Reuters Health News Summary

The World Health Organization is working with Vietnam's health ministry over the use of COVAX vaccines in the country, the government said in a statement. U.S. FDA gearing up for rapid review of potential COVID-19 booster shots The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is planning a rapid review process for quick turnaround of new COVID-19 booster shots if variants of the coronavirus emerge against which the vaccines do not provide protection, the agency's top official said on Thursday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Lockdown bambino bust: 9 months on, Italian births fall 22 percent

Maybe it was the stress. Maybe it was being cooped up with the mother-in-law. But the numbers are in, and one effect of the coronavirus lockdown is now clear: people made fewer babies. A lot fewer babies. Births in Italy in December - exactly nine months after the country went into Europe's first lockdown - plunged by a whopping 21.6%, according to figures from a sample of 15 Italian cities released this week by statistics agency ISTAT. What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: Infections in Tokyo may have jumped nine-fold Countdown to 'catastrophe:' Inside Europe's fight for COVID shots

In a meeting last week in the Europa building in Brussels, home of the European Union's political leadership, diplomats for the 27 member states were desperate. The EU had paid billions of euros toward shots to curb a pandemic that was killing thousands of Europeans every day. Now vaccine-makers had cut back deliveries, and the EU was trapped in a public fight. UK regulators say extra AstraZeneca vaccine data highlights efficacy in elderly

British regulators have received extra trial data from AstraZeneca that supports their view that the COVID-19 vaccine developed with Oxford University is effective in the elderly, a vaccines official said on Friday Britain has been rolling out the shot among all age groups after the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) was the first regulator to approve it in December, but some other European countries have said more data is needed before it is given to those over 65. Chinese researchers find natural mutation in African swine fever virus

Chinese scientists have found a natural mutation in the African swine fever virus they say could be less deadly than the strain that ravaged the world's largest pig herd in 2018 and 2019. The findings, published in the February edition of the Chinese Journal of Veterinary Science this week, come amid intense debate in the industry over the evolution of the disease for which there is no approved vaccine. J&J files COVID-19 vaccine application with U.S. FDA

Johnson & Johnson said on Thursday it has asked U.S. health regulators to authorize its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, and it will apply to European authorities in coming weeks. The drugmaker's application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) follows its Jan. 29 report in which it said the vaccine had a 66% rate of preventing infections in its large global trial. Portugal's COVID-19 nightmare eases, but far from over

Portugal's devastating surge in coronavirus infections has finally slowed, to the relief of its overwhelmed health service - but for nurse Marcio Vidal the fight is far from over. "The problem goes beyond the virus. It is people's behaviour. In the first wave there was fear but now that's gone," said Vidal, 26, who works at a hospital in the southern Algarve and has been on the frontline since March last year.

Data prove coronavirus mutations are more infectious - German official Recent data from Britain, Denmark and the Netherlands have shown that the analysed coronavirus mutations are more infectious, the head of Germany's Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases said on Friday. The data have shown that the reproduction rate of infections - or 'R' - was around 0.5 higher, Lothar Wieler said at a news conference.

Vietnam to access its first COVAX coronavirus vaccines in Q1 Vietnam is expected to get access to the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines within the first quarter under the COVAX coronavirus vaccine sharing scheme, its government said on Friday. The World Health Organization is working with Vietnam's health ministry over the use of COVAX vaccines in the country, the government said in a statement.

U.S. FDA gearing up for rapid review of potential COVID-19 booster shots The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is planning a rapid review process for quick turnaround of new COVID-19 booster shots if variants of the coronavirus emerge against which the vaccines do not provide protection, the agency's top official said on Thursday. Dr. Janet Woodcock, acting commissioner of the FDA, said that if new variants of the coronavirus emerge that require booster shots or changes to vaccines, the agency will not require the type of large trials that were required for emergency use authorization or approval.