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World Health Organization warns virus spreading fast despite vaccine progress; French infections rise to 2.29m; Brazil reports 627 new deaths. Follow latest updates

• Vaccine to have only ‘marginal impact’ on winter hospital admissions
• CDC advises ‘universal’ masks indoors as US deaths again break records
• Italians decry Christmas travel ban as ‘slap in the face’
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12.08am GMT

In Australia, NSW recorded no new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. It follows a case being announced last week in a woman working in a quarantine hotel, the state’s first community case after 26 consecutive days of no community cases.

Two cases were reported overnight in overseas travellers in hotel quarantine, bringing the total number of cases in NSW since the start of the pandemic to 4,416.

11.58pm GMT

The arrival of a vaccine should see coronavirus deaths in Britain reduce “significantly” by early next year but social mixing over Christmas could cause another spike before that, UK medical chiefs said Friday.

From AFP:

Britain on Wednesday gave emergency approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine and will begin the world’s first roll-out from next week.

“We think it likely that by spring the effects of vaccination will begin to be felt in reducing Covid admissions, attendances and deaths significantly but there are many weeks before we get to that stage,” the chief medical officers of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland said in a statement.

The independent regulator authorised the first vaccine for use against COVID-19. This is excellent news and a step towards normality.

It will take until spring until the vulnerable population who wish to are fully vaccinated. We can't lower our guard yethttps://t.co/nqe5CGI1v2

Deploying the vaccines “safely, rapidly and in a sequence which is most likely to reduce mortality” will also be “a very considerable logistical exercise,” they added.

The letter to health professionals said they should brace for more pressure on the system after Christmas, with social mixing rules relaxed over the festive period to allow three households to meet.

sobering reply from Chris Whitty, chief medical officer, asked what he'll be doing at Christmas:

"I'll be on the wards."

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