Health News Roundup: EU finalises second deal with Pfizer for 300 million vaccine doses; Fauci says quick vaccinations needed to slow variants and more

On Sunday, South Africa said it would put its use of the AstraZeneca shot on hold after research showed it was only minimally effective in preventing mild illness against the coronavirus variant dominant in the country.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Cuomo unveils plan to revive New York City arts, moves up indoor dining reopening

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday unveiled a plan to revive New York City's renowned arts scene from its pandemic-induced dormancy and also allowed city restaurants to reopen their indoor dining areas sooner than previously announced. The move to promote theater and music across the state, known as "New York Pops Up," comes amid a steady improvement in the measures of the spread of the coronavirus, and after many Broadway and other performers have been idle since last year. In October, Broadway theater owners extended their closures to May 31, hoping to reopen in June.

Britain deploying surge testing in areas around Manchester over new COVID-19 variants

Britain's Health Department said on Monday that 'surge testing' was being deployed in areas around Manchester in connection to new variants of COVID-19. The department said that further targeted areas will have additional testing made available to control and suppress the spread of the new variants.

Fauci says quick vaccinations needed to slow variants

The best defense against emerging variants of the coronavirus and the COVID-19 pandemic is getting as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible, top U.S. infectious disease doctor Anthony Fauci said on Monday. Nearly 700 cases associated with coronavirus variants have been identified in the United States, U.S. officials said on a press call. Of them, 690 cases are from a more transmissible variant first discovered in the United Kingdom called B.1.1.7, which could become the dominant variant in the United States by March, the officials said.

Global health officials back AstraZeneca vaccine after South Africa study rings alarm

Health officials around the world gave their backing to the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19, after a study showing it had little effect against mild disease caused by the variant now spreading quickly in South Africa rang global alarm. The prospect that new virus variants could evolve the ability to elude vaccines is one of the main risks hanging over the global strategy to emerge from the pandemic by rolling out vaccines this year.

Death risk higher from UK virus variant; vaccine in pregnancy may protect newborns

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.

UK variant carries higher death risk South Africa to roll out AstraZeneca vaccine in steps to assess efficacy

South Africa will roll out AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine in a "stepped manner" to assess its ability to prevent severe illness, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, co-chair of South Africa's Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19, said on Monday. South Africa said on Sunday it would put on hold its use of the AstraZeneca shot after research showing it was only minimally effective in preventing mild-to-moderate illness against a variant of the coronavirus now dominant in the country.

U.S. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations log biggest weekly drops since pandemic started

The United States reported a 25% drop in new cases of COVID-19 to about 825,000 last week, the biggest fall since the pandemic started, although health officials said they were worried new variants of the virus could slow or reverse this progress. New cases of the virus have now fallen for four weeks in a row to the lowest level since early November, according to a Reuters analysis of state and county reports. The steepest drop was in California, where cases in the week ended Feb. 7 fell 48%. Only Oregon, Puerto Rico, Arkansas and Vermont saw cases rise. (Open https://tmsnrt.rs/2WTOZDR in an external browser to see a state-by-state graphic.)

Brazil to test COVID-19 vaccination on city's entire adult population

Brazilian biomedical institute Butantan plans to vaccinate a city's entire adult population of about 30,000 people against COVID-19 to test whether it lowers the infection rate, institute and government officials said on Monday. Butantan, which is overseen by the Sao Paulo state government, will carry out the mass vaccination study in Serrana, a city in the interior of the state that has a high infection rate, according to a statement and news briefing.

Nigeria yet to detect South African virus variant, to stick with AstraZeneca vaccine

Nigeria has not yet found the South African variant of COVID-19 in its population and will continue with plans to distribute the AstraZeneca vaccine, the head of the country's primary healthcare agency said on Monday. On Sunday, South Africa said it would put its use of the AstraZeneca shot on hold after research showed it was only minimally effective in preventing mild illness against the coronavirus variant dominant in the country.

EU finalises second deal with Pfizer for 300 million vaccine doses

The European Union has finalised a deal with Pfizer and BioNTech for the supply of an additional 300 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine, a European Commission spokesman told Reuters on Monday. The EU secured 300 million Pfizer doses in November last year and announced a preliminary deal for 300 million more shots on Jan. 8, subject to talks about the terms of the new contract.