Health News Roundup: South African variant may resist current antibody treatments; Pfizer vaccine appears effective against coronavirus variant found in Britain and more

Three COVID-19 vaccines under final review for emergency use - WHO The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that three COVID-19 vaccines were in the late stages of review for possible emergency use listing, in addition to the one made by Pfizer and BioNTech already approved.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

UK's Johnson resists pandemic inquiry as hospitals likened to war zone

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resisted calls for an inquiry into his government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic on Wednesday as the country's death toll neared 100,000 and his chief scientist said hospitals were looking like war zones. Johnson has been accused of reacting too slowly to the crisis, failing to supply sufficient protective equipment and bungling the testing system, although the United Kingdom has been swift to roll out a vaccine.

Biden to revamp nation's fight against COVID-19 on his first day as president

President Joe Biden on Wednesday will immediately reset the nation's response to the COVID-19 crisis when he heads to the Oval Office after being sworn in to lead a country reeling from its worst public health crisis in more than a century. As part of a first sweep of executive actions, Biden will order that all federal employees wear masks and make face coverings mandatory on federal property. He will establish a new White House office to coordinate the coronavirus response and halt the withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organization, a process initiated by former President Donald Trump.

U.S. business group strongly backs Biden federal mask mandate plan

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Wednesday it "strongly supports" a plan by President Joe Biden to require masks and physical distancing in all federal buildings, on all federal lands, and by federal employees and contractors. Biden will sign an executive order implementing the federal mask mandate, his office said Tuesday, but he is not expected to immediately sign an order requiring masks on airplanes and on interstate transportation on Wednesday as he has pledged to do. That transportation order is expected on Thursday, officials said.

WHO plans slew of COVID-19 vaccine approvals for global rollout

The World Health Organization (WHO) plans to approve several COVID-19 vaccines from Western and Chinese manufacturers in the coming weeks and months, a document published on Wednesday shows, as it aims for rapid rollouts in poorer countries. COVAX, a global scheme co-led by the WHO, wants to deliver at least 2 billion COVID-19 doses across the world this year, with at least 1.3 billion going to poorer countries.

35.9 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines distributed, 16.5 million administered: U.S. CDC

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had administered 16,525,281 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Wednesday morning and distributed 35,990,150 doses. The tally of vaccine doses are for both Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech, vaccines as of 6:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, the agency said.

Three COVID-19 vaccines under final review for emergency use - WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that three COVID-19 vaccines were in the late stages of review for possible emergency use listing, in addition to the one made by Pfizer and BioNTech already approved. An internal WHO document seen by Reuters gives timelines for the agency's possible vaccine approvals, indicating that shots from Moderna, AstraZeneca and China's Sinopharm and Sinovac could win emergency go-ahead in coming weeks or months.

Europe's COVID shot party gives way to Pfizer vaccine delay headache

Pfizer Inc is facing criticism, and potential legal action, over its surprise move to temporarily delay COVID-19 vaccine shipments to European countries that fear disruptions could throw their inoculation campaigns into disarray. British, then U.S. and European approvals of Pfizer and BioNTech's mRNA vaccine late last year prompted celebrations, only to be followed by early-2021 anxiety as the reality sets in that vaccinating billions across the world will be fraught with unforeseen hurdles.

Pfizer vaccine appears effective against coronavirus variant found in Britain - study

The COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech is likely to protect against a more infectious variant of the virus discovered in Britain which has spread around the world, according to results of further lab tests released on Wednesday. The encouraging results from an analysis of blood of participants in trials are based on more extensive analysis than those released by the U.S. drugmaker last week.

South African virus variant may resist antibody drugs; Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine seems to work vs UK variant The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

South African variant may resist current antibody treatments

New COVID-19 variant defeats plasma treatment, may reduce vaccine efficacy The new COVID-19 variant identified in South Africa can evade the antibodies that attack it in treatments using blood plasma from previously recovered patients, and may reduce the efficacy of the current line of vaccines, scientists said on Wednesday. Researchers are racing to establish whether the vaccines currently being rolled out across the globe are effective against the so-called 501Y.V2 variant, identified by South African genomics experts late last year in Nelson Mandela Bay.

(With inputs from agencies.)