BERLIN (AP) — Austria will end its lockdown for unvaccinated residents next Monday — one day before a COVID-19 vaccine mandate takes effect in the country, the country's chancellor announced Wednesday.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said the measure, which was introduced in November, was no longer needed because there was no threat of hospital intensive care units being overstretched.

For weeks, the lockdown for the unvaccinated has been “a measure that many people complained about, but that was unavoidable for health policy reasons,” Nehammer said, according to Austrian news agency APA.

On Feb. 1, a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for adults — the first of its kind in Europe — will take effect in the small Alpine country. Officials have said the mandate is necessary because vaccination rates remain too low. They say it will ensure that Austria’s hospitals are not overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients. So far, 75.4% of the country's residents have been fully vaccinated.

“Despite relaxations, caution is still required: I appeal to all 1.5 million unvaccinated to get vaccinated and not wait for mandatory vaccination to take effect,” the chancellor tweeted.

Once the mandate goes into effect, authorities will write to every household to inform them of the new rules.

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BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania on Wednesday recorded a huge jump in COVID-19 infections, hitting a pandemic record of nearly 35,000 daily cases, almost doubling its previous record set only a day earlier. Deaths have also begun to climb.

Daily coronavirus cases in Romania have dramatically surged over the past month, from about a 1,000 cases a day in mid-December to the pandemic record of 34,255 cases on Wednesday. Its daily death toll was 94, also the highest number of virus deaths in more than a month.

Three-quarters of those deaths were unvaccinated people and more than 80% of the 692 COVID-19 patients now in intensive care in Romania have also not been jabbed, official data shows.

Romania, which has seen nearly 60,000 deaths since the pandemic began, is the European Union’s second-least vaccinated nation, with just 41% fully inoculated compared to a bloc average of 70%.

Health care officials in Romania had predicted a sharp surge of cases amid the fast-spreading omicron variant. But despite the huge numbers of COVID-19 infections, cases are leading to far fewer hospital admissions and deaths compared to Romania's previous virus wave last fall, which brought the country’s health care system to its knees.

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PRAGUE (AP) — The number of Czech citizens dying of COVID-19 has been steadily declining despite a recent record surge in coronavirus infections caused by the highly transmittable omicron variant.

The figures released by the Health Ministry on Wednesday show that 121 people died in the last seven days, down from 206 the previous period and 289 another seven days back.

New infections in the Czech Republic had been declining since a record high in late November, but started growing again in January driven by the omicron variant that has became dominant.

The daily increases hit a record high of almost 40,000 cases on Tuesday, about 11,000 more than a week ago and the third time a record was set in the last eight days. The 7-day infection rate jumped to 1,689 new cases per 100,000 residents on Tuesday compared to 1,585 a day earlier.

The number of COVID-19 patients needing hospitalization in the European Union nation had been declining since Dec 6 but has started to grow slightly this week.

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control says 63.1% of the Czech Republic's 10.5 million people are fully vaccinated, below the EU average of 70%.

The Czech Republic has registered 37,092 virus-related deaths in the pandemic.

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MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Wednesday expanded a domestically developed coronavirus vaccine for children aged 12-17 to include more regions, amid the country's biggest infection surge yet due to the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant.

Earlier this week, free shots of Sputnik M — a version of the Sputnik V vaccine that contains a smaller dose — became available to that age group in a number of areas spanning from the Moscow region surrounding the capital to the Urals to Siberia and the far east.

On Wednesday, the jab became available to teenagers in Volgograd, Astrakhan and Kursk. In Moscow, the vaccination campaign will start in the coming days, Deputy Mayor Anastasia Rakova told reporters on Wednesday.

Those under the age of 15 need parental consent for the shot, while those aged 15-17 can make the decision themselves, authorities said.

Russia in recent weeks has faced an unprecedented surge of coronavirus infections, with the number of daily confirmed cases increasing five-fold between Jan. 10, when about 15,000 new infections were reported, and Wednesday, when officials tallied 74,692 — another all-time high in the pandemic.

Moscow, the outlying region and St. Petersburg are hit the hardest by the surge and account for about half of all daily new infections.

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark’s government said Wednesday it will scrap most pandemic restrictions next week, even as neighboring Sweden extended its own measures for another fortnight.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that as of Feb. 1 Danes will enjoy free access to restaurants, cafes, museums and nightclubs, while mask use will cease to be mandatory.

“We say goodbye to the restrictions and welcome the life we knew before” the pandemic, Frederiksen said. “As of Feb. 1, Denmark will be open.”

Denmark currently requires face masks on public transportation, in shops, for standing clients in restaurant indoor areas, and for people entering hospitals, health care facilities and retirement homes. As of Feb. 1, the government will only recommend mask use in hospitals, health care facilities and homes for the elderly.

Frederiksen said that while the omicron variant is surging in Denmark, it is not placing a heavy burden on the health system and the country has a high vaccination rate.

“It may seem strange that we want to remove restrictions given the high infection rates,” she said. “But fewer people become seriously ill.”

Denmark has in recent weeks seen more than 46,000 daily cases on average, but only 40 people are currently in hospital intensive care units — down from 80 a few weeks ago — Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said.

Earlier Thursday, Sweden extended several coronavirus restrictions for two weeks.

Social Affairs Minister Lena Hallengren said the country, which had previously stood out among European nations for its comparatively hands-off pandemic response, has “an extremely record high spread of infection.”

Karin Tegmark Wisell, head of Sweden’s Public Health Agency, said infections are expected to decline in a couple of weeks. She said Sweden had 270,000 new infections in the past week and that “our assessment is that, during this period, at least half a million can fall ill per week.”

Sweden has ordered cafes, bars and restaurants to close at 11 p.m., and urged people to work from home when possible.

In another Scandinavian country, Finland, Prime Minister Sanna Marin tweeted that “the government will assess the necessity of (the) restrictions.” She added that it “should consider opening low-risk cultural and sports events with a COVID pass and extending the opening hours of restaurants on a quicker schedule than was previously estimated.”

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Moderna has begun testing an omicron-specific COVID-19 booster in healthy adults.

The company announced Wednesday that the first participant had received a dose. Earlier this week, competitor Pfizer began a similar study of its own reformulated shots.

It’s not clear whether global health authorities will order a change to the vaccine recipe in the wake of the hugely contagious omicron variant. The original vaccines still offer good protection against death and severe illness. Studies in the U.S. and elsewhere show a booster dose strengthens that protection and improves the chances of avoiding even a milder infection.

Moderna pointed to a small study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday that showed antibodies able to target omicron persisted for six months after a booster dose, although the levels were dropping.

Moderna’s new study will enroll about 600 people who already have received either two doses of the company’s original shots or two plus a booster dose. All the volunteers will receive a dose of the experimental omicron-matched version.