AstraZeneca is collaborating with Oxford University to improve its vaccine against Omicron variant

France could soon have around 100,000 new COVID-19 cases per day, health minister Olivier Veran has warned, as the new Omicron coronavirus variant continues to spread rapidly.

Singapore said it will freeze all new ticket sales for flights and buses under its quarantine free travel scheme for four weeks from Thursday. Citing the risk of the new Omicron coronavirus variant.

“Together with Oxford University, we have taken preliminary steps in producing an Omicron variant vaccine, in case it is needed, and will be informed by emerging data,” said the British-Swedish pharmaceutical in a statement provided to local media.

Sandy Douglas, head of a research group at Oxford University, told The Financial Times that "Adenovirus based vaccines (such as made by Oxford/AstraZeneca’s) could in principle be used to respond to any new variant more rapidly than some may previously have realized,”