Germany vowed Wednesday to "defend itself" against radicalized anti-vaccination groups after police launched raids in response to death threats against a top politician backing decisive measures to fight the pandemic.

Pfizer said Tuesday that its experimental pill to treat COVID-19 appears effective against the omicron variant.

The company also said full results of its 2,250-person study confirmed the pill's promising early results against the virus: The drug reduced combined hospitalizations and deaths by about 89% among high-risk adults when taken shortly after initial COVID-19 symptoms.

The omicron variant appears to cause less severe disease than previous versions of the coronavirus, and the Pfizer vaccine seems to offer less defense against infection from it but still good protection from hospitalization, according to an analysis of data from South Africa, where the new variant is driving a surge in infections.

While the findings released Tuesday are preliminary and have not been peer-reviewed — the gold standard in scientific research — they line up with other early data about omicron's behavior, including that it seems to be more easily transmitted.

A person who was on Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's flight back from the United Arab Emirates has tested positive for COVID-19, the prime minister's office said Tuesday.

Bennett returned to Israel on Monday from a historic two-day trip to the Gulf Arab state, the first by an Israeli leader to the country, which recently normalized ties with Israel.

Long lines formed Monday at vaccination centers across England as people heeded the government's call for all adults to get booster shots to protect themselves against the omicron variant, as the U.K. recorded its first death of a patient infected with omicron.

In a televised announcement late Sunday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said everyone 18 and up would be offered a third vaccine dose by Dec. 31 — less than three weeks away, and a month earlier than the previous target.

The European Commission on Friday adopted a new equivalence decision certifying that COVID-19 certificates issued by Lebanon are equivalent to the EU Digital COVID Certificate.

The EU Digital COVID Certificate is a proof that a person has either been vaccinated against COVID-19, received a negative PCR test result or recovered from COVID-19. It was launched by the European Commission on July 1, 2021 in order to facilitate safe free movement across the European Union during the pandemic. Fifty-six countries and territories in five continents have since joined the system, with non-EU countries connecting through an equivalence decision.

Norwich was facing "a couple of COVID-related issues" ahead of its Premier League game against Manchester United, manager Dean Smith said Friday.

The relegation-threatened team played Tottenham on Sunday before the north London club announced a coronavirus outbreak among players and staff that has forced the postponement of two games.

New coronavirus infections in South Korea exceeded 7,000 for the third consecutive day on Friday, as the worst surge since the start of the pandemic overwhelmed hospitals and depleted health care workforce.

Critics have blamed the spread on complacency by the government, which dramatically lowered social distancing rules at the start of November in what officials described as the first step toward restoring pre-pandemic normalcy.

Nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the origin of the virus tormenting the world remains shrouded in mystery.

Most scientists believe it emerged in the wild and jumped from bats to humans, either directly or through another animal. Others theorize it escaped from a Chinese lab.

The Jordanian health ministry has announced it had identified its first two cases of the omicron variant of coronavirus.

The health ministry's statement, announced by state-run Petra news agency, said the first case is a Jordanian national who recently returned from South Africa and is currently quarantining in a hotel in Jordan's capital, Amman.