Ask Derrick: Do vaccines protect against the new omicron variant? 

The pharma giant and its German partner BioNTech announced preliminary lab results showing a 25-fold increase in protection. Germany has ordered millions of booster doses as a new government takes over in Berlin.

South Africa is grappling with the fourth wave of the coronavirus, driven by the omicron variant. The country is pushing for more vaccinations — and for its own mRNA vaccine.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Friday.

It's hoped that protein-based vaccines will help push the global COVID-19 vaccination program in poorer countries. Those who oppose vaccination are interested in them, too.

2021 began with the promise of vaccines to the rescue. But as one variant begets another, rich nations talk of boosters and jabs for kids while much of the developing world still waits for first doses.

The omicron variant of the coronavirus is less likely to land patients in hospital in comparison with delta.

The person who died was between the ages of 60 and 79, according to the Robert Koch Institute health body. Germany has also registered a spike in omicron infections in recent days.

2021 began with the promise of vaccines to the rescue. But as one variant begets another, rich nations talk of boosters and jabs for kids while much of the developing world still waits for first doses.

The Omicron variant of Covid-19 has brought a "tidal wave" of new cases, according to the WHO. France has seen record numbers of positive cases – as have several other EU states. This week, President Emmanuel Macron said he wanted to "piss off" the unvaccinated, limiting their access to certain social spaces like restaurants and cinemas as a means of convincing more of them to get their jabs. Meanwhile, more and more EU member states seem to be moving towards making vaccination mandatory. Austria is set to become the first EU country to make the jabs obligatory, as of February – with the measure valid until 2024.

Coronavirus shutdowns are ending across Africa. Officials don't view severe curbs as a suitable tool for containing the spread. Vaccinations alone won't cut it. Now, Africans are seeking a way to live with the virus.

Many schools in Germany are reopening their doors. Schools are hot spots for coronavirus transmission — and the number of cases is rising rapidly nationwide.

A tweet claiming that Covid-19 vaccines were destroyed in Nigeria because of people power has been shown to be untrue. Vaccines were indeed trashed by the authorities, but this was due to low uptake as a result of vaccine hesitancy. We also take a look at a false claim that there are huge protests in Paris right now over pension reforms.