Pastries named “virus” and “vaccine” sit on display in the window of a cafe and pastry shop on December 25, 2021 in Prague, Czech Republic. Countries in Central Europe are preparing for what many fear will be a fifth wave of the coronavirus brought on by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)





Choristers light their candles during a photocall at St Paul's Cathedral on December 21, 2021 in London, England. The Choristers of St Paul's have a busy programme of Advent and Christmas services, performing favourites like “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and “Once In Royal David's city”. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)





Britain's Prince William, left and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge attend the “Royal Carols – Together At Christmas”, a Christmas carol concert hosted by the duchess at Westminster Abbey in London, Wednesday December 8, 2021. The service will be broadcast on Christmas Eve in England. (Photo by Yui Mok/Pool via AP Photo)





“Little Amal”, a giant puppet (3.5 meter-tall) of a young Syrian refugee girl is leaned down towards police officers on Parliament Square, backdropped by the scaffolded Elizabeth Tower, known as Big Ben, and the Houses of Parliament, in London, to coincide with the Nationality and Borders Bill being debated today in the House of Commons, Tuesday, December 7, 2021. (Photo by Matt Dunham/AP Photo)





A girl poses by a depiction of Earth, a light installation by British artist Luke Jerram in Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, December 11, 2021. Romania relaxed some of its COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, among which face masks are no longer mandatory outdoors in uncrowded areas, as Health minister Alexandru Rafila said that the authorities must give people hope that they can “live normally in this country” but that if infection rates rise above certain thresholds, measures will be reversed. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)





Aircraft fly over the track bbefore the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, December 12. 2021. (Photo by Hassan Ammar/AP Photo)





Revellers take part in the Els Enfarinats festival, in the town of Ibi near Alicante, Spain, Tuesday December 28, 2021. For about 200-years the inhabitants of Ibi annually celebrate with a battle using flour, eggs and firecrackers, outside the city town hall. (Photo by Alberto Saiz/AP Photo)





A family watch as Britain's Queen Elizabeth II delivers her annual Christmas Broadcast message, at their home near Liverpool on December 25, 2021. Queen Elizabeth II paid a touching tribute to her late husband Prince Philip in her Christmas Day message as she marked the holiday with a family gathering. (Photo by Paul Ellis/AFP Photo)





Revellers enjoy the sunrise over Castlerigg in Cumbria in North West England as they welcome winter solstice on December 21, 2021. (Photo by Christopher Thomond/The Guardian)





A Panamanian Gnabe (L) and Bugle (R) indigenous women compete in the Log race during the third ancestral indigenous games in Pueblo Nuevo Buri, province of Bocas del Toro, Panama on December 18, 2021. At least 250 indigenous from Panama's seven ethnic groups are fighting not only to win a medal in the Ancestral Indigenous Games, but also to rescue and perpetuate the customs and traditions of their communities. (Photo by Luis Acosta/AFP Photo





Santa Claus and Mrs Claus hand out gifts at the Rev. Bill Crews Foundation Christmas lunch in Ashfield, Sydney, Australia, 25 December 2021. The Rev. Bill Crews Foundation will give more than 2,000 takeaway meals to the homeless and needy on Christmas Day. (Photo by Mick Tsikas/EPA/EFE)





Waves smash against a shore during a storm on the Black Sea in Sochi, Russia on December 22, 2021. (Photo by Dmitry Feoktistov/TASS)





Sky Views Dubai, the emirate's newest attraction for thrill-seekers on December 15, 2021. Visitors can walk around an glass-floored observation desk, speed down a clear glass slide or don a harness and brave a 53rd-floor outdoor viewing platform. (Photo by Sky Views Dubai)





Cement trucks belonging to sand miners sit buried by volcanic ash after heavy rains shifted ash from the slopes of Indonesia's most active volcano, Merapi, in Magelang on December 2, 2021. (Photo by Agung Supriyanto/AFP Photo)





Revellers perform during the “Salsodromo”, the kick-off of the music and cultural festival Feria de Cali (Cali Fair) in Cali, Colombia, on December 25, 2021. The “Salsodromo”, an event in which more than 2,500 revellers and salsa music dancers perform along a kilometre-long stripe, marks the start of the Feria de Cali festival every year. (Photo by Paola Mafla/AFP Photo)





People gather to take part in the New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square, as the Omicron coronavirus variant continues to spread, in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., December 31, 2021. (Photo by Hannah Beier/Reuters)





Pedestrians walk in front of a 2022 sign displayed in downtown Pristina on December 30, 2021, ahead of the New Year celebrations in Kosovo. (Photo by Armend Nimani/AFP Photo)





People celebrate during a New Year's Eve, in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, December 31, 2021. Boisterous New Year's Eve celebrations kicked off Friday in the Serbian capital of Belgrade where, unlike elsewhere in Europe, mass gatherings were allowed despite fears of the fast-spreading omicron variant. (Photo by Darko Vojinovic/AP Photo)





In what’s become its own wildly popular tradition, the Colorado-based North American Aerospace Defense Command provides real-time updates on Santa’s progress December 24, from 4 a.m. to midnight MST as he transits the South Pacific, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. (Photo by AP Photo)





This photograph taken on December 24, 2021 shows a negative SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen test used to detect the Covid-19 coronavirus hanging on a Christmas tree in Lausanne. (Photo by Fabrice Coffrini/AFP Photo)