Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
EU opens new front in AstraZeneca legal fight that may lead to fines
The European Union launched a new lawsuit against AstraZeneca on Tuesday that could lead to financial sanctions for the company which the EU alleges has breached a supply contract for COVID-19 vaccines. The lawsuit is the EU’s second against AstraZeneca after the bloc took action at the end of April over delayed vaccine supplies.
India’s seven-day COVID average at new high, WHO issues warning on strain
India’s coronavirus crisis showed scant sign of easing on Tuesday, with a seven-day average of new cases at a record high and international health authorities warning the country’s variant of the virus poses a global concern. India’s daily coronavirus cases rose by 329,942, while deaths from the disease rose by 3,876, according to the health ministry. India’s total coronavirus infections are now at 22.99 million, while total fatalities rose to 249,992.
Mexico to start phase III clinical trials for China’s Walvax COVID vaccine
Mexico plans to start phase III clinical trials for China’s Walvax Biotechnology’s COVID-19 vaccine on May 30 and 6,000 volunteers are expected to participate, foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Tuesday.
Drained by COVID fight, some French ICU nurses strike for better pay
Intensive care medical staff exhausted by the battle against COVID-19 went on strike in some French hospitals on Tuesday to demand better pay and working conditions. The hard-left CGT trade union said the coronavirus crisis had underlined the need to increase the number of nurses and intensive care beds in public hospitals, as well as improve salary terms.
Britain seeking constructive engagement on COVID-19 vaccine waivers
Britain is seeking constructive engagement with the United States and other World Trade Organization members on the issue of IP waivers for COVID-19 vaccines, a government spokesman said after pressure from charities to back U.S. proposals. U.S. President Joe Biden last week threw his support behind waiving intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines in a sharp reversal of the previous U.S. position.
France to allocate more than 5% of its COVID vaccines to WHO-backed COVAX programme
France will allocate more than 5% of its COVID-19 vaccine doses to the COVAX programme backed by the World Health Organisation, by the end of this year, said a French health ministry official.
Biden: 1 million Americans sign up for healthcare in special enrollment period
One million Americans have signed up for health insurance on the U.S. government website Healthcare.gov during a special enrollment period that began on Feb. 15, President Joe Biden said in a statement on Tuesday. Biden, a Democrat, re-opened the country’s online health insurance marketplace earlier this year to give more Americans a chance to take advantage of benefits provided under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
U.S. children ages 12 to 15 could begin COVID-19 vaccinations Thursday
U.S. regulators authorized Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for use in children as young as 12 and said they could begin receiving shots as soon as Thursday, widening the country’s inoculation program as vaccination rates have slowed significantly. This is the first COVID-19 vaccine to be authorized in the United States for ages 12 to 15. Vaccinating younger ages is considered an important step for getting children back into schools safely. U.S. President Joe Biden has asked states to make the vaccine available to younger adolescents immediately.
Brazil states halt vaccination of pregnant women after Rio death
Brazilian states halted vaccination of pregnant women on Tuesday after a death in Rio de Janeiro led health regulator Anvisa to warn against the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine for expecting mothers. A pregnant woman in Rio de Janeiro died after receiving the AstraZeneca shot, according to state Health Secretary Alexandre Chieppe, in a case authorities are still investigating.
‘It’s all a lie’: hesitancy hampers vaccine drive in war-scarred Syrian area
In northwest Syria, where healthcare is rudimentary and those displaced by war are packed into squalid camps, the arrival of vaccines to fight COVID-19 should have been cause for relief. Instead, a U.N.-backed vaccination campaign has met with suspicion and mistrust by an exhausted population who feel betrayed by their government and abandoned by the international community after a decade of conflict that ruined their lives.
(With inputs from agencies.)
