Health News Roundup: U.S. prepares for first COVID-19 shots as another vaccine candidate emerges; German states favour extending COVID-19 lockdown to boost Christmas and more

Seven hundred million doses could be ready globally as soon as the end of the first quarter of 2021. What you need to know about the coronavirus right now Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: AstraZeneca vaccine can be 90% effective Britain on track for spring roll-out after Oxford vaccine results, researcher says An ambitious timeline make COVID-19 widely available in Britain by next spring is on track after Oxford/AstraZeneca's candidate proved up to 90% effective in late-stage trials, the head of the university's Jenner Institute said on Monday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

U.S. prepares for first COVID-19 shots as another vaccine candidate emerges

U.S. officials prepared to begin inoculating Americans against the novel coronavirus by mid-December as another global drug company on Monday announced promising trial results toward a vaccine, providing hope as the pace of infections accelerated. The head of the U.S. campaign to rapidly deploy a vaccine said on Sunday that U.S. healthcare workers and other high-risk people could start getting shots within a day or two of regulatory consent next month.

German states favour extending COVID-19 lockdown to boost Christmas prospects

Many of Germany's 16 federal states favour extending a partial shutdown meant to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and make family gatherings over Christmas possible, two state premiers said on Monday. Germany, which is governed by a conservative-Social Democratic coalition, imposed a month-long "lockdown-lite" from Nov. 2. Infection numbers have plateaued since but not declined.

UK medicine regulator will make Pfizer vaccine decision in 'shortest time possible'

Britain medicines regulator said on Monday it would aim to make a decision on Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine candidate "in the shortest time possible" after receiving additional data about the shot. "It is our job now to rigorously assess these data and the evidence submitted on the vaccine's safety, quality and effectiveness," said June Raine, chief executive of Britain's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

Merck adds experimental COVID-19 therapy with OncoImmune deal Merck & Co Inc has agreed to acquire drugmaker

OncoImmune in a deal that will give it control of a drug that could help ease symptoms and reduce deaths in patients with severe or critical cases of COVID-19. Merck is paying $425 million for the private company, in addition to extra payments for regulatory milestones and sales. Merck has built out its portfolio of COVID-19 medicines through a series of deals in recent months, including the acquisition of Australian drugmaker Themis and a partnership with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP.

AstraZeneca says COVID-19 'vaccine for the world' can be 90% effective

AstraZeneca said on Monday its COVID-19 vaccine could be around 90% effective, giving the world another weapon to fight the global pandemic and potentially cheaper to make, easier to distribute and faster to scale-up than rivals. The British drugmaker said it will have as many as 200 million doses by the end of 2020 - around four times as many as U.S. competitor Pfizer. Seven hundred million doses could be ready globally as soon as the end of the first quarter of 2021.

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: AstraZeneca vaccine can be 90% effective

Britain on track for spring roll-out after Oxford vaccine results, researcher says An ambitious timeline make COVID-19 widely available in Britain by next spring is on track after Oxford/AstraZeneca's candidate proved up to 90% effective in late-stage trials, the head of the university's Jenner Institute said on Monday. "I think we are on track for the timeline... to start getting this vaccine rolled out from December," Adrian Hill, director of Oxford's Jenner Institute, told Reuters, adding that high-risk groups would receive shots before it was rolled out more widely to everyone in spring.

New Zealand PM offers COVID-19 help to U.S. President-elect Biden

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday she offered President-elect Joe Biden assistance with tackling the rampant outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States. During the first talks between the two since Biden was elected as the next U.S. president, Ardern said she offered access to New Zealand's most senior health officials.

Factbox: COVID-19 vaccine frontrunners AstraZeneca Plc said on Monday its vaccine for the novel coronavirus developed by Oxford University could be around 90% effective without any serious side effects. The effectiveness of the vaccine depended on the dosing, and fell to just 62% when given as two full doses rather than a half-dose followed by a full dose at least one month apart.

GCC countries surpass 1 million COVID-19 cases: Reuters tally The six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have recorded more than 1 million cases of infection with COVID-19, according to a Reuters tally of data published by each government. The tally in the energy producing region of more than 50 million people stood on Monday at 1,001,182 infections, with 9,162 deaths.