Health News Roundup: Kremlin says the rise in COVID-19 cases; Where are we in the COVID-19 vaccine race? and more

The following is what we know about the race to deliver vaccines to help end the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed over a million lives worldwide: Aspirin to be tested as potential COVID-19 drug in UK study Painkiller aspirin will be evaluated as a possible treatment for COVID-19 in one of Britain's biggest trials, which will assess whether it might reduce the risk of blood clots in people with the disease.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Kremlin says the rise in COVID-19 cases 'alarming', but too soon to judge policy

The Kremlin said on Friday it was alarmed by a rise in COVID-19 cases, but it was too early to judge the effectiveness of its policy of trying to contain the disease without a full lockdown. Russia reported a record daily tally of 20,582 new cases, taking its total to 1,733,440 - the world's fourth-largest behind the United States, India, and Brazil.

Q&A: Where are we in the COVID-19 vaccine race?

Drugmakers and research centers around the world are working on COVID-19 vaccines, with large global trials of several of the candidates involving tens of thousands of participants well underway. Some companies had suggested early trial data could be ready for release in October, but have since pushed that back to November and December.

The following is what we know about the race to deliver vaccines to help end the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed over a million lives worldwide

Aspirin to be tested as potential COVID-19 drug in UK study

Painkiller aspirin will be evaluated as a possible treatment for COVID-19 in one of Britain's biggest trials, which will assess whether it might reduce the risk of blood clots in people with the disease. The scientists behind the RECOVERY trial, which is looking into a range of potential treatments for COVID-19, said it would include the drug, which is commonly used as a blood thinner.

WHO looking at biosecurity in other countries after Danish COVID-19 mink outbreak

The World Health Organization said on Friday it was looking at biosecurity in countries where there are mink farms after Denmark ordered a nationwide cull of the animals due to a widespread coronavirus outbreak among them. Maria van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead for COVID-19, said the transmission of the virus between animals and humans was "a concern". The risk was much lower in animals other than mink, she added.

U.S. coronavirus cases climb by record for second day in a row, up over 120,000

Coronavirus cases in the United States surged by at least 120,276 on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally, the second consecutive daily record rise as the outbreak spreads in every region. U.S. cases have risen by over 100,000 for three out of the last seven days, putting pressure on hospitals in several states and causing families to rethink their plans for Thanksgiving dinner on Nov. 26.

Humanigen inks COVID-19 drug development agreement with U.S. defense department

Humanigen Inc has partnered with the U.S. government to help advance development of its drug candidate as a potential COVID-19 treatment following positive response in hospitalized patients in a late-stage study, the company said on Friday. Patients receiving the drug, lenzilumab, saw 37% more recovery as compared to the current standard of care in the study https://reut.rs/2U0IPRi, which aims to determine whether the drug can prevent and treat an immune hyper-response called "cytokine storm".

U.N. says needs $655 million to avert new measles and polio epidemics

Severe disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to immunisation campaigns against measles and polio are putting millions of vulnerable children at risk from deadly and debilitating diseases, United Nations agencies said on Friday. Issuing an urgent call for funding to avert epidemics of the contagious diseases, the UN children's fund UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) said $655 million was needed to address "dangerous immunity gaps" in poor and middle-income countries.

U.S. FDA panel votes successful study on Biogen Alzheimer's drug cannot stand alone

A panel of outside advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday voted that one of two large studies on Biogen Inc's experimental Alzheimer's disease drug cannot be viewed alone without regard for the other failed trial. Eight members of the expert panel voted that both trials must be taken into consideration, one voted that the successful trial could stand as proof of efficacy on its own and two were uncertain.

U.S. CDC reports 234,264 deaths from coronavirus

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday reported 9,581,770 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 117,988 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 1,135 to 234,264. 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 Nov. 5 versus its previous report a day earlier.

Also Read: WHO says looking at mink farm biosecurity worldwide after Danish outbreak