US president makes fresh appeal for Americans to get vaccinated, urges return of indoor masking to help slow any spread of Omicron

Citing preliminary info, UN health agency says Omicron could fuel outbreaks with 'severe consequences,' and stresses there are 'considerable uncertainties' about the mutated strain

Albert Bourla says new shot may be needed if testing shows existing vaccine provides less protection against new coronavirus variant

Organizers say the event will go ahead as planned in Eilat next weekend, and that most of the 80 contestants arrived in country before its borders were shut to foreigners

Expert says within 2-3 weeks South African hospitals will feel pressure of infectious COVID-19 variant; health minister urges against 'panic'

At virtual global summit, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the emergence of the new COVID variant shows how 'perilous and precarious our situation is'

Global health organization says some mutations 'may be associated with immune escape potential and higher transmissibility,' but notes uncertainties remain

Times of Israel editor David Horovitz discusses Iran talks and Bennett; Startup Israel editor Ricky Ben-David talks about the Omicron effect and the dollar-shekel rate

Children of Israelis overseas who don't have Israeli passports can't enter on foreign documents due to COVID curbs; a long-running High Court petition seeks to change that

Italian researchers who produced the 'map' say it is too soon to tell what the effect of the mutations are and if the new variant is more dangerous than previous strains