Health News Summary: South Korean deaths spark flu vaccine safety fears; U.S. coronavirus hospitalizations hit two-month peak and more

Oxford confirmed the plan to keep testing, saying in a statement that after careful assessment "there have been no concerns about safety of the clinical trial." Fujifilm partners Shanghai firm to seek China COVID-19 approval for Avigan Japan's Fujifilm Holdings Corp said on Thursday it has partnered with Shanghai-based Carelink Pharmaceutical Co to seek approval in China for Avigan to treat COVID-19 and influenza.

The United States is likely to have enough safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines available to inoculate the most vulnerable Americans by the end of 2020, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said on Wednesday. The U.S. government is "cautiously optimistic" that one or two vaccines, likely from Pfizer Inc or Moderna Inc, will be available by the end of the year and can begin to be distributed to Americans, officials said during a news conference.

South Korean deaths spark flu vaccine safety fears

South Korean officials refused to suspend the country's seasonal flu inoculation programme on Thursday, despite growing calls to do so following the deaths of at least 13 people who were vaccinated in recent days. Health authorities said they have found no direct links between the deaths, which include a 17-year-old boy, and the vaccines being given under a programme to inoculate some 19 million teenagers and senior citizens for free.

U.S. coronavirus hospitalizations hit two-month peak

The number of COVID-19 patients in U.S. hospitals hit 40,000 for the first time since August on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally, as the nation battles a surge in infections led by Midwest states. Hospitals have seen a 36% rise in coronavirus patients over the past four weeks and Midwest hospitals are setting new records every day.

AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine trial Brazil volunteer dies, trial to continue

Brazilian health authority Anvisa said on Wednesday that a volunteer in a clinical trial of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University had died but added that the trial would continue. Oxford confirmed the plan to keep testing, saying in a statement that after careful assessment "there have been no concerns about safety of the clinical trial."

Fujifilm partners Shanghai firm to seek China COVID-19 approval for Avigan

Japan's Fujifilm Holdings Corp said on Thursday it has partnered with Shanghai-based Carelink Pharmaceutical Co to seek approval in China for Avigan to treat COVID-19 and influenza. Carelink will use Fujifilm's data on Avigan's treatment of novel coronavirus infections and influenza to seek imported drug approval in China, Fujifilm said in a statement. The two companies also plan to develop an injectable form of the drug.

Britain partners with Oxford firm to assess coronavirus vaccine T cell responses

Britain on Thursday said it would partner with an Oxford-based firm to provide testing for the T cell response of coronavirus vaccine candidates to try to assess their immune responses. T cell immunity is thought to be essential to protection against infection from the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus, and could provide longer term immunity than antibodies.

'Please stay home:' COVID-19 tightens grip on U.S. Midwest

Six U.S. states reported record day-over-day increases in COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, according to a Reuters analysis, as infections rose across the Midwest and elsewhere, prompting new clampdowns on residents, schools and businesses. Deaths attributed to COVID-19 hit daily records in Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Kansas, Hawaii and Wisconsin, Reuters found. Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Colorado and Ohio reported record daily increases in new infections, the tally showed.