US states will make decisions about Covid-19 vaccines based on their own circumstances, former FDA chief said

Germany has extended restrictive measures intended to curb the spread of the coronavirus until January 10, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced Wednesday evening after a meeting with the country’s state leaders.

“States will extend their measures from December 20 to January 10,” Merkel told reporters at a press conference, adding that another round of consultations would take place on January 4.

Merkel said infection rates across the country remained too high to allow restaurants, bars and leisure facilities to reopen. The nationwide partial lockdown also includes private gatherings which must be limited to a minimum of five people from two households.

Last week, Merkel announced that restrictions would be relaxed over the Christmas period in most parts of Germany to allow people to meet in groups of no more than 10, not including children.

Germany is struggling to contain a continuing rise in Covid-19 infections. The country’s infectious disease agency, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), on Wednesday reported 487 deaths from the virus – the highest daily death toll since the start of the pandemic.

According to data released by the RKI on Thursday morning, 22,046 new coronavirus infections have been recorded in the past 24 hours. A total of 479 coronavirus deaths also occurred in the last day – the second highest number since the start of the pandemic, bringing the total number of deaths to 17,602.