Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
Analysis-Falling demand for COVID boosters puts price hikes on the table
With most Americans delaying or skipping new COVID-19 booster shots, analysts and investors are now predicting far fewer will be given each year, pushing the number of shots well below annual flu vaccinations. With fewer shots needed, vaccine makers including Pfizer Inc, partner BioNTech SE, rival Moderna Inc and Novavax Inc could have to hike prices as much as three times current levels if they hope to meet Wall Street revenue forecasts for the shots for 2023 and beyond, several analysts said. Last year, many on Wall Street were estimating the number of COVID-19 shots would be in line with the annual flu vaccine, which is the vaccine market leader with more than 160 million shots per year in the United States and 600 million shots globally.
Chinese capital steps up COVID measures as cases quadruple
China’s capital, Beijing, has dialled up measures to stop COVID, strengthening public checks and locking down some residential compounds after a quadrupling of its case load in recent weeks, just as a key Communist Party congress entered full swing. The city of 21 million people on Thursday reported 18 new locally transmitted cases for the previous day, bringing the tally for the past 10 days to 197. That is four times more than the 49 infections detected in the previous 10-day period.
UK sees steep fall in new clinical trials over past five years
The number of clinical trials started in Britain each year dropped by 41% between 2017 and 2021, posing a “clear and serious threat” to its reputation as a clinical research destination, an industry report said on Thursday. The UK government has been vocal about cementing its position as a global science superpower and capitalising on clinical research conducted at the height of the pandemic that led to the discovery of multiple COVID interventions, from vaccines to drugs.
U.S. committee recommends COVID shot for CDC’s free vaccine program
An expert committee on Wednesday recommended that COVID-19 shots become part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) vaccine program for children, which provides many types of free inoculations to millions of kids each year. While all COVID-19 vaccines are currently provided free in the United States by the federal government, the U.S. public health emergency is expected to end in early 2023 and the private market will take over distribution of COVID vaccines and treatments.
Indonesia finds medicines with ingredients linked to fatal child kidney injury
Some medicinal syrups available in Indonesia contained ingredients linked to fatal acute kidney injury (AKI) in children, its health minister said on Thursday, as it investigates a spike in cases and 99 child deaths this year. Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin was also cited by media as saying some of those syrups were produced locally.
Walmart to pay $215 million to settle Florida opioid claims
Walmart Inc has agreed to pay $215 million to resolve claims its pharmacies fueled an epidemic of opioid addiction in Florida, the state’s attorney general announced on Thursday. As part of the deal, Walmart has also agreed to dispense 672,000 treatment kits with the anti-overdose drug naloxone to first responders in the state.
WHO says COVID-19 is still a global health emergency
The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that COVID-19 remains a global emergency, nearly three years after it was first declared as one. The WHO’s emergency committee first made the declaration for COVID-19 on Jan 30, 2020. Such a determination can help accelerate research, funding and international public health measures to contain a disease.
Ebola outbreak in Uganda still a manageable risk – Africa CDC
Africa’s top public health body said on Thursday there was a risk that the Ebola outbreak in Uganda could spread but it was still manageable at this stage and emergency measures were not necessary. “The risk is there but it is a manageable risk,” Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, Acting Director of Africa CDC, told reporters at an online briefing.
Swiss to destroy 9 million expired Moderna COVID-19 jabs
Switzerland will destroy 9 million doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine that have reached their expiry date, with another 5.1 million vaccine jabs set to meet the same fate by February, the government said on Wednesday. The wastage reflects the Swiss strategy of ordering more vaccines than it needed to ensure its population of around 8.7 million would get sufficient supplies even in the event of supply bottlenecks or quality issues.
U.S. CDC advisers approve adding COVID shots to vaccine schedules
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory committee on vaccines on Thursday approved adding COVID-19 vaccines to the agency’s recommended immunization schedules for both children and adults. The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted unanimously to add the vaccines to the schedules, which contain recommendations to physicians on which shots their patients should receive and when.
(With inputs from agencies.)
