Gazprom has completed filling the second string of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline with gas, and both strings with sufficient pressure are fully ready for use, Miller said.

"Now, of course, everything depends on our partners, consumers in Europe. As soon as they agree, large additional volumes of Russian gas will immediately begin to flow to Europe," Putin said.

The launch of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline will lower gas prices on the spot market, he predicted.

The 1,234-km pipeline, the longest offshore gas pipeline in the world, is expected to transport 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea.

The pipeline, however, has been lying idle, pending a go-ahead from Germany and the European Union.

On Nov. 16, Germany's network regulator said that it had suspended the pipeline's certification amid speculations that the project would turn into a powerful geopolitical leverage for Russia.

Moscow has repeatedly said that the pipeline is purely economical and beneficial to Europe.

Just 41 percent of Americans approve of the job Biden is doing as president, the lowest the pollsters have recorded during his presidency, the NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found.

The United States is grappling with the rapid spread of the Omicron variant in the country. Meanwhile, rising consumer prices mark another abnormal holiday season, the report said.

The poll was conducted from Dec 11-13.

The FDA's decision has added another at-home COVID-19 treatment option to help keep high-risk people out of the hospital.

Merck's pill, called molnupiravir, is authorized to use in adults with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing, and who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death, and for whom alternative COVID-19 treatment options authorized by the FDA are not accessible or clinically appropriate, according to the FDA.

Molnupiravir is available by prescription only and should be initiated as soon as possible after diagnosis of COVID-19 and within five days of symptom onset, said the FDA.

The pill is not authorized for use in patients younger than 18 years of age because molnupiravir may affect bone and cartilage growth, according to the FDA.

Molnupiravir is administered as four 200 milligram capsules taken orally every 12 hours for five days, for a total of 40 capsules. The drug is not authorized for use for longer than five consecutive days.

Doctors have clamored for easy-to-use medications throughout the pandemic, but the new drug molnupiravir has drawn concern from some experts because of its modest efficacy and potential safety risks.

"Based on the FDA's review of the totality of the scientific evidence available, the agency has determined that it is reasonable to believe that molnupiravir may be effective for use as treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in certain adults when alternative COVID-19 treatment options authorized by the FDA are not accessible or clinically appropriate," said the FDA.

The agency has also determined that the known and potential benefits of molnupiravir, when used consistent with the terms and conditions of the authorization, outweigh the known and potential risks of the product.

Side effects of the pill may include diarrhea, nausea and dizziness, according to the FDA.

Based on findings from animal reproduction studies, molnupiravir may cause fetal harm when administered to pregnant individuals. Therefore, molnupiravir is not recommended for use during pregnancy, said the FDA.

"As new variants of the virus continue to emerge, it is crucial to expand the country's arsenal of COVID-19 therapies using emergency use authorization, while continuing to generate additional data on their safety and effectiveness," said Patrizia Cavazzoni, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

On Wednesday, the FDA authorized Pfizer's oral antiviral tablets Paxlovid for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19, the first pill approved for COVID-19 treatment in the country.

Within a week, Pfizer is expected to make available to the United States enough of its pills to cover 65,000 Americans. At current infection rates, that would be enough supply for less than one day if it were given to half of people in the United States who test positive for the virus, according to The New York Times reports.

The new Omicron variant has driven a winter surge in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths across the United States.

The country is now averaging nearly 150,000 new COVID-19 cases and 1,200 new deaths each day. US hospitals are overwhelmed, and medical staff are back at breaking points as they are preparing for a holiday COVID-19 surge.

Daily cases are up 36.4 percent compared to a week before, and new deaths and hospitalizations are up 4 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively, according to data of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Johns Hopkins University.

The Biden administration has launched new COVID-19 test sites to ease growing demand. The government plans to buy a half-billion at-home COVID-19 test kits and mail them to people who want them, with deliveries beginning in January.

The Omicron variant has already taken the hold to become the dominant variant in the United States as more people are traveling and gathering for holidays.

The new variant accounted for 73.2 percent of all COVID-19 cases in the country in the week ending Dec. 18, and has already been found in nearly 50 US states, according to the CDC.

The Omicron variant is set to become the dominant strain in the province this week and without some type of circuit breaker, COVID-19 cases could exceed 10,000 per day before Christmas, according to the modeling issued by the Science Advisory Table.

"Although vaccines are less effective against Omicron infection, boosters can substantially increase protection," the modeling says. "Even two doses likely provide strong protection against severe illness. The risk of severe illness is dramatically higher in the unvaccinated."

Ontario, with a population of 14 million, reported 2,421 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday for the first time in seven months and as well as nine deaths related to the disease.

Out of the 2,421 cases, 758 are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated and 1,530 are in people who are fully vaccinated. Some 133 cases are in individuals with unknown vaccination status, according to the Ontario government.

Of the new cases reported on Thursday, 378 are in kids under the age of 12 and 241 cases are in youth between the ages of 12 and 19.

The number of COVID-19 cases reported daily in Ontario has been on a steady rise over the past few days, with 1,429 infections reported Tuesday and 1,808 infections on Wednesday.

The province's rolling seven-day average of COVID-19 cases now stands at about 1,674, up from 1,055 the previous week and its positivity rate soars to 7 percent.

The province confirmed 335 new school-related COVID-19 cases, including 278 infections in kids and 47 in staff members. Sixty schools in Ontario are now closed due to COVID-19.

There are 938 infections in people between the ages of 20 and 39 and 638 infections in individuals between the ages of 40 and 59. Some 222 cases are in people over the age of 60.

A little more than 90 percent of Ontarians aged 12 and up have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine while almost 88 percent have received both doses.

At a press conference in Ottawa on Wednesday, Canadian Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos urged Canadians with plans to travel abroad to cancel their trips as the Omicron variant spreads worldwide.

"To those who were planning to travel, I say very clearly now is not the time to travel. The rapid spread of the Omicron variant on a global scale makes us fear the worst," Duclos said.

The rate of spread is huge, he said, and Canadians may find themselves stranded if countries impose lockdown measures or curb flights in and out.

"The situation abroad is already dire in many places and it's going to get worse very quickly, so we're afraid for what could happen to them if they leave Canada," Duclos said.

Wednesday evening, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he knew Canadians were looking forward to getting away, not having to think about COVID-19 but emphasized the importance of safety and caution in dealing with the Omicron variant and advised against non-essential travel.

Health officials said the number is likely to increase quickly, given the pattern in other countries. For example, officials in the UK said Omicron represents more than 1 in 5 coronavirus cases there and that the number of cases from the variant is doubling every two to three days.

The variant has been identified in at least 30 states and Washington DC, according to the CDC. In New York and New Jersey, the federal agency said Omicron is already at 13 percent of sequenced cases.

"While it is rapidly increasing, we have the tools needed to fight #COVID19," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. "Get vaccinated, get boosted."

The Delta variant still causes 97 percent of cases in the US, according to the CDC.

Nationally, the seven-day average for new US cases is near 120,000, up from a recent drop to around 71,000 in late October, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The Omicron variant reduces the effectiveness of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine, but the vaccine can still lower the risk of hospital admission, according to the first large real-world study published Tuesday.

The study, by the largest private health insurer in South Africa, Discovery Ltd, found that Omicron reduced vaccine effectiveness against infection to 33 percent from 80 percent for Delta.

Still, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine's efficacy against severe illness and hospitalization falls to 70 percent from 93 percent, the study found.

The study also found that people infected with the Delta variant have a 40 percent relative risk of contracting the Omicron variant, while those infected during the Beta-driven wave at the beginning of 2020 faced a 60 percent chance of reinfection with Omicron.

Of 43 coronavirus cases caused by the Omicron variant identified in the United States as of Friday were in people who were fully vaccinated, and a third of them had received a booster dose, according to a CDC report.

The CDC said that 34 people had been fully vaccinated. Fourteen of them also had received a booster shot, although five of those cases occurred fewer than 14 days after the additional shot.

Pfizer said Tuesday that its experimental pill — known as Paxlovid — reduced the risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19 by 89 percent if given within three days of the onset of symptoms. Pfizer also said that a separate laboratory testing shows that the drug retains its potency against the Omicron variant.

"We are confident that, if authorized or approved, this potential treatment could be a critical tool to help quell the pandemic," Albert Bourla, Pfizer's CEO, said in a statement.

The Food and Drug Administration is expected to soon rule on whether to authorize the treatment.

Meanwhile, Kroger, the US' largest supermarket operator, said Tuesday that it will take away two weeks of paid leave for unvaccinated employees who get COVID-19 and will require some of them to pay a $50 monthly health insurance surcharge starting Jan 1, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The US Air Force has removed 27 people for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, a spokeswoman said Monday, marking the US military's first dismissals of those who refuse the shots.

The Air Force gave its members until Nov 2 to get the vaccine, and thousands have either refused or sought an exemption. Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek acknowledged that those dismissed Monday were the first active-duty Air Force members to be discharged for reasons involving the vaccine.

More than 94 percent of the Air Force is fully vaccinated, according to the service's data.

At the moment, the report judged Bitcoin to be in a consolidating bull market. This trend is expected to continue into next year even as they expect Bitcoin to reach and consolidate higher prices as it emerges from the $40,000-$70,000 range. This is because the market has largely shrugged off all the factors that played a role in its 50% downward correction earlier this year, especially the China mining ban.

Beyond the price range of $70,000, Bitcoin appears to be headed to a price of $100,000 in 2022 according to the report. The report sees this happening due to the effects of demand and supply at play in the Bitcoin market.

“Bitcoin appears to be on a trajectory for $100,000. We see it as more of a question of time, notably due to the economic basics of increasing demand vs. decreasing supply,” the report noted.

Highly indicative of this is the fact that Bitcoin has been progressing towards more mainstream adoption in countries including the U.S., Canada, El Salvador, and across Europe. It expects that when increasing adoption and awareness combine with declining volatility and issuance of Bitcoin, the price will inadvertently increase.

Another factor expected to play a key in increasing the attractiveness of investing in Bitcoin is greater regulatory clarity and the tweaking of the U.S’s monetary policy. The report said next year might see the U.S. become more open to cryptocurrencies as several legislations are set to be made for the industry that is more detailed. It adds that a situation where the Federal Reserve’s move to tighten its monetary policy leads to a crash in the stock market could be highly bullish for Bitcoin.

“A primary force to reverse expectations for Federal Reserve tightening in 2022 is a drop in the stock market, which may be a bit of a win-win for Bitcoin,” the report said. “Bitcoin will face initial headwinds if the stock market drops, but to the extent that declining equity prices pressure bond yields and incentivize more central-bank liquidity, the crypto may come out a primary beneficiary.”

Similarly, the report is also bullish on Ethereum for 2022. It asserts that the $4,000 ETH price which used to be the resistance level is now its support level, “and may act as the key pivot for 2022.” However, BI expects that the price may see a 60% drawdown in the 1st half of 2022 before continuing its advance.