The United Kingdom has authorised use of a second COVID-19 vaccine, becoming the first country to approve of an easy-to-handle shot that its developers hope will become the “vaccine for the world”.

The United States has found its first case of the COVID-19 variant that has been seen in the UK and is thought to be more transmissible. The case involves a man in his 20s who is in isolation southeast of Denver in Colorado, according to state health officials.

Chinese pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm said Phase III trials of its experimental vaccine have found the shot to be 79 percent effective against COVID-19.

Meanwhile in the Japanese capital Tokyo, the coronavirus situation is quite severe as the city’s Governor Yuriko Koike said it could potentially face an “explosion” of cases ahead of the New Year’s holiday.

Globally, nearly 82 million people have been diagnosed with the virus and 1,789,908 have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.