Health News Roundup: Canada set to administer country's first COVID-19 vaccinations; U.S. crosses 300,000 COVID-19 deaths as vaccine rollout begins and more

Canada set to administer country's first COVID-19 vaccinations Canada will begin inoculating people against COVID-19 on Monday after doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine began arriving over the weekend, making Canada one of the few Western nations to roll out a vaccination campaign.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Canada set to administer country's first COVID-19 vaccinations

Canada will begin inoculating people against COVID-19 on Monday after doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine began arriving over the weekend, making Canada one of the few Western nations to roll out a vaccination campaign. Ontario and Quebec, the most populous and hardest hit of Canada's 10 provinces, will administer the first shots of the vaccine developed by German biotech BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc. Canada is expecting to receive 30,000 doses this week.

New coronavirus strain spreading in UK has key mutations, scientists say

British scientists are trying to establish whether the rapid spread in southern England of a new variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 is linked to key mutations they have detected in the strain, they said on Tuesday. The mutations include changes to the important "spike" protein that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus uses to infect human cells, a group of scientists tracking the genetics of the virus said, but it is not yet clear whether these are making it more infectious.

Lebanon to get first batch of COVID-19 vaccines in two months, minister says

Lebanon is expected to sign a deal this week for supplies of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine and is set to receive the first batch eight weeks after that, the caretaker health minister said. A surge in infections is straining Lebanon's healthcare system which has been struggling amid a financial crisis and after a huge port explosion in August smashed up hospitals in Beirut.

U.S. crosses 300,000 COVID-19 deaths as vaccine rollout begins

The number of coronavirus deaths in the United States crossed 300,000 on Monday, according to Reuters tally, as the hardest hit nation rolled out its first vaccine inoculations on Monday. The staggering death toll comes as the nation begins a historic inoculation campaign using a vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE. Moderna Inc's vaccine could get approval as soon as this week.

WHO sees "strong commitment" from Pfizer on affordable COVID vaccine

A World Health Organization senior official said on Tuesday that the agency was in talks with Pfizer to include its COVID-19 vaccine as part of an early global roll out. Bruce Aylward, WHO senior adviser, said that he saw a "strong commitment" on the part of its CEO Albert Bourla to set prices at levels appropriate to poorer populations. He expected some news on more manufacturers joining the list of providers to the COVAX vaccine facility in coming weeks, he added.

UK's Christmas plans will cost many lives, health journals say

Two of Britain's most influential journals for healthcare and medical professionals jointly called on the government on Tuesday to scrap plans to relax COVID-19 restrictions for five days around Christmas or risk overwhelming the health service. In what was only their second joint editorial in more than 100 years, the British Medical Journal and the Health Service Journal said the government should be tightening the rules rather than allowing three households to mix over five days.

Brazil says China 'not transparent' on COVID-19 vaccine emergency use

Brazil's health regulator Anvisa said on Monday China's health authorities are not transparent in their authorization of COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use, a statement that may further inflame political tension in the South American country. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a consistent critic of China, has repeatedly cast doubt on the CoronaVac vaccine being developed by China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd.

EU regulator set to approve Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 23 The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is set to approve its first COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 23, a German government source told Reuters on Tuesday, putting EU countries on track to start to catch up with the United States and Britain, where immunisation campaigns are under way. "Yes, the EMA will be done on December 23," the source said, referring to the watchdog's review of a vaccine developed by U.S. company Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.

Grieving alone: Some Turks want lockdown to halt new virus wave Siyar Guldiken, still short of breath from his own battle with the coronavirus, was not able to grieve after his grandmother and uncle died of the related disease, as one of the world's worst second waves of the pandemic slammed Turkey. After 10 days in isolation in Diyarbakir last month, Guldiken said only a full lockdown could stop the pandemic from worsening in Turkey, which has registered the seventh most cases globally.

Vaccinations under way, U.S. turns to educating skeptics, economic aid The United States extended its rollout of the first authorized COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, inoculating healthcare workers with an eye toward convincing skeptical Americans to get their shots and contain a pandemic that has killed more than 300,000 people. The first Americans outside clinical trials started receiving the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE on Monday, three days after it won U.S. emergency-use authorization.