A Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) panel is due to meet this Friday to consider approving booster shots for all American adults, with some states already making the move ahead of the decision, but Pfizer is hopeful the group will make a decision on its experimental COVID drug before then.

Meanwhile, lockdowns have been announced in several countries that target the unvaccinated to reduce the impact of an expected new wave of infections over Christmas and New Year. Infections have been rapidly rising across Europe in recent weeks.

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The regulations are designed to restrict the most infectious people who want to visit restaurants, museums, theatres and other cultural institutions, by asking them to provide either proof that they are either fully vaccinated (geimpft in German) or recovered from the virus (genesen).

Variations of the rules - including 2G Plus and 3G - which apply to other settings such as schools and workplaces. The restrictions have sparked a heated debate across Europe about whether or not to restrict the daily lives of people who have yet to be fully vaccinated against COVID - something extremely unlikely to happen in the U.S.

He appeared to back the idea of booster shots for all over-18s - something the FDA is currently debating and will decide on Friday.

FULL STORY: Fauci Says End of Pandemic Could Come Soon, But Warns About Current Surge

It comes a week after her court threw out the statewide mask mandate and lifts the automatic suspension of that decision granted when Governor Tom Wolf’s administration appealed to the state Supreme Court.

Cannon’s ruling, in theory, gives time for the state Supreme Court to take up the case, or for Wolf’s administration to enact a new mask mandate through emergency regulations.

The White House plans to spend billions of dollars expanding infrastructure in the U.S. and boosting supplies delivered to the developing world, according to reports in the New York Times.

It comes as Secretary of State Anthony Blinken concludes his visit to Kenya - a country severely impacted by the pandemic - whose officials have been received billions to help tackle COVID since the outbreak began.

Online sales are set to climb by 35 per cent in November and December in the U.K., which Mastercard’s Divisional President, Kelly Devine, says means shoppers are looking to spend more this year than before the pandemic.

Pfizer is now pushing the U.S. to approve its drug, an oral medication which is part of a family of antivirals that revolutionized the treatment of HIV and hepatitis C. The drug blocks a key enzyme that viruses need to multiply in the human body and was revealed to reduce hospitalizations by around 89 per cent.

A similar pill from Merck, however, triggers tiny mutations in the coronavirus cells until the point that it can’t reproduce itself inside the body. Results found that it reduces hospitalizations in around 50 percent of newly infected people.

The FDA and CDC are yet to make a decision on either pill being rolled out in the U.S., pending outside advice from across the medical and scientific sectors.

Michigan reported just over 3,000 virus patients in hospitals this week - the highest amount since spring - while all of Minnesota’s hospital beds are now full. Both states are heading for infection rates larger than last winter, prompting Minnesota officials to suggest rolling out booster doses for over-18s before the FDA makes its decision on Friday.

Nationwide hospitalizations, meanwhile, have stabilized in recent weeks at around 40,000 - down from over 90,000 at the height of the Delta variant wave earlier this year.

FULL STORY: COVID Cases Surge in Michigan and Minnesota as Upper Midwest Flares Into a Hotspot

The Indian capital is one of the world’s most polluted cities and struggles with a thick blanket of smog created by vehicles and factories during the winter months. Five of the city’s coal power plants have also been shut down, while “anti-smog guns” spray water to temporarily clear the air in pollution hotspots.

The orders, from the Commission for Air Quality Management for Delhi, have been put in place “until further notice”.

The FDA is expected to make the decision by Friday’s meeting of the advisory panel, which will decide whether to roll out the Pfizer boosters to all over 18s.

Over 500,000 jobs were added last month, in a sign that mass unemployment brought on by the pandemic - and its devastating side effects - will soon be reversed.

Those who do attend this year’s celebration will need to show proof of vaccination and photo ID, or provide a negative COVID-19 test and wear a mask. Children under five also need to be in the company of a vaccinated adult.

FULL STORY: NYC New Year’s Eve Will Be ‘Full Strength’, With Vaccination, Testing, Mask Requirements

So far California, New Mexico, Arkansas, West Virginia, and Colorado have decided to make the move, as well as New York City.

The rollout of Pfizer boosters is expected to be approved nationwide on Friday and the final step — the CDC’s official recommendation — could come soon after the meeting.

Follow Newsweek’s liveblog throughout Wednesday for all the latest.