Reuters Health News Summary

J&J vaccine adds to COVID-19 armoury, includes South African variant Johnson & Johnson said on Friday that its single-dose vaccine was 66% effective in preventing COVID-19 in a large global trial against multiple variants, giving health officials another weapon to tackle the pandemic.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Novavax expects to produce 150 million vaccine doses per month as early as May: CEO

Novavax Inc expects to produce up to 150 million COVID-19 vaccine doses monthly by May or June, its chief executive told Reuters on Friday, a day after reporting interim data that showed its shot to be 89% effective in a UK trial. Novavax expects to complete the clinical trial for its experimental COVID-19 vaccine in the next few weeks, but is already working on manufacturing to be able to reach full production capacity quickly, Chief Executive Officer Stanley Erck said. WHO team, on tightly controlled China mission, visits hospital

The World Health Organization-led team investigating the origins of COVID-19 during a mission that has been tightly controlled by its Chinese hosts visited a hospital on Saturday in the central city of Wuhan that treated early coronavirus patients. On its second day after two weeks in quarantine, the team went to Jinyintan Hospital, where doctors had collected samples from patients suffering from an unidentified pneumonia in late 2019. J&J vaccine adds to COVID-19 armoury, includes South African variant

Johnson & Johnson said on Friday that its single-dose vaccine was 66% effective in preventing COVID-19 in a large global trial against multiple variants, giving health officials another weapon to tackle the pandemic. In the trial of nearly 44,000 volunteers, the level of protection against moderate and severe COVID-19 varied from 72% in the United States, to 66% in Latin America and just 57% in South Africa, from where a worrying variant has spread. Vietnam reports 34 new COVID-19 cases, speeds up vaccine procurement

Vietnam reported 34 new COVID-19 infections early on Saturday in its latest coronavirus outbreak, and seeks to accelerate procurement of vaccines. Of the new cases, 32 were detected in Hai Duong province, the epicentre, and two in neighbouring Quang Ninh province, the Ministry of Health said in a statement. It added that the country has recorded more than 1,700 cases since the disease was detected a year ago, including 873 locally transmitted infections. Norway to gradually ease capital's COVID-19 lockdown from February 3

The Norwegian government will gradually loosen the capital region's coronavirus lockdown, allowing some shops and recreational activities to reopen from Feb. 3 onwards, Health Minister Bent Hoeie said on Saturday. The outbreak of a more contagious variant of COVID-19, first identified in Britain, had prompted the introduction of stricter measures on Jan. 23, including the closure of all non-essential stores in and around Oslo for the first time in the pandemic. Iran imposes mandatory quarantine for travellers from Europe

Travellers to Iran from Europe will be required to self-quarantine for two weeks after testing negative upon arrival, a health official said on Saturday. Travellers from other regions, including neighbouring countries, will have to have tested negative before arrival in the country, Alireza Raisi, spokesman for the national coronavirus task force, said on state TV. Taiwan reports first COVID-19 death in eight months, from local cluster

Taiwan's government on Saturday reported the island's first death from COVID-19 since May, as it battles a small and unusual outbreak of locally transmitted cases. A woman in her 80s with underlying health conditions died after being infected with the coronavirus as part of a domestic cluster connected to a hospital, said Health Minister Chen Shih-chung. A year after COVID-19's arrival, India's active cases fall

India reported its lowest active number of novel coronavirus cases in seven months on Saturday, a year after the virus was first confirmed in the country. A year ago, a student from the southern state of Kerala tested positive for COVID-19 after returning to India from Wuhan in China, the global epicentre of the virus. After outcry, EU reverses plan to restrict vaccine exports through Irish border

The European Union on Friday abruptly reversed a plan to use emergency Brexit measures to restrict exports of COVID-19 vaccines from crossing the Irish border into the United Kingdom after it sent shockwaves through Northern Ireland, London and Dublin. In a steep escalation of the EU's fight to secure vaccine supplies, Brussels had said it would trigger clauses in the Northern Irish Protocol to prevent the vaccines from moving across the open border between EU-member Ireland and the British-run province. Moderna seeks FDA clearance to increase doses per vial: CNBC

Moderna Inc has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for permission to fill its COVID-19 vaccine vials with up to five additional doses to ease a crunch in manufacturing, CNBC reported on Friday. The change would allow Moderna to put 15 doses in the vials, now cleared to hold 10, the report said https://cnb.cx/39wXjkx, citing a person familiar with the matter.