Reuters Health News Summary

Ford is widely expected to announce further restrictions after Ontario health authorities release new case modeling on Tuesday, which the premier has previously described as "a wake up call to anyone who's seen it." What you need to know about the coronavirus right now Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: India prepares for 'world's biggest vaccination drive' Disneyland to become mass vaccination site in Orange County, California Walt Disney Co's Disneyland, which has remained closed since March, will become the first large site to provide COVID-19 vaccinations in Orange County, California, government officials announced late on Monday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. India delivers COVID-19 shots to prepare for 'world's biggest vaccination drive'

Indian airlines started delivering batches of COVID-19 vaccines nationwide on Tuesday, preparing for the launch of a campaign to offer shots to 1.3 billion people, in what officials call the world's biggest vaccination drive. Vaccinations are set to begin on Saturday in an effort that authorities hope will see 300 million high-risk people inoculated over the next six to eight months. No overall shortage of oxygen in hospitals for COVID-19 patients, UK health minister says

There is no national shortage of oxygen to treat COVID-19 patients, British health minister Matt Hancock said on Tuesday, but some patients had to go different hospitals when local capacity has been used up. "The limitation is not the supply of oxygen itself, it is the ability to get the oxygen... through the physical oxygen supply systems within hospitals, and that essentially becomes a constraint on an individual hospital's ability to take more COVID patients," Hancock told lawmakers. Trump administration to deliver guidelines to speed up vaccinations - Axios

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump will deliver new guidelines on Tuesday aimed at getting coronavirus vaccinations moving faster, Axios reported https://www.axios.com/trump-coronavirus-vaccines-seniors-doses-faster-ca22e892-71d4-4e04-9219-b41fec799524.html. The new guidelines will suggest opening up vaccinations to everyone older than 65, the report said, citing a senior administration official.

Ontario mulls further restrictions ahead of 'wake-up call' COVID-19 case modeling Ontario is considering "next steps" to limit the spread of COVID-19, Premier Doug Ford said on Twitter on Monday, amid calls to put Canada's most populous province under more stringent lockdown as the pandemic overwhelms its hospitals. Ford is widely expected to announce further restrictions after Ontario health authorities release new case modeling on Tuesday, which the premier has previously described as "a wake up call to anyone who's seen it."

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: India prepares for 'world's biggest vaccination drive'

Disneyland to become mass vaccination site in Orange County, California Walt Disney Co's Disneyland, which has remained closed since March, will become the first large site to provide COVID-19 vaccinations in Orange County, California, government officials announced late on Monday. Disneyland will be the first Super Point-of-Dispensing (POD) sites in the county and become operational later this week, the district officials said in a statement.

Israel expects to start vaccinating children by March, virus chief says Israel may include children over the age of 12 in groups receiving COVID-19 vaccines within the next two months if research shows this is safe, a top health official said on Tuesday. Vaccinating at a world-record pace, Israel says it aims to have administered one or both shots to 5 million of its 9 million citizens, and reopen the economy, by mid-March.

Swiss drugs regulator approves Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine Switzerland approved Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, making it the second shot after Pfizer and BioNTech's to be approved in the country and clearing the way to get up to 1.5 million doses from the firms through February. The Swiss drug regulator Swissmedic's decision comes days after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave the green light to Moderna's vaccine. The messenger RNA vaccine, relying on similar technology as that used by Pfizer-BioNTech, is a two-dose shot that in trials showed 95% efficacy.

EU wraps preliminary talks to buy 60 million Valneva COVID vaccines The European Union said on Tuesday it had concluded exploratory talks with the French drugmaker Valneva for the supply of up to 60 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Valneva is the eighth pharmaceutical firm with which the EU has said it is in talks to buy COVID-19 vaccines. It has already signed contracts with six companies, securing nearly 2.3 billion doses.

CDC says 9 million Americans now vaccinated as U.S. states scramble Nearly 9 million Americans had been given their first COVID-19 vaccination dose as of Monday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, as states scrambled to step up inoculations that have yet to slow the roaring pandemic. The 8,987,322 people who have been jabbed with the first of two shots, according to the CDC, represent less than one-third of the 25 million total doses distributed to states by the U.S. government.