Several countries have started administering a COVID-19 vaccine to frontline health workers and other highly vulnerable citizens, but much of the world will have to wait to get the shot.
 
In the United States, a mass vaccination campaign that kicked off this week could soon expand. The Food and Drug Administration could approve Moderna’s vaccine candidate for use as early as today. The approval would benefit health officials nationwide, since Moderna’s vaccine is easier to store and handle (WSJ) than Pfizer and BioNTech’s. Vice President Mike Pence received the Pfizer vaccine in a televised event today in an effort to boost the public’s confidence in the vaccine. Elsewhere, experts warn of an emerging gap in access to vaccines, as wealthy nations have reserved enough doses to vaccinate their citizens multiple times (NYT), leaving poorer nations with severe shortages.

All this comes as caseloads continue to rise. Yesterday, the United States reported its highest single-day numbers (WaPo) of deaths, hospitalizations, and new infections. Across the European Union, which will likely approve the Pfizer vaccine (Bloomberg) next week, countries are tightening restrictions. Japan and South Korea are also among the countries seeing increases in cases.

The Pentagon said in a goal-setting document that Navy warships will be “more assertive” (AFP) when responding to violations of international law, including those by China in the South China Sea. Beijing did not attend (WSJ) a routine military safety meeting with Washington this week, blaming Washington for disrupting the dialogue with bullying behavior.
 
Thailand: The country will start allowing tourists (Bloomberg) from fifty-six nations to visit if they prove they don’t have COVID-19 and quarantine for fourteen days. Officials hope a revival of the tourism industry, which has been hit hard by the pandemic, will help Thailand exit a recession.
 
CFR unpacks the pandemic’s devastating impacts on migration, diplomacy, and tourism, including in Thailand. 

Health officials told the BBC that a few COVID-19 vaccine candidates will likely receive emergency authorization in the coming weeks, allowing the country to kick off a massive vaccination campaign in January. They aim to vaccinate three hundred million people by August in a country that has seen more than ten million COVID-19 cases.  
 
Afghanistan: At least fifteen civilians were killed (TOLO) and twenty wounded in an explosion at a gathering of people reciting the Quran in Ghazni province. The explosion is the latest in a sharp increase in violence across the country.

Forces led by rebel commander Khalifa Haftar released eighteen fishermen (Al Jazeera) from four countries, including eight from Italy, whom they had held for more than three months for allegedly operating in Libya’s waters. The prolonged detention was an embarrassment for Italy’s government, which critics accused of failing to stand up to Haftar.
 
This CFR In Brief explains who’s who in Libya’s war.
 
Kuwait: The country announced that the annual summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council—which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates—will occur on January 5 (Al-Monitor). Usually held in December, the meeting will focus on a long-running dispute that led several countries to boycott Qatar.

More than three hundred boys who were abducted from their school last week were released (Nation/AFP), though it remains unclear if any boys are still captured. The raid was initially blamed on criminal gangs, but the militant group Boko Haram later claimed responsibility.
 
CFR’s John Campbell argues that the kidnapping was likely carried out by criminal gangs, not Boko Haram.
 
Guinea: A spokesperson for the opposition party Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG) who was detained without trial in September died in detention (BBC), the party said. UFDG’s leader has condemned President Alpha Conde’s arbitrary detention of the party’s supporters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin denied the government’s involvement (RFE/RL) in the poisoning of opposition leader Alexey Navalny, saying Russian authorities would have “finished the job” had they been involved. Earlier this week, an investigation by journalists found that Russian agents trained in using chemical weapons had followed Navalny.
 
Spain: Lawmakers voted in favor of a bill to allow terminally ill people to request and receive assistance to end their lives (El Pais). If the bill is approved by the Senate, Spain will become the sixth country to decriminalize euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador responded to business leaders who criticized the 15 percent increase in the minimum daily wage announced on Wednesday, saying the hike will not have adverse economic effects (LAHT).
 
Trinidad and Tobago: Prime Minister Keith Rowley announced that the country will impose stricter penalties (Reuters) on those trafficking migrants from Venezuela. His announcement comes days after at least twenty-eight people died in the sinking of a Venezuelan ship heading to Trinidad and Tobago, where at least forty thousand Venezuelans live.

President-Elect Joe Biden will nominate Representative Deb Haaland (D-NM) to lead the Department of the Interior (NPR). If confirmed, she would be the first Native American cabinet secretary.