Health News Roundup: Russia to discuss Sputnik V vaccine on Monday; Italy to take legal action on COVID vaccine delays to get doses and more

U.S. CDC reports 416,010 deaths from the coronavirus The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sunday reported 24,876,261 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 171,844 from its previous count, and said the number of deaths had risen by 3,414 to 416,010.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

U.S. CDC reports 416,010 deaths from the coronavirus

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sunday reported 24,876,261 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 171,844 from its previous count, and said the number of deaths had risen by 3,414 to 416,010. The CDC figures do not necessarily reflect cases reported by individual states.

Egypt begins COVID-19 vaccination drive with frontline medical staff

Egypt began vaccinating frontline medical staff against COVID-19 on Sunday using the jab developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm). The vaccine will be provided free of charge first to all doctors and frontline workers treating coronavirus patients, then to other medical workers, senior citizens and people with chronic illnesses, Health Minister Hala Zayed said.

France sees biggest jump in COVID-19 hospital admissions since Nov

France saw the biggest jump in hospital admissions for COVID-19 since mid-November, with the number of people in hospital with the virus up by 493 to 26,393, health ministry data showed on Sunday. The number of people in intensive care with the virus also rose again, by 69 to 2,965, also the highest one-day increase since early November.

Presidents of Mexico, Russia to discuss Sputnik V vaccine on Monday

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will speak by telephone with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday to discuss Mexico's acquisition of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19, the government said on Sunday. Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Twitter the leaders' conversation would address "the future of the bilateral relationship as well as the supply of Russian vaccines to Mexico" and take place at 8 a.m. Mexico City time (1400 GMT).

U.S. CDC says 21.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had administered 21,848,655 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Sunday morning. The tally of vaccine doses is for both Moderna Inc's vaccine and one by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech as of 6 a.m. EST (1100 GMT) on Sunday, the agency said.

Mexico's death toll from COVID-19 set to pass grim milestone of 150,000

Crying outside a Mexico City cemetery, a family embraced the box that contained the ashes of their beloved grandmother. The grandmother had fallen ill a few days after they met to celebrate New Year's, and died shortly after, family members said. She was not even 60 years old.

France probably needs new lockdown as early as February: top adviser

France probably needs to move into a third lockdown, perhaps as early as the February school holidays, because of the circulation of new variants of the virus, the government's top medical advisor on COVID-19 policy said on Sunday. French school children have two weeks off in February, but the entire month is a holiday month as three different zones stagger the start of their holidays by one week, with the first starting on Feb. 6.

Italy to take legal action on COVID vaccine delays to get doses

Italy will take legal action and step up pressure in Brussels against Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca over delays in deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines with a view to securing agreed supplies, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Sunday. The aim was to get the companies to meet the vaccine volumes they had promised and not to seek compensation, Di Maio said on RAI state television.

About 500 Airbus staff under quarantine after Hamburg COVID-19 outbreak

Airbus said on Sunday about 500 of its staff had gone into quarantine after 21 workers at its aircraft factory in Hamburg tested positive for the new coronavirus. The company said the staff had been asked to stay at home as a precautionary measure and it was examining whether the measures would impact production at the site.

Israel bans international flights to curb coronavirus spread

Israel will ban passenger flights in and out of the country from Monday evening for a week, the government announced on Sunday, as protesters in some ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities clashed with police over coronavirus lockdown measures. Clashes broke out between ultra-Orthodox protesters in the city of Bnei Brak and police forces who came to enforce the lockdown. One police officer, feeling his life was in danger, fired in the air to repel the crowds, police said. Smaller confrontations with ultra-Orthodox protesters broke out in several other towns, police said.

(With inputs from agencies.)