Health News Roundup: Brazil trial of Chinese vaccine attacked by Bolsonaro; U.S. to start distributing Lilly COVID-19 antibody this week and more

U.S. to start distributing Lilly COVID-19 antibody this week The United States will this week begin distributing Eli Lilly and Co's COVID-19 antibody treatment to state health departments, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar said on Tuesday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Suicide halts Brazil trial of Chinese vaccine attacked by Bolsonaro

Brazil's health regulator suspended a clinical trial of China's Sinovac coronavirus vaccine due to a severe adverse event, delighting President Jair Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly criticized the vaccine's credibility and said it would not be purchased by his government. Brazil's health regulator, Anvisa, suspended the trials late on Monday saying the event occurred on Oct. 29.

U.S. Supreme Court justices appear unlikely to strike down Obamacare

U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday signaled they are unlikely to strike down the Obamacare healthcare law in a legal challenge brought by Texas and 17 other Republican-governed states and joined by President Donald Trump's administration. Chief Justice John Roberts and fellow conservative Brett Kavanaugh indicated skepticism during two hours of arguments in the case toward the stance by the Republican challengers that the entire law must fall if a single key provision, called the individual mandate, is deemed unconstitutional.

U.S. to start distributing Lilly COVID-19 antibody this week

The United States will this week begin distributing Eli Lilly and Co's COVID-19 antibody treatment to state health departments, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar said on Tuesday. "Early treatment may help people avoid disease progression and avoid hospitalization," Janet Woodcock, director of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said on a conference call along with Azar.

Europe COVID death toll tops 300,000 as winter looms and infections surge

More than 300,000 people have died of COVID-19 across Europe, according to a Reuters tally on Tuesday, and authorities fear that fatalities and infections will continue to rise as the region heads into winter despite hopes for a new vaccine. With just 10% of the world's population, Europe accounts for almost a quarter of the 1.2 million deaths globally, and even its well-equipped hospitals are feeling the strain. U.S. has a plan to start

Pfizer vaccine shots in December: Health Secretary Azar

If Pfizer Inc submits the positive initial data from its COVID-19 vaccine trial to health regulators as quickly as expected, the U.S. government plans to begin vaccinating Americans in December, Health Secretary Alex Azar said on Tuesday. Pfizer on Monday said the vaccine it has been developing with German partner BioNTech SE was 90% effective against COVID-19, based on an early look at results from its large, late-stage trial.

Coronavirus kills 15,000 U.S. mink, as Denmark prepares for nationwide cull

More than 15,000 mink in the United States have died of the coronavirus since August, and authorities are keeping about a dozen farms under quarantine while they investigate the cases, state agriculture officials said. Global health officials are eying the animals as a potential risk for people after Denmark last week embarked on a plan to eliminate all of its 17 million mink, saying a mutated coronavirus strain could move to humans and evade future COVID-19 vaccines.

New York City to try responding to mental health calls without police

Mental health and crisis workers in New York City will respond to emergency mental health calls instead of law enforcement under a pilot program announced on Tuesday, following months of protests around the country over police brutality. The program, slated to begin in February, will be composed of new mental health teams from the Fire Department's Emergency Medical Services unit and will target two "high-need" neighborhoods, which were not identified.

Hospitalizations soar in California as COVID-19 pandemic surges

The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in California has risen by 32% over the past two weeks, and intensive care admissions have spiked by 30% as the pandemic surges across the United States, the state's Health and Human Services secretary said on Tuesday. Dr. Mark Ghaly said three counties that are home to about 5.5 million people - San Diego, Sacramento and Stanislaus - must reverse their reopening plans and go back to the most restrictive category of regulations aimed at slowing the spread of the virus.

COVID vaccine breakthrough raises hopes, poses logistical headache

Monday's potential breakthrough in the race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine has left governments scrambling to meet the logistical challenge of distributing hundreds of millions of doses once it becomes available in coming months. Interim trial data showed the experimental vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and Germany's BioNTech was 90% effective, spurring hopes of an end to a pandemic that has cost more than a million lives and crashed the world's major economies.

U.S. officials ready to assist medical facilities as COVID-19 hospitalizations soar

Health officials will work to set up temporary medical facilities where they might be needed as the United States grapples with a surge in coronavirus hospitalizations and record infections, according to a top Trump administration health official. Health Secretary Alex Azar expressed concern about rising hospitalizations that were straining medical facilities in areas hardest hit by the surge, including several states in the Midwest, during an interview with CNBC on Tuesday.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)