Health News Roundup: Australia expects to receive AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine within months; What you need to know about the coronavirus right now and more

Australia expects to receive AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine within months Australia expects to receive its first batches of a potential COVID-19 vaccine in January, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday, as the number of new daily infections in the country's virus hotspot fell to a 10-week low.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Shanghai Fosun Pharma, Sinopharm Group sign deal to supply BioNTech coronavirus vaccine candidate

Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Sinopharm Group to supply a coronavirus vaccine candidate developed by German firm BioNTech, it said on Monday. BioNTech announced last month a potential deal with Fosun Pharma to supply 10 million doses of their candidate to Hong Kong and Macau.

BioNTech, Pfizer begin German part of COVID-19 vaccine study

Biotech firm BioNTech said on Monday it widened an ongoing pivotal global study of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate to include testing in its home country of Germany. Germany's vaccines regulator, the Paul Ehrlich Institute, gave the approval for the Phase 2/3 trial of the experimental vaccine known as BNT162b2, BioNTech and its partner Pfizer said in a statement.

Coronavirus curbs could crimp key South Korean holiday despite fewer cases

South Korea reported its lowest tally of new coronavirus infections in more than three weeks on Monday, but officials are weighing whether to extend social distancing curbs ahead of one of the country's biggest holidays this month. Thousands of trainee doctors appeared set to end a two-week protest strike against government healthcare reforms after they agreed to go back to work from Tuesday.

Australia expects to receive AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine within months

Australia expects to receive its first batches of a potential COVID-19 vaccine in January, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday, as the number of new daily infections in the country's virus hotspot fell to a 10-week low. Morrison said his government has struck a deal with CSL Ltd to manufacture two vaccines - one developed by rival AstraZeneca and Oxford University, and another developed in CSL's own labs with the University of Queensland.

India overtakes Brazil as country second-worst hit by COVID-19

India's coronavirus infections surged past 4.2 million on Monday as it overtook Brazil to become the country with the second-highest number of cases. With 4,204,613 infections, India is nearly 70,000 cases ahead of Brazil, which will post its most recent numbers later on Monday.

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: Cases rising in 22 U.S. states Exhausted Indian doctors battle surging COVID-19 cases

Doctors at one of the largest private COVID-19 facilities in the Indian capital say they are exhausted and facing staff shortages after nearly six months of relentless work. India's total cases of the novel coronavirus crossed 4.2 million on Monday, overtaking Brazil as the second worst-hit country after the United States.

Malaysia reports sharpest spike in new coronavirus cases in three months

Malaysia's health authorities reported 62 new coronavirus cases on Monday, the sharpest spike since early June, just as the government began barring long-term immigration pass holders from countries with high infection numbers. From Monday, Southeast Asia's third-largest economy imposed a ban on pass holders from 23 countries that have reported more than 150,000 COVID-19 cases, in a bid to clamp down on imported cases. Countries on the ban list include the United States, Britain and France.

Health tech pins hope on Africa's pandemic shift to online care

When Loveth Metiboba's baby had diarrhoea, she worried that taking him to a clinic near her home in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, might expose them both to the coronavirus. "The idea of going to the clinic was very scary," said Metiboba, a researcher for a charity.

Coronavirus rising in 22 U.S. states

Coronavirus cases are rising in 22 of the 50 U.S. states, according to a Reuters analysis, a worrisome trend on a Labor Day holiday weekend traditionally filled with family gatherings and parties to mark the end of summer. As little as three weeks ago, cases were increasing in only three states, Hawaii, Illinois and South Dakota, according to an analysis comparing cases for the two-week period of Aug. 8-22 with the past two weeks.