Health News Roundup: France's new coronavirus cases up 19,348; India drug regulator approves AstraZeneca COVID vaccine and more

UK to close all London primary schools as coronavirus cases surge The British government has decided to close all primary schools in London for the next two weeks to counter the rapid spread of a more infectious variant of the COVID-19 virus, the capital's mayor said on Friday.

BioNTech is working flat out with partner Pfizer to boost production of their COVID-19 vaccine, its founders said, warning there would be gaps in supply until other vaccines were rolled out. The German biotech startup has led the vaccine race but its shot has been slow to arrive in the European Union because of relatively late approval from the bloc's health regulator and the small size of the order placed by Brussels.

India drug regulator approves AstraZeneca COVID vaccine, country's first - sources

India's drug regulator on Friday approved a coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University for emergency use, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The decision clears the vaccine's rollout in the world's second-most populous country which, after the United States, has the highest number of COVID-19 infections.

Romney floats sweeping vaccine plan as U.S. nears 20 million COVID-19 cases

Senator Mitt Romney on Friday urged the U.S. government to immediately enlist veterinarians, combat medics and others in a sweeping proposal to administer coronavirus vaccinations and slow the rising death toll. The 2012 Republican presidential nominee called for action after it emerged that 2.8 million Americans had received their first dose, far short of the 20 million the Trump administration promised by the end of 2020.

UK reactivates emergency COVID-19 hospitals, closes London primary schools

Britain reactivated emergency hospitals built at the start of the pandemic and shut primary schools in London on Friday to counter the rapid spread of a much more infectious variant of the coronavirus. With more than 50,000 new daily cases of COVID-19 for the last four days, the health service said it was preparing for an anticipated rush of patients and needed more beds.

'No need to panic,' China official says of coronavirus variants

There is no sign new coronavirus variants will affect the immune impact of a vaccine that China has just authorised for public use, a disease control official was quoted as saying on Friday. The shot by an affiliate of state-backed company Sinopharm was approved on Thursday, the day after news of China's first imported case of a variant spreading in Britain.

Suddenly overwhelmed, Ireland says thousands of COVID-19 cases yet to be added to tally

Ireland said on Friday it had under-reported coronavirus cases in recent days by thousands more than previously known as its system came under strain, suggesting the EU's fastest growing outbreak is worsening even more rapidly than figures showed. More than 9,000 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 have yet to been added to the official tally of confirmed cases, the National Public Health Emergency Team said. A day earlier it had estimated the number of positive tests still pending registration at just 4,000.

After a year of loss, patients ring in 2021 from Houston COVID-19 ward

Shortly after midnight Duc Nguyen sat up in his hospital bed for a video call with his wife. The glow of a television and a street lamp outside his window provided the only light as a nasal cannula delivered oxygen to his lungs. It was not how the 33-year-old had envisioned welcoming in the new year, but he said he was grateful the United Memorial Medical Center (UMMC) in Houston had a vacant bed so he could be treated for pneumonia brought on by COVID-19.

UK to close all London primary schools as coronavirus cases surge

The British government has decided to close all primary schools in London for the next two weeks to counter the rapid spread of a more infectious variant of the COVID-19 virus, the capital's mayor said on Friday. On Wednesday, the education minister, Gavin Williamson, outlined a plan to delay the reopening of secondary schools, but open most primary schools for children under 11 years old on time next week at the end of Christmas break.

Wisconsin pharmacist arrested on charges of sabotaging COVID vaccine doses

A Wisconsin hospital pharmacist was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of sabotaging more than 500 doses of coronavirus vaccine by deliberately removing them from refrigeration to spoil, police and medical authorities said. The pharmacist, an employee of Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, Wisconsin, at the time that 57 vials of vaccine were found left out of cold storage earlier this week, has since been fired but has not been publicly identified, officials said.

France's new coronavirus cases up 19,348 over 24 hours

The French health ministry reported 19,348 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours on Friday, slightly less than Thursday's 19,927 and well below Wednesday's more than one-month high of 26,457 but still far from the government's target of less than 5,000 daily additional infections. France's cumulative total of cases now stands at 2,639,773, the fifth highest in the world.