* Moderna will be able to produce 500 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in 2021, Chief Executive Officer Stéphane Bancel said.
* China's National Health Commission said Saturday that it received reports of 17 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland Friday, two of which were domestically transmitted in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland reached 86,601 by Friday, including 273 patients still receiving treatment and 4,634 had died of the virus.
* Russia expects to give about 2 million people coronavirus vaccinations in December, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund told BBC.
* US leaders urgently called on Americans to wear masks and threatened even more drastic stay-at-home orders after deaths from the coronavirus set a single-day record.
* The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines on Saturday reported 1,733 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection, bringing the total number in the country to 438,069. The DOH said 133 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 399,582. The death toll climbed to 8,526 after 17 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH added.
* President-elect Joe Biden said Friday's "grim" jobs report shows the economic recovery is stalling and warned the "dark winter" ahead would exacerbate the pain unless the US Congress passes a coronavirus relief bill immediately.
* French health authorities reported 11,221 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, down from 12,696 on Thursday and 12,459 last Friday in a continuation of an almost month-long downward trend.
* More than half of Spaniards are not willing to get COVID-19 vaccine shots as soon as they are available, a survey showed, as the government announced a target of 15-20 million vaccinations by mid-2021.
* Three of Austria's nine provinces kicked off a national effort to test as much of the population as possible before Christmas.
* Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on Saturday inaugurated the first meeting of the Afghan High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) after the establishment of the council a few months ago.
* Two vaccine candidates developed by China's Clover Biopharmaceuticals triggered strong immune responses in an early-stage human trial and appeared to be safe, the company said.
* Switzerland said it would allow ski resorts to remain open for domestic tourism.
* Portugal's parliament approved a 15-day extension of a state of emergency to Dec. 23 under a decree that envisages a further extension into January.
* Canada has doubled the number of doses of Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccine it has on firm order, Procurement Minister Anita Anand said, while the country's top doctor warned that daily new cases could top 10,000 by January.
* US FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said it was realistic to expect that 20 million Americans could be vaccinated by the end of this year.
* The mayor of Mexico City asked businesses in the capital to temporarily close their offices and resume work-from-home schemes.
* Republic of Korea's capital, Seoul, announced unprecedented restrictions shuttering most establishments and shops at 9 p.m. and cutting back public transportation operations by 30% in the evenings.
* Moderna announced an expanded pact with the Israeli health ministry to supply an additional 4 million doses of its vaccine candidate.
* Bahrain has granted emergency use authorisation for the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, becoming the second country after Britain to approve it.
