Health News Roundup: France reports 23,448 new coronavirus cases; AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shots may arrive in Canada before end March and more

AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shots may arrive in Canada before end March: minister Deliveries of AstraZeneca Plc's COVID-19 vaccine to Canada could begin before the end of March, if the country's health regulator approves its use, federal procurement minister Anita Anand said on Thursday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

UK says 4,000 variants of virus that causes COVID-19 around the world

There are around 4,000 variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 around the world now so all vaccine manufacturers including Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca Plc are trying to improve their vaccines, a British minister said. "Its very unlikley that the current vaccine won't be effective on the variants whether in Kent or other variants especially when it comes to severe illness and hospitalisation," Vaccine Deployment Minister Nadhim Zahawi told Sky.

EU regulator reviewing Lilly, Regeneron COVID-19 antibody therapies

Europe's drugs regulator said on Thursday it was reviewing data on COVID-19 antibody therapies developed by U.S. drugmakers Eli Lilly and Regeneron for use in some patients. Two separate reviews of combination treatments by the drugmakers have been started based on trials in COVID-19 patients who do not need oxygen support and are at high risk of their condition worsening, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said.

France reports 23,448 new coronavirus cases, hospitalisations down

France reported 23,448 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Thursday, down from 26,362 on Wednesday while hospitalisations continued to decline. The coronavirus situation in France remained fragile but for the moment there was no need for a new national lockdown, French Prime Minister Jean Castex said.

New vaccine sites in urban California to tackle COVID-19 disparities

New vaccination centers are to open this month in the heart of two urban California communities especially hard hit by the coronavirus, as state and federal officials try to tackle racial and economic disparities hindering U.S. immunization efforts. Joint plans to launch the two sites on Feb. 16, at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum in Oakland and the California State University campus in east Los Angeles, were detailed separately on Wednesday by Governor Gavin Newsom and the Biden administration's COVID-19 response coordinator, Jeff Zients.

China bat caves need exploring in search for COVID origins, WHO team member says

A member of the World Health Organization-led team searching for clues to the origins of COVID-19 in the central Chinese city of Wuhan said work was needed to try to trace genetic elements of the virus in bat caves. Peter Daszak, a zoologist and animal disease expert, said the team in Wuhan had been receiving new information about how the virus, first identified in the city in late 2019, led to a pandemic. He did not elaborate but said there was no evidence to suggest it emerged from a lab.

AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shots may arrive in Canada before end March: minister

Deliveries of AstraZeneca Plc's COVID-19 vaccine to Canada could begin before the end of March, if the country's health regulator approves its use, federal procurement minister Anita Anand said on Thursday. AstraZeneca Canada filed a rolling application for its vaccine with Health Canada in October and is waiting for approval from the drug regulator. Health Canada is expected to complete its review soon.

Merck warns against using anti-parasite drug to treat COVID-19

Drugmaker Merck & Co Inc on Thursday said its analysis of available data does not support the safety and efficacy of its anti-parasite drug, ivermectin, for the treatment of COVID-19. Ivermectin, which is approved in the United States under the brand name Stromectol, is used mainly to treat roundworms, threadworms and other parasites.

Italy coronavirus death toll passes 90,000, with 421 new fatalities

Italy reported 421 coronavirus-related deaths on Thursday against 476 the day before, the health ministry said, taking the official toll since the epidemic emerged a year ago to 90,241, according to health ministry data. The ministry also reported 13,659 new COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, up from 13,189 the day before, bringing the total tally of cases to 2.597 million.

High levels of toxic heavy metals found in some baby food: U.S. report

U.S. congressional investigators found "dangerous levels of toxic heavy metals" in certain baby foods that could cause neurological damage, a House Oversight subcommittee said in a report released on Thursday in calling for new standards and testing requirements. The panel examined baby food made by Nurture Inc, Hain Celestial Group Inc, Beech-Nut Nutrition and Gerber, a unit of Nestle, it said, adding that it was "greatly concerned" that Walmart Inc, Campbell Soup Co and Sprout Organic Foods refused to cooperate with the investigation.

WHO's COVAX initiative aims to start shipping 90 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Africa in February

The World Health Organization said on Thursday its COVAX initiative aims to start shipping nearly 90 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Africa in February. About 320,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have been allocated to four African countries - Cabo Verde, Rwanda, South Africa and Tunisia, the WHO said in a statement https://bit.ly/39PlhHT.