Health News Roundup: Venezuela has fully vaccinated around 10% of its population, doctors group says; Life insurers shift to pre-pandemic norms after COVID vaccine roll-outs and more

The funding, which will begin to be distributed in the coming weeks, will focus on manufacturers of the inputs used in COVID-19 vaccine production as well as facilities that fill and package vaccine vials, White House COVID adviser Jeffrey Zients said during a news conference. Greece offers unvaccinated health care workers a second chance to get the shot Greece on Thursday offered unvaccinated health care workers a second chance to get a shot against COVID-19 and allow those who have been already suspended to return to work as hundreds of them protested against mandatory vaccination.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Biden warns of 'unconstitutional chaos' due to Texas abortion ban

A Texas law imposing a near-total ban on abortion that the U.S. Supreme Court allowed to stand will cause "unconstitutional chaos" by infringing on a right that women have exercised for almost a half-century, President Joe Biden warned on Thursday. The court, with a 6-3 conservative majority, also raised questions about how it will rule on a more sweeping upcoming case that could curb abortion rights nationwide, as it left in place the ban https://www.reuters.com/world/us/texas-abortion-ban-opens-up-wild-west-enforcement-critics-say-2021-09-02 on abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy.

Number of people with dementia set to jump 40% to 78 million by 2030 -WHO

More than 55 million people worldwide are living with dementia, a neurological disorder that robs them of their memory and costs the world $1.3 trillion a year, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday. The progressive condition can be caused by stroke, brain injury or Alzheimer's disease. With populations ageing, the number of sufferers is projected to rise to 78 million by 2030 and 139 million by 2050, the WHO said in a report.

U.S. administers 372.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC

The United States has administered 372,116,617 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Thursday morning and distributed 445,672,595 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those figures are up from the 371,280,129 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Sept. 1 out of the 443,741,705 doses delivered.

U.S. to invest $3 billion in COVID-19 vaccine supply chain -White House official

The U.S. plans to invest $3 billion in the vaccine supply chain as it continues to work to position itself as a leading supplier of vaccines for the world, a top U.S. health official said on Thursday. The funding, which will begin to be distributed in the coming weeks, will focus on manufacturers of the inputs used in COVID-19 vaccine production as well as facilities that fill and package vaccine vials, White House COVID adviser Jeffrey Zients said during a news conference.

Greece offers unvaccinated health care workers a second chance to get the shot

Greece on Thursday offered unvaccinated health care workers a second chance to get a shot against COVID-19 and allow those who have been already suspended to return to work as hundreds of them protested against mandatory vaccination. Greece has suspended from their jobs nearly 6,000 frontline health care workers who missed a Sept. 1 deadline to get at least one vaccine shot, a government official told Reuters.

Venezuela has fully vaccinated around 10% of its population, doctors group says

At least 3.3 million Venezuelans, or just over 10% of the population, have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to a survey by a group of doctors linked to the South American nation's universities. The survey showed that 25.3% had received one dose and 10.6% had received both. Applying those results proportionally to the entire population, he concluded that 6.4 million people, or 22% of the population has received one shot and 3.3 million, or 11%, has received both.

Life insurers shift to pre-pandemic norms after COVID vaccine roll-outs

The roll-out of COVID-19 vaccinations is making life insurers more enthusiastic about offering cover to those with underlying health conditions - some without even knowing whether customers have been vaccinated. Life insurers were imposing waiting periods to buy cover in the early stages of the pandemic for certain age groups, as well as for those who had been infected, saying the long-term health consequences of coronavirus were not fully understood.

Thailand cites positive results from Sinovac-AstraZeneca vaccine formula

Thailand's health ministry said on Thursday that its COVID-19 vaccine regimen of China's Sinovac followed by British-developed AstraZeneca was safe and successfully boosted immunity among its first 1.5 million recipients. Thailand in July became the first country in the world https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/thailand-starts-tighter-coronavirus-lockdown-around-capital-2021-07-12 to mix a Chinese vaccine and a Western-developed vaccine as cases and deaths in the country surged and the government struggled with vaccine supplies.

From factory to arm: Inside the UAE's chilly COVID-19 vaccine hub

Millions of COVID-19 vaccines sit in a warehouse in Abu Dhabi, waiting to be shipped globally and injected into peoples arms. Outside, the temperature is soaring. Inside, the warehouse is kept at around 4 Celsius (39.2 Fahrenheit), and its ultra-cold storage fridges at -81 Celsius.

U.S. Congress seeks information from FDA on approval of Biogen's Alzheimer's drug

U.S. lawmakers have requested data and documents from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) related to its accelerated approval of Biogen Inc's new Alzheimer's drug, mounting further pressure on the agency that has come under fire for clearing the drug. The chairs of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform and the Committee on Energy and Commerce have requested the FDA to disclose documents related to the interactions between Biogen and the agency's staff.

(With inputs from agencies.)