Health experts in the U.K. and U.S. said the strain seems to infect more easily than others, but there is no evidence yet it is more deadly.

Patrick Vallance, the British government’s chief scientific adviser, said that the strain “moves fast and is becoming the dominant variant,” causing over 60 percent of infections in London by December.

The strain is also concerning because it has so many mutations — nearly two dozen — and some are on the spiky protein that the virus uses to attach to and infect cells. That spike is what current vaccines target.

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AMSTERDAM — Europe's medicines regulator on Monday approved the use of the Covid-19 vaccine jointly developed by the U.S.'s Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, putting Europe on course to start inoculations within a week.

European Union countries including Germany, France, Austria and Italy have said they plan to start vaccinations from Dec. 27 as Europe tries to catch up with the United States and Britain, where inoculations began earlier this month.

Having gained the green light from the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, the final step is approval by the European Commission, which is expected later on Monday.

"Now we will act fast. I expect a European Commission decision by this evening," Commission head Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter.

Von der Leyen had already targeted the start of vaccinations over the Dec. 27-29 period.

Preparations for the vaccine rollout come as the identification of a highly infectious new strain of the coronavirus in Britain caused chaos across the region, with countries shutting off travel ties with the U.K. and disrupting trade ahead of the Christmas holiday.

EMA officials told a news briefing that it was highly likely the vaccine would work against the new variant of the coronavirus.

The U.S. recorded 1,803 deaths and 201,828 Covid-19 cases Sunday, as monthly totals in both categories inched toward making December the deadliest and the most infectious month of the pandemic in the U.S.

With 4,330,000-plus cases in the month already, December will likely break the record 4,389,678 cases counted in November Monday. With 49,000-plus reported deaths in the month, it will take longer to surpass April's toll of 58,960 dead.

Apple has temporarily closed all 53 of its retail stores in California after the number of coronavirus cases reached new daily records in its home state this week. A listing of stores on the phone maker’s website reflects the change, which does not affect bordering states Arizona and Nevada.

The move shows how a major technology company is trying to reduce spread of the virus for employees and consumers, despite potential business impact.

“Due to current Covid-19 conditions in some of the communities we serve, we are temporarily closing stores in these areas,” an Apple spokesperson told CNBC in an email. “We take this step with an abundance of caution as we closely monitor the situation and we look forward to having our teams and customers back as soon as possible.”

Customers can still pick up existing orders and products the Genius Bar has repaired over the next few days, the spokesperson said.

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WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, are scheduled to receive the Covid-19 vaccine on Monday in Wilmington, Delaware, and it will be recorded on live video.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, are expected to receive the vaccine next week.

The Biden transition team told reporters during a Friday briefing call that staggering their vaccinations was "consistent with security and medical protocols" and it was recommended by medical and health experts. Asked for the reasoning for that recommendation, incoming press secretary Jen Psaki declined to go into further detail.

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The U.S. government and two of the nation's largest pharmacy chains kick off a nationwide campaign to vaccinate nursing home residents against Covic-19 on Monday, a week after the first vaccines authorized in the country began being administered to healthcare workers.

The program is the latest effort to control a pandemic that has killed more than 300,000 people in the country and is straining the capacity of healthcare systems in some states.

The United States has two authorized vaccines against the virus, one developed by Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech, which was cleared for use on Dec. 11, and one by Moderna that was approved on Friday.

Some 2.9 million shots of the Pfizer vaccine were distributed last week and mostly given to healthcare workers. The first Moderna injections are expected to begin being administered on Monday. About 7.9 million doses of the two shots are being distributed nationwide this week.

The government is urging states to prioritize those at greatest risk from the virus because vaccine supplies remain limited. 

The United Kingdom was increasingly isolated on Monday as countries around the world shut their doors to the island nation after a possibly more infectious strain of the coronavirus was detected.

Almost two dozen countries including Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Iran, Colombia and Morocco have suspended flights from the U.K. for 48 hours or more. Saudi Arabia has closed its borders and suspended all flights regardless of destination or origin.

Crisis meetings were scheduled in London and Brussels as officials grappled with how to respond to the variant, which experts estimate is 70 percent more transmissible than others in circulation.

At England's main port of Dover, already gridlocked before this weekend as a symptom of the country's imminent uncoupling with the European Union, freight officials warned that the new travel bans could wreak havoc on supply chains of food and goods days before Christmas.

Over the weekend, there was chaos at train stations and grocery stores, as people packed on to trains to avoid new domestic restrictions announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and stocked up on essentials in fear of possible shortages.

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PARIS — The situation regarding truck drivers currently stuck in the United Kingdom after European countries cut transport ties due to new COVID fears is becoming catastrophic, said a spokeswoman for the French national road haulage federation.

"They are stuck in lorry parks with no toilets - it's becoming a catastrophe. No driver wants to deliver to the UK now, so the UK is going to see its freight supply dry up," said Vanessa Ibarlucea, spokeswoman for France's FNTR national road haulage federation.

The United Kingdom on Monday became shut off from the rest of Europe after its closest allies cut transport ties due to fears about a new coronavirus strain, sowing chaos for families and companies just days before it exits the European Union's orbit.