Health News Roundup: Texas doctors in rural hotspots left out in cold on vaccine; Christmas comfort over COVID vaccines collides with new curbs and more

"But the reality is that the rates of infection have increased very much in the last few weeks." U.S. deaths from COVID top 3,000 for third straight day U.S. deaths from COVID-19 topped 3,000 for a third straight day, with a record number of new infections on Thursday, just as the United States prepared to ship out nearly six million doses of a new vaccine upon its expected authorization on Friday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Texas doctors in rural hotspots left out in cold on vaccine

Running in between patients, Dr. Eileen Sprys pauses to catch her breath, tries to gather herself, but cannot mask her frustration: The health care workers in her COVID-besieged West Texas hospital were left out of the first shipment of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine, and they have no idea when they may get it. Not a single rural hospital in this state that prides itself on its country roots received any doses of the vaccine this week, despite such medical outposts serving around 20% of the state's population, or 3 million people.

Poland may tighten restrictions further to fight virus, says PM

Poland may introduce even stricter restrictions to combat the spread of COVID-19, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in an interview published on Friday, a day after the government announced a "national quarantine" would start after Christmas. Authorities have said a third wave of the pandemic could overwhelm Poland's health service. They announced on Thursday that hotels, ski resorts and many shops would close from Dec. 28 till Jan. 17 in a bid to limit the number of daily cases at a time when vaccinations are getting underway.

Walgreens starts administering Pfizer vaccine in nursing homes, care facilities

Pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc said on Friday it had begun administering Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine to residents and staff at U.S. long-term care facilities. Palestinians scramble for COVID-19 vaccines as Israel prepares rollout

As Israel prepares to give COVID-19 vaccines to its citizens, Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza are scrambling to secure their own doses, which health authorities say are still months away. Palestinian leaders have cast a wide net in their search, contacting international organisations, drugmakers like Moderna and AstraZeneca and states like Russia and China that are producing their own vaccines.

U.S. FDA advisory panel sets stage for Moderna vaccine authorization

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will "rapidly" work towards granting emergency approval of Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccine candidate, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said on Thursday. A panel of outside advisers to the FDA overwhelmingly endorsed the emergency use of Moderna's coronavirus vaccine on Thursday, virtually assuring a second option for protecting against COVID-19 for a pandemic ravaged nation.

Christmas comfort over COVID vaccines collides with new curbs

Coronavirus vaccine approvals and rollouts have brought comfort and joy to many this Christmas but failed to halt new curbs on travel and family gatherings as COVID-19 cases rise worldwide. More than 73.68 million people have been reported to be infected by the coronavirus globally and 1,655,424​ have died, according to a Reuters tally, with the United States leading the way in the number of deaths and infections.

Trump, ahead of FDA, says Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine has been approved

U.S. President Donald Trump in a tweet on Friday said Moderna Inc's vaccine had been approved and would ship immediately, although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has made no public announcement yet regarding its decision. A panel of outside FDA advisers met to discuss Moderna's vaccine on Thursday and an agency decision was expected as soon as Friday.

UK PM Johnson says he hopes to avoid another lockdown for England

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday he hoped that England would not need to go into a third lockdown after Christmas and follow Wales and Northern Ireland in imposing the measure to stop the growing spread of COVID-19. "Obviously we're hoping very much that we'll be able to avoid anything like that," Johnson told reporters. "But the reality is that the rates of infection have increased very much in the last few weeks."

U.S. deaths from COVID top 3,000 for third straight day

U.S. deaths from COVID-19 topped 3,000 for a third straight day, with a record number of new infections on Thursday, just as the United States prepared to ship out nearly six million doses of a new vaccine upon its expected authorization on Friday. The United States reported a record 239,903 new cases on Thursday, raising the cumulative number above 17 million since the coronavirus pandemic began nearly a year ago.

J&J enrolls about 45,000 participants for late-stage COVID-19 vaccine trial

Johnson & Johnson said on Thursday it has enrolled about 45,000 participants for the first late-stage trial of its COVID-19 single-dose vaccine candidate and that it expects interim data by late-January. The company, however, is lagging rivals Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc in the race for a vaccine to combat the COVID-19 pandemic that has infected about 75 million people globally.