Health News Roundup: AstraZeneca says should know if vaccine works; NIH launches two trials to test blood thinners and more

French new daily COVID-19 infections reach a record French health authorities reported 9,843 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Thursday, setting an all-time high of daily additional infections, six days after the previous record of 8,975.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

AstraZeneca says should know if vaccine works by year-end if trials resume

AstraZeneca's chief executive Pascal Soriot said on Thursday that it should know before the end of the year whether its experimental vaccine would protect people from COVID-19, if the British drugmaker is allowed to resume trials which were paused this week. It suspended the late-stage trials after an illness in a study subject in Britain. The patient was reportedly suffering from neurological symptoms associated with a rare spinal inflammatory disorder called transverse myelitis.

NIH launches two trials to test blood thinners in COVID-19 patients

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on Thursday it has launched two of the three late-stage clinical trials to test the effectiveness and safety of different types of blood thinners in treating COVID-19 among adults. The three trials are being run under the U.S. government's Operation Warp Speed program, which aims to speed up the development, manufacturing and distribution of vaccines, tests and drugs against the coronavirus.

U.N.'s Guterres calls for $35 billion more for WHO COVID-19 program

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for $35 billion more, including $15 billion in the next three months, for the World Health Organization's (WHO) "ACT Accelerator" program to back vaccines, treatments and diagnostics against COVID-19. Some $3 billion has been contributed so far, Guterres told an online event on Thursday, calling it "seed funding" that was less than 10% of what the WHO wants for the program, formally called Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator.

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:

AstraZeneca awaiting patient diagnosis U.S. CDC reports 190,262 deaths from coronavirus

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Thursday the number of deaths due to the new coronavirus had risen by 1,115 to 190,262 and reported 6,343,562 cases, an increase of 32,899 cases from its previous count. The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by a new coronavirus, as of 4 pm ET on Sept. 9 versus its previous report a day earlier. (https://bit.ly/2GDSzxr)

COVID-19 vaccine doses could arrive in Canada early in 2021: minister

Canada is "aggressively negotiating" with drugmakers on delivery schedules for potential COVID-19 vaccines and shipments would begin early in 2021 under existing deals, Canada's minister of public services and procurement told Reuters on Thursday. The Canadian government has announced four vaccine purchase deals and is negotiating more, while also funding local projects that are less advanced, and building new vaccine manufacturing capacity at a facility in Montreal.

Greece reports 372 new coronavirus cases, highest daily tally so far

Greece reported 372 new cases of COVID-19 infections on Thursday, its highest daily tally since the start of the coronavirus outbreak in the country. The latest jump in cases brought the total number of infections in Greece to 12,452 and 297 deaths since its first case surfaced in late February.

French new daily COVID-19 infections reach a record

French health authorities reported 9,843 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Thursday, setting an all-time high of daily additional infections, six days after the previous record of 8,975. The number of people in France who have died from COVID-19 infections was up 19, at 30,813 and the cumulative number of cases now totals 353,944.

UK records 2,919 new daily COVID cases

The United Kingdom recorded 2,919 new daily confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to government data published on Thursday, compared with 2,659 a day earlier. Daily case numbers have started to increase in recent days. Britain's testing capacity has also increased since the peak of the first wave of the virus earlier this year.

AstraZeneca vaccine trial pause a 'wake-up call', says WHO

AstraZeneca's pause of an experimental vaccine for the coronavirus after the illness of a participant is a "wake-up call" but should not discourage researchers, the World Health Organization's (WHO) chief scientist said on Thursday. "This is a wake-up call to recognise that there are ups and downs in clinical development and that we have to be prepared," Soumya Swaminathan told a virtual briefing from Geneva.