In many places, New Year’s Eve celebrations were muted or cancelled for the second straight year due to a surge of coronavirus infections, this time driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant
Please enable JavaScript to view this content. Open this photo in gallery: Fireworks are seen over Sydney harbour during New Year's Eve celebrations in Sydney, Australia. Wendell Teodoro @ZEDUCE//Getty Images
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Open this photo in gallery: Fireworks light up the sky over Sydney Harbour as the clock strikes midnight in Sydney, Australia. Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
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Open this photo in gallery: People gather at Westminster Bridge while the London Eye is seen behind, during New Year's Eve celebrations in London, Britain. TOBY MELVILLE/Reuters
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Open this photo in gallery: Security guards check COVID-19 vaccine passes and identification documents at a nightclub, during New Year's Eve celebrations in London, Britain. TOBY MELVILLE/Reuters
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Open this photo in gallery: People drink at an outdoor bar in Trafalgar Square during New Year's Eve celebrations in London, Britain. TOBY MELVILLE/Reuters
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Open this photo in gallery: Youths hold placards with numbers to form the year 2022 to urge youngsters between the ages of 15 to 18 to get vaccinated against the Covid-19 coronavirus on the eve of the New Year 2022 in Ahmedabad. SAM PANTHAKY/AFP/Getty Images
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Open this photo in gallery: Crowds of people celebrate the New Year around the Christmas tree with the St. Sofia Cathedral in the background in Kyiv, Ukraine. Efrem Lukatsky/The Canadian Press
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Open this photo in gallery: Fireworks light up the Taiwan skyline and Taipei 101 during New Year's Eve celebrations in Taipei, Taiwan. Gene Wang/Getty Images
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Open this photo in gallery: A woman wearing a face mask walks with a child past a 2022 installation on New Year's Eve at a shopping mall in Beijing, China. FLORENCE LO/Reuters
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Open this photo in gallery: Athletes start the Sao Silvestre international race in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The 15-kilometer race, held annually on New Year's Eve but suspended in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, was closed to the public as a safety precaution but all runners were fully vaccinated. Marcelo Chello/The Associated Press
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Open this photo in gallery: A man takes a picture of 6,500 candle lights as he prepares for a ceremony to wish for an end to the pandemic and good luck in the upcoming New Year at Hasedera Buddhist temple south of Tokyo. KIM KYUNG-HOON/Reuters
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Open this photo in gallery: People gather at the security entrance in Times Square ahead of New Year's Eve celebrations in the Manhattan borough of New York City. STEFAN JEREMIAH/Reuters
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Open this photo in gallery: A general view of the near empty Times Square ahead of New Year's Eve celebrations in New York City. STEFAN JEREMIAH/Reuters
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Open this photo in gallery: This picture taken with a fisheye lens shows people awaiting the New Year's Eve fireworks show below Burj Khalifa in Dubai. KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images
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Open this photo in gallery: A visitor wearing a face mask poses for a photo in front of an illuminated decorations on New Year's Eve in Seoul, South Korea. Lee Jin-man/The Associated Press
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Open this photo in gallery: A man enjoys New Year's Eve during sunset in Loei province, Thailand. CHALINEE THIRASUPA/Reuters
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Open this photo in gallery: Customers queue on New Year's Eve at the oliebollen drive-thru of the Haarlemse Bakker in the Waarderpolder, in Haarlem. Most Dutch people have a bowl of oliebollen on the table on New Year's Eve. RAMON VAN FLYMEN/AFP/Getty Images
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Open this photo in gallery: Revelers gather in Times Square in New York. Craig Ruttle/The Associated Press
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Open this photo in gallery: A vendor wears a pair of 2022 glasses to advertise a festive accessories store on New Year's Eve in Tel Aviv, Israel. Oded Balilty/The Associated Press
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Open this photo in gallery: A couple takes a selfie picture along the Champs-Elysees Avenue on New Year's Eve in Paris, France. JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP/Getty Images
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Open this photo in gallery: Street vendors wait for customers during New Year's Eve celebrations in central Istanbul. DILARA SENKAYA/Reuters
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Open this photo in gallery: Citizens enjoy the New Year's performance on Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea. Cha Song Ho/The Associated Press
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Open this photo in gallery: A couple stands ahead of the Eiffel Tower lit up in blue to mark the French presidency of the European Union during the New Year's Eve in Paris, France. JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP/Getty Images
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Open this photo in gallery: A couple look out of the apartment window as police patrol the area in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, before midnight. Shiraaz Moahmed/The Associated Press
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Open this photo in gallery: A man rides a motorcycle past New Year's Eve decorations reading '2022' along a main street in the northern suburb of Shubra in Cairo, Egypt. KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images
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Open this photo in gallery: New Year's Eve fireworks go off outside the Colosseum in Rome. Andrew Medichini/The Associated Press
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Open this photo in gallery: People hold a lit sparkler on New Year's Eve outside the Colosseum in Rome. ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images
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Open this photo in gallery: Pyrotechnics operate at midnight with no live audience during televised-only New Year's Eve celebrations held near the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Adam Berry/Getty Images
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Open this photo in gallery: People enjoy the atmosphere as neon lights read 'Happy 2022' at Puerta del Sol Square in Madrid. Pablo Blazquez/Getty Images
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