Moderna Inc.’s vaccine was deemed safe by U.S. regulators, clearing the way for a second shot to quickly gain emergency authorization. In Europe, regulators will review Pfizer Inc.’s vaccine earlier than planned amid growing pressure to approve it quickly.

British authorities will hold talks on Christmas coronavirus rules after a surge in infections fueled demands from medical experts to stop households socializing over the holiday. Denmark is extending local lockdowns to the entire country, while Italy’s prime minister is mulling further curbs to slow cases during the festive season.

New Jersey administered its first Covid-19 vaccine to an emergency-department nurse at the state’s only public hospital. New York’s mayor told residents to prepare for a shutdown of all but essential businesses soon after Christmas.

Key Developments:

• Global Tracker: Cases pass 73 million; deaths surpass 1.62 million
• U.S. Hot Spots: Hispanic counties suffer outsize pain in latest surge
• Bipartisan U.S. lawmakers propose $908 billion relief package
• America’s economy faces a zombie recovery, even with vaccine
• Covid shined light on biotech, and bulls see even brighter 2021
• Anxiety mounts as pandemic slams U.S. small businesses

Subscribe to a daily update on the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis team here. Click CVID

N.Y. Sees Most Deaths Since May (4 p.m. NY)

New York recorded 128 deaths from Covid-19, the most since mid-May, Governor Andrew Cuomo said. The state also had 5,982 patients hospitalized with the virus, approaching the 6,000 mark it last hit on May 15.

U.S. Clears First Home Over-the-Counter Test (3:55 p.m. NY)

The first Covid-19 test that can be performed entirely from home was cleared by U.S. regulators on Tuesday, and it can be acquired without a prescription.

While availability initially will be limited, the new test and others in development could make virus screenings as accessible as over-the-counter pregnancy tests in the U.S. for the first time. The advance follows months of criticism that the Food and Drug Administration has been too slow to give its approval to this type of virus screening.

Manufactured by East Brisbane, Australia-based Ellume, the self-administered, single-use nasal-swab test is small enough to fit in the palm of a person’s hand. The test detects proteins on the virus’s surface in 15 minutes and delivers results to a smartphone app.

Airlines in Line for $17 Billion in Relief (3:05 p.m. NY)

Airlines would get $17 billion in U.S. government aid to recall furloughed workers and help cover payrolls through March under a bipartisan pandemic relief package unveiled in Congress on Monday that won immediate backing from an industry group.

Airlines “enthusiastically support” the proposal, the trade group Airlines for America said in a press release. Carriers will attempt to bring back workers who have been laid off if it passes, “but that becomes increasingly challenging with each passing day,” the group said.

Colorado Death Toll Worsens (1:55 p.m. NY)

The death toll is accelerating in Colorado, with a quarter of the state’s 3,969 coronavirus and virus-related deaths occurring over the past four weeks, based on data from the state health department and the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. Colorado health officials have estimated the state could suffer 1,000 or more for all of December with modeling earlier in the month suggesting 4,400 deaths in a worst case scenario.

France’s New Cases Slow After Week of Growth (1:50 p.m. NY)

France’s rolling seven-day average of new cases fell below 12,000 on Tuesday, marking a second day of pause after rising for most of last week. Hospitalizations fell for the first time in four days, health authorities reported. The seven-day average of deaths linked to the virus fell to the lowest since early November.

Canada Secures Moderna Vaccine (12:30 p.m. NY)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the Canadian government has reached an agreement with Moderna to receive up to 168,000 early doses of the company’s coronavirus vaccine.

Moderna is prepared to ship the vaccines within 48 hours of the shot’s approval by public health authorities, Trudeau said Tuesday in Ottawa.

NYC Shutdown Likely After Christmas, Mayor Says (12:02 p.m. NY)

New Yorkers can expect a shutdown of all but essential businesses soon after Christmas, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

If the city’s businesses close “right after Christmas, with good luck and hard work we could be out of that in a matter of weeks,” the mayor said.

Although New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will make the final decisions, closures will be similar to what the city experienced last spring, with the exception that schools will remain open, de Blasio said.

It will take weeks to reduce the number of people hospitalized -- at 2.89 per 100,000 in the population as of Dec. 13 -- to the city’s established safety level of 2 per 100,000. The percentage of people testing positive for the virus stood at 5.51%, also above the city’s threshold, which is 5%. People admitted to hospitals on Dec. 13 for Covid-19 symptoms stood at 160 -- below the threshold of 200.

Airlines Secure EU Relief on Slots Until March (11:50 a.m. NY)

European airlines were guaranteed longer regulatory relief from the impact of the coronavirus, after the European Commission won the final go-ahead to suspend airport slot-use obligations until late March.

European Union governments and the bloc’s Parliament cleared the commission’s decision to waive until March 27, 2021, a requirement that carriers use at least 80% of their takeoff and landing positions or risk losing them the following year. The EU earlier this year suspended the obligation for eight months until Oct. 24.

Fauci Recommends Trump, Biden Get Vaccine (10:05 a.m. NY)

Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious-disease expert, said President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden should get Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, which has been approved for emergency use.

“You still want to protect people who are, you know, very important to our country right now,” Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Tuesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “Even though the president himself was infected and he has likely antibodies that likely would be protective, we’re not sure how long that protection lasts.”

Fauci also said Vice President Mike Pence and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris should get the vaccine.

U.K. Officials Look Again at Christmas Plan (9:37 a.m. NY)

British authorities are to hold talks on Christmas coronavirus rules after a surge in infections fueled demands from medical experts to stop households mixing over the holiday. Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove will discuss the issue with his counterparts from the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland later on Tuesday, a person familiar with the matter said.

The talks suggest officials could revise their decision to allow as many as three households to gather together for five days over Christmas. In a rare joint editorial Tuesday, the British Medical Journal and the Health Service Journal said the government’s relaxation of social distancing rules over the holiday period will increase coronavirus infections and risk putting further strain on hospitals.

Millions of Londoners will be ordered to comply with England’s toughest rules from Wednesday. The switch to tier 3 rules from tier 2 in London and parts of southeast England will see pubs, bars and restaurants closed, except for serving takeaway meals. Theaters and museums will also shut.

N.J. Administers First Covid Vaccine (9:13 a.m. NY)

New Jersey administered its first Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday to an emergency-department nurse at the state’s only public hospital. Maritza Beniquez, 56, recalled a devastating series of months treating people of color at University Hospital in Newark, and how as a Latina she stood in solidarity with them.

“When Covid came, it was the worst of our days, our worst nightmare,” Beniquez said at a press conference outside the hospital.

Hospitalizations statewide for Covid-19 have more than tripled since the beginning of November, to 3,660 as of Dec. 14. Of 727 patients in intensive-care units, 63% are on ventilators.

Dutch Weekly Cases Climb for Second Straight Week (9:08 a.m. NY)

The number of confirmed cases in the Netherlands rose for a second straight week, according to health agency RIVM. In the past seven days, 58,412 new patients were confirmed, up from 43,103. The numbers of people hospitalized with Covid-19 and admitted to intensive care units also climbed. A five-week lockdown came into effect on Tuesday.

J&J Applies for Vaccine Registration in South Africa (8:56 a.m. NY)

Johnson & Johnson has become the first company to apply for registration of a Covid-19 vaccine in South Africa, the head of the country’s health products regulator said.

The company is in the midst of stage three trials, including one in South Africa. The application was made late last week and is being assessed, said Boitumelo Semete-Makokotela, the chief executive officer of the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority. The regulator will use a so-called rolling review, which allows it to assess vaccine data as it becomes available during the trials.

Pfizer-BioNTech Shot to Get European Review Next Week (8:51 a.m. NY)

European regulators will review Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE’s Covid-19 vaccine next week, earlier than initially planned, amid growing pressure across the continent to approve the shot quickly. A European Medicines Agency committee will meet Dec. 21 to consider the vaccine after receiving additional data from the developers, according to a statement Tuesday from the drugs watchdog.

Leaders in Germany, Italy and Poland, among other countries, have been pushing the European regulator to speed up its review as vaccination campaigns begin for high-risk people in the U.K. and U.S.

Moderna’s Shot Looks Safe and Effective: FDA Staff Report (8:01 a.m. NY)

Moderna Inc.’s vaccine is safe and effective for people ages 18 and older, U.S. regulators said, clearing the way for a second shot to quickly gain emergency authorization and add to the country’s sprawling immunization effort.

Food and Drug Administration’s staff said in a report on Tuesday that the experimental vaccine is 94.1% effective at preventing symptomatic Covid-19, confirming earlier results released by the company. The report was posted online ahead of a meeting Thursday of agency advisers who will vote whether to recommend authorization before a final FDA decision.

Stockholm May Halt All Non-Essential Care (7:38 a.m. NY)

Sweden’s capital is considering postponing all non-essential health-care services to free up resources needed to tackle a relentless rise in cases. The proposal, which would be effective until the end of January, is due to be discussed later on Tuesday, Bjorn Eriksson, director of health and medical services for the Stockholm region, told reporters.

Almost all of Sweden’s regional hospitals are now struggling with a shortage of health-care staff, Swedish Radio reported.

A government-appointed commission has criticized Sweden’s response to the pandemic for failing to protect the elderly in nursing homes, Dagens Nyheter reported Tuesday.

Denmark May Expand Partial Lockdowns Nationwide: TV2 (7:23 a.m. NY)

Denmark may expand local lockdowns to the entire country to counter a rise in cases, local media including TV2 reported. The restrictions currently cover two-thirds of Denmark. The government is expected to present the new measures at a press conference later on Tuesday, according to the broadcaster.

Covid Causes Shortage of Psychiatric Drugs in South Africa (7:23 a.m. NY)

South Africa has been hit by a shortage of mental health medication and contraceptives after the coronavirus outbreak disrupted manufacturing and imports. The number of so-called stock-outs, when a medicine is unavailable, has doubled this year to over 1,400 reports, according to Ruth Dube, project coordinator at the Stop Stockouts Project, a non-profit that campaigns to end medicine scarcity.

Europe May Approve Shot by Christmas as Pressure Builds (7:05 a.m. NY)

Pressure is building in Europe for quick approval of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE’s Covid-19 vaccine. Germany is “optimistic” that the European Medicines Agency will be able to make a decision by Dec. 23, Health Minister Jens Spahn said in Berlin on Tuesday. The EMA had previously said an advisory board would convene by Dec. 29 to make a recommendation on the application; approval would come within days after that.

“We’re doing all we can to get this vaccine approved as soon as possible,” Spahn said. “The goal is to get approval before Christmas,” he said, adding that Germany hopes to start its rollout before the end of the year.

Financing Is Key to Ending Pandemic: WHO’s Aylward (6 a.m. NY)

The ACT Accelerator program that aims to deliver vaccines, tests and treatments to low-income countries has a $28 billion funding gap, said Bruce Aylward, who heads the project. Of that, $5 billion alone is needed to reach the Covax goal of supplying 2 billion vaccine doses to poorer countries.

“Right now financing is what stands between us and getting out of this pandemic,” he said during a United Nations video press conference.

— With assistance by Mark Schoifet, John Follain, Thomas Mulier, Elise Young, Joost Akkermans, Henry Goldman, Rudy Ruitenberg, Vincent Del Giudice, and Keshia Clukey