A resident receives a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a health center in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Jan. 13. This week, Indonesia started a program to give booster shots to the elderly and people at risk of severe disease. Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
Health workers administer COVID tests outside a building placed under lockdown in Hong Kong on Jan. 6. Hong Kong is imposing strict new COVID measures for the first time in almost a year as the omicron variant seeps into the community. Louise Delmotte//Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
Left to right: An illustration of the coronavirus, an illustration of the delta variant and a mural in India. Hanna Barczyk for NPR / Juan Gaertner/Science Source / Sanchit Khanna/Hindustan Times via Getty Images hide caption
A Santa Claus in Germany wears a surgical mask in December 2020. If you're planning to take the kids to see Santa this year, experts say it's safest to keep everyone's masks on. Caroline Seidel/picture alliance via Getty Images hide caption
Fever is a possible side effect of a COVID19 vaccine. Catie Dull/NPR hide caption
Jacqueline Muna Musiitwa, left, and her mom, Anne Sikwibele, at the airport in Lusaka, Zambia, in November. Musiitwa, who lives in Washington, D.C., is worried that her mom may not be able to visit the U.S. for Christmas. In an effort to stem the spread of the omicron variant, several nations have imposed travel bans on southern African nations, which are in a state of flux. Jacqueline Muna Musiitwa hide caption
An excerpt of an apology made by Bangkok Post on Dec. 4. The Thai media outlet apologized for using racist language in a headline on a Dec. 2 story about the omicron variant. The headline read, "Government hunts for African visitors." Screenshot by NPR hide caption
Margarita Ahuanari, left, and Karina Ahuanari look at posters of their mother. The images were placed where they think she was buried at the mass grave that was later renamed the COVID-19 Cemetery in Iquitos. Angela Ponce for NPR hide caption
Here's a computer-generated image of the omicron variant of the coronavirus — also known as B.1.1.529. Reported in South Africa on Nov. 24, this variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning. Uma Shankar Sharma/Getty Images hide caption
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in August. He called on Western nations on Sunday to scrap travel restrictions placed on southern Africa to stem the spread of the omicron variant. "The prohibition of travel is not informed by science nor will it be effective in preventing the spread of this variant," he said. Tobias Schwarz/Reuters hide caption
A man receives a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in Soweto, South Africa. The omicron variant of the coronavirus, first identified in South Africa, has now spread to at least a dozen other countries. On Friday, scientists presented evidence that the variant spreads twice as fast as the delta variant. Denis Farrell/AP hide caption
