Health News Roundup: Germany expects COVID-19 vaccine in first quarter 2021 at the earliest; U.S. crosses 10 million COVID-19 cases as third wave of infections surges and more

Pfizer and BioNTech say their COVID-19 vaccine is over 90% effective Pfizer Inc said on Monday its experimental COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective, a major victory in the fight against a pandemic that has killed more than a million people, battered the world's economy and upended daily life.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Germany expects COVID-19 vaccine in first quarter 2021 at the earliest

Germany does not expect a coronavirus vaccine to be available before the first quarter of 2021, according to its national vaccine strategy seen by Reuters on Monday, as experts presented guidelines on who should be first-in-line for the shots. The paper sets out seven potential vaccines which are expected to complete testing this year or next and could be available in sufficient amounts to begin a nationwide vaccination campaign for priority groups. These include shots from AstraZeneca, BioNTech and its partner Pfizer, as well as Moderna.

U.S. crosses 10 million COVID-19 cases as third wave of infections surges

The United States became the first nation worldwide since the pandemic began to surpass 10 million coronavirus infections, according to a Reuters tally on Sunday, as the third wave of the COVID-19 virus surges across the nation. The grim milestone came on the same day as global coronavirus cases exceeded 50 million.

Utah governor declares new state of emergency as coronavirus spreads

The governor of the U.S. state of Utah, Gary Herbert, declared late on Sunday a new state of emergency to address hospital overcrowding in response to weeks of stress on its hospital networks due to a surge of novel coronavirus cases. "Due to the alarming rate of COVID infections within our state, tonight I issued a new state of emergency with several critical changes to our response", Herbert said on Twitter.

Japanese government coronavirus experts to ask for new measures to tackle increasing cases

A Japanese government panel of coronavirus experts will seek new measures to tackle the coronavirus in Japan as infections in the country rise, Kyodo News reported. While Japan's infection rate is still below that of regions such as the United States and Europe, Japan has seen an uptick in coronavirus cases over the past several days, causing concern among officials.

Pfizer and BioNTech say their COVID-19 vaccine is over 90% effective

Pfizer Inc said on Monday its experimental COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective, a major victory in the fight against a pandemic that has killed more than a million people, battered the world's economy and upended daily life. Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE are the first drugmakers to release successful data from a large-scale clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine. The companies said they have so far found no serious safety concerns and expect to seek U.S. authorization this month for emergency use of the vaccine.

Sanofi believes Europe better prepared to address pandemics

Sanofi's Chief Executive Paul Hudson said on Monday Europe was better prepared than it was previously to ensure a COVID-19 vaccine reaches the population as well as when it came to addressing future pandemics. "We are in a completely different position than we were when we first began our dialogue at the beginning of the year," Paul Hudson said at a panel organised by the Financial Times.

Russia reports record high of 21,798 new coronavirus cases

Russia reported a record high of 21,798 new coronavirus infections on Monday, including 6,897 in the capital Moscow, bringing the national tally to 1,796,132. Authorities also reported 256 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the official death toll to 30,793.

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.

The following is what we know about the race to deliver vaccines to help end the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed over 1.25 million lives worldwide: Biden to launch COVID-19 task force, Trump plans rallies to protest election

President-elect Joe Biden will convene a coronavirus task force on Monday to examine the No. 1 problem confronting him when he takes office in January, while President Donald Trump pursues several long-shot gambits to hold on to his job. Biden is due to meet with an advisory board led by former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler to examine how best to tame a pandemic that has killed https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps more than 237,000 Americans.

Philippines seeking 50 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines next year

The Philippines plans to procure an initial 50 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to ensure at least a quarter of its population gets inoculated next year, a top coronavirus task force official said on Monday. Carlito Galvez, the former general in charge of implementing the country's strategy to fight the coronavirus, said several embassies had been contacted about potential government-to-government arrangement for purchasing the vaccines.