Health News Roundup: Vaccine alliance says 75 countries keen to join 'COVAX' access facility; Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 534 to 200,260 and more

Early-stage trial data on AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine due July 20 - Lancet The Lancet medical journal said on Wednesday it will publish keenly-awaited phase 1 clinical trial data on a potential COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Astrazeneca and Oxford University on Monday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 534 to 200,260: RKI

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 534 to 200,260, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Thursday. The reported death toll rose by seven to 9,078, the tally showed.

Fauci bullish on prospects for U.S. vaccine, not worried about China winning race

The leading U.S. expert on infectious diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, predicted on Wednesday the country will meet its goal of a coronavirus vaccine by year's end and was unmoved by the prospect that China would get there first. While there are no guarantees, "I feel good about the projected timetable," Fauci told Reuters in an interview.

Japan domestic tourism campaign under fire as coronavirus cases spike in Tokyo

A Japan government campaign to kickstart domestic tourism after the coronavirus outbreak has come under fire with officials in Tokyo and the countryside saying it's too soon to boost travel from the capital, hit by a spike in new cases. A panel of experts was set to meet with Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura to discuss the multi-billion dollar "Go To" promotion on Thursday, a day after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike publicly queried the campaign's timing and methods.

Vaccine alliance says 75 countries keen to join 'COVAX' access facility

More than 75 countries have expressed interest in joining the COVAX financing scheme designed to guarantee fast and equitable access globally to COVID-19 vaccines, the GAVI vaccines alliance said on Wednesday. The 75 countries, which would finance the vaccines from public budgets, will partner with up to 90 poorer countries supported through voluntary donations to GAVI's COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), the alliance said in a statement.

Early-stage trial data on AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine due July 20 - Lancet

The Lancet medical journal said on Wednesday it will publish keenly-awaited phase 1 clinical trial data on a potential COVID-19 vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University on Monday. "We expect this paper, which is undergoing final editing and preparation, to be published on Monday, July 20, for immediate release," a spokeswoman for the journal said.

Over 224,000 COVID-19 deaths forecast in U.S. by November 1, says University of Washington's IHME

A newly revised University of Washington model projects the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 will climb to just above 224,000 by Nov. 1, up 16,000 from a prior forecast, due to rising infections and hospitalizations in many states. But the latest forecast from the university's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), released late on Tuesday, also predicts the death toll could be reduced by 40,000 if nearly all Americans wore masks in public.

China gives the go-ahead for human trials of BioNTech's COVID vaccine candidate

China has approved an early-stage trial in humans of German firm BioNTech's experimental COVID-19 vaccine, its local partner Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical said on Thursday. The potential vaccine is one of the two most advanced candidates that BioNTech is working on with its partner Pfizer Inc and they received "fast track" status this week from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration which is designed to speed up the regulatory review process.

COVID ICU patients' survival rate has improved - study

The death rate for COVID-19 intensive care patients has dropped by about one-third since the start of the pandemic, due at least in part to better hospital care, a review of published studies found. The global analysis of 24 observational studies of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, was published on Wednesday in the journal Anaesthesia.

Moderna Phase 1 results show coronavirus vaccine safe, induces immune response

Moderna Inc's experimental vaccine for COVID-19 showed it was safe and provoked immune responses in all 45 healthy volunteers in an ongoing early-stage study, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday. Volunteers who got two doses of the vaccine had high levels of virus-killing antibodies that exceeded the average levels seen in people who had recovered from COVID-19, the team reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Australia's Victoria reports two COVID-19 deaths, record daily rise in infections

Australia's second-most populous state of Victoria said on Thursday two men in their 80s died overnight from the coronavirus, as the state logged a record daily rise in new infections. Victoria reported 317 new daily cases, the highest since the pandemic began. The state's previous high of 288 new cases came last week.