Health News Roundup: EU warns Hungary against use of Russia's COVID-19 vaccine; Russia resumes COVID-19 vaccine trial after pause and more

This is potentially catastrophic." U.S. disease experts: Don't travel for Thanksgiving The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday urged Americans not to travel during next week's Thanksgiving holiday to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus as cases of COVID-19 spike around the United States.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Hondurans who fled hurricanes now face coronavirus in overcrowded shelters

Tens of thousands of Hondurans are cramming into overcrowded storm shelters, aid workers and officials say, raising concerns that the chaotic set-up will trigger a new spike in coronavirus infections. Hundreds of thousands of people across Central America have fled their homes after Hurricanes Iota and Eta wreaked havoc from Tabasco in southern Mexico to Panama this month.

Russia resumes COVID-19 vaccine trial after pause: medical staff

Russia has resumed the vaccination of new volunteers in its trial for its flagship COVID-19 Sputnik V vaccine after a short pause, staff at six of 29 trial clinics said, as Moscow moves to accelerate plans to inoculate the population. At the end of October, eight clinics told Reuters that the trial had been temporarily paused for new volunteers, with some clinics citing high demand and a shortage of doses.

EU warns Hungary against use of Russia's COVID-19 vaccine

Hungary's plans to import and possibly use Russia's touted Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine raise safety concerns and could damage trust in potential shots, the European Commission said, opening a new front in the EU's fraught relations with Budapest. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's hard line against migration and what critics say is his increasingly authoritarian grip on power - an accusation he has repeatedly denied - as well as his pursuit of close relations with Russia have caused repeated clashes with the European Union.

U.S. COVID-19 hospitalizations spike, shutdowns take effect with holidays on the horizon

The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the United States has jumped nearly 50% in the last two weeks, forcing states to impose new restrictions to curb the alarming viral spread as Americans face a potentially grim winter and holiday season. Nearly 79,000 people were being treated for the disease in hospitals across the country on Thursday, a Reuters tally showed, the most at any time during the pandemic. The country has been recording 161,607 new cases daily on a 7-day rolling average as of Wednesday.

ApiJect gets $590 million U.S. loan to produce COVID-19 vaccine injections

Pre-filled syringe maker ApiJect Systems Corp said on Thursday it has been approved by the U.S. government for a $590-million loan to make single-dose injectors that are capable of delivering nearly all leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates. The loan is part of the Trump administration's initiatives to bolster the country's ability to produce drugs and pharmaceutical raw materials.

Researchers say study on COVID-19 in Italy doesn't dispute virus origins

The authors of a study showing that the new coronavirus was circulating in Italy earlier than experts had previously believed said on Thursday their data did not dispute the origins of COVID-19 as they defended the accuracy of their findings. The Italian researchers' findings showed that 11.6% of 959 healthy volunteers enrolled in a lung cancer screening trial between September 2019 and March 2020 had developed coronavirus antibodies well before February.

AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine shows promise in elderly, trial results by Christmas

AstraZeneca and Oxford University's potential COVID-19 vaccine produced a strong immune response in older adults, data published on Thursday showed, with researchers expecting to release late-stage trial results by Christmas. The data, reported in part last month but published in full in The Lancet medical journal on Thursday, suggest that those aged over 70, who are at higher risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19, could build robust immunity.

New contact tracing apps stir hope for virus fighters in U.S. states

A new wave of mobile apps that help track exposure to the coronavirus is coming to U.S. states ahead of the holidays as public health officials bet that recently introduced features from Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google will significantly boost adoption and impact. Colorado, Maryland and District of Columbia launched exposure-notification apps with the new technology in the last month, garnering over 2.3 million users combined, according to their public health departments. California, Washington and other states expect to follow in the next month, officials said.

Trump's vaccine team will not brief Biden administration: U.S senator

Officials from President Donald Trump's vaccine distribution effort have not briefed anyone on President-elect Joe Biden's transition team, and have no plans to do so, a Democratic U.S. senator said after a White House call Thursday. "Just off a conference call with Trump Administration vaccine distribution team," Senator Chris Murphy said on Twitter. "They confirmed that they have not briefed anyone on President-elect Biden's team and have no plans to do so.

This is potentially catastrophic." U.S. disease experts: Don't travel for Thanksgiving

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday urged Americans not to travel during next week's Thanksgiving holiday to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus as cases of COVID-19 spike around the United States. The travel advice is a "strong recommendation," not a requirement, CDC official Henry Walke said on a call with reporters. The federal agency said it was making the recommendation after many states across the country experienced a surge in coronavirus cases in recent weeks.

(With inputs from agencies.)