, even as Moderna Chief Medical Officer Paul Burton said a reformulated shot could be available early next year. Burton said he suspects the new omicron coronavirus variant may elude current vaccines, and that the company was testing the current vaccine against the new variant and studying two booster candidates. 

Two cases were detected in Australia, while Netherlands reported 13 cases of the new strain in passengers from South Africa, even as more countries tried to seal themselves off by imposing travel restrictions.

In the most far-reaching effort to keep the variant at bay, Israel announced late on Saturday it would ban the entry of all foreigners and reintroduce counter-terrorism phone-tracking