German chancellor on omicron, jabs, G7 presidency

Chancellor Olaf Scholz is urging Germans to pull together to defeat the coronavirus in 2022 and promising to react “quickly and decisively” to the advance of the omicron variant.

In his first televised New Year's message since taking over from longtime leader Angela Merkel three weeks ago, Scholz also pledged to use Germany's presidency of the Group of Seven industrial nations to make the G-7 a “trailblazer” in climate-neutral economic activity.

Much of Scholz's message was taken up with the immediate challenge of fighting COVID-19. He renewed appeals for people to get vaccinated and to get booster shots. The government says it fulfilled a pledge to administer 30 million shots between mid-November and the new year, and wants to give another 30 million by the end of January.