Health News Roundup: Serbia gets first batch of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine; Papal Christmas, New Year moved indoors because of coronavirus and more

BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine heads to EU as effectiveness against new strain tested BioNTech is testing the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine it developed with Pfizer against a highly infectious new strain of the coronavirus as it prepares to send 12.5 mln doses to EU countries by the end of year.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Serbia gets first batch of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine

Nearly 5,000 doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech coronavirus vaccines were flown on Tuesday to Serbia, the first country in the Balkans to get a COVID-19 vaccine. State TV footage showed an airplane unloading containers with 4,875 doses of vaccines. The vaccines were later taken to the Institute of Virology, Vaccines and Sera, known as the "Torlak", in Belgrade.

Papal Christmas, New Year moved indoors because of coronavirus

Pope Francis will read his Christmas message from inside the Vatican instead of from the outdoor central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica because of new coronavirus restrictions in Italy, the Vatican said on Tuesday. In addition to the Christmas "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and world) message, five addresses that were to have been delivered from a window of the Vatican's Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter's Square between Dec. 26 and Jan. 6 also will be moved indoors.

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: WHO calls meeting on new virus variant Ocugen to co-develop Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine candidate for U.S

Drug developer Ocugen Inc will co-develop India-based Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine candidate for the U.S. market, the companies said on Tuesday. The vaccine candidate, Covaxin, is currently in a late-stage study in India.

French medical regulator to decide on COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 24

French medical regulator HAS said on Tuesday it would decide on Dec. 24 whether to approve the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech for France's vaccination rollout, after the European Medicines Agency gave its go-ahead. The European Union is gearing up for a vaccination campaign of unprecedented scale following regulatory approval for the shot on Monday.

Vaccinations move to nursing homes as pandemic rages in California

The U.S. government and two of the nation's largest pharmacy chains on Monday began inoculating nursing home residents against COVID-19, among the first Americans besides healthcare workers to get the vaccine. The vaccinations, carried out under a program led by Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc and CVS Health Corp, are the latest effort to rein in a pandemic that has killed more than 317,000 Americans and strained healthcare systems.

BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine heads to EU as effectiveness against new strain tested

BioNTech is testing the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine it developed with Pfizer against a highly infectious new strain of the coronavirus as it prepares to send 12.5 mln doses to EU countries by the end of year. The European Union is gearing up for a vaccination campaign of unprecedented scale following regulatory approval for the shot on Monday.

Some U.S. Black pastors, key players in COVID education, are hesitating to push vaccine

When a major healthcare organization asked A.R. Bernard, the Black head of a Brooklyn megachurch, to sit on a committee tasked with boosting acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines in communities of color in New York City, he demurred. Bernard, who leads the Christian Cultural Center, the largest church in the city, said he turned down the offer because he worried some members of his congregation could view his participation as "joining forces with the system" to use African Americans "as guinea pigs" for vaccines that have been developed in record time.

Confusion reigns as companies, industries try to navigate U.S. COVID-19 vaccine rollout

U.S. companies and industry groups trying to move their workers to the front of the line for a COVID-19 vaccine remain confused about conflicting state and local guidelines on how shots will be administered and to which workers, even as millions of doses make their way across the country. An independent advisory panel to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday voted that 30 million essential workers are next in line for vaccines.

Those vaccinations are expected to start in January or February. Britain, stuck in COVID-19 isolation, strives to lift France's freight ban

The United Kingdom was stuck in COVID-19 isolation on Tuesday after much of the world cut off travel ties due to a highly infectious new coronavirus strain, halting one of Europe's most important trade routes just days before the Brexit cliff edge. With queues of trucks snaking to the horizon in England and supermarket shelves stripped just days before Christmas, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson scrambled to get French President Emmanuel Macron to lift a ban on freight from Britain.

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