Health News Roundup: Cuomo acknowledges withholding New York nursing home pandemic death toll from lawmakers, public; Australia medical regulator approves AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine and more

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: Vaccines touch down in Australia and New Zealand Australia's Victoria 'well placed' to start easing COVID-19 curbs, premier says Australia's Victoria state is well placed to begin easing out of a snap five-day coronavirus lockdown on Wednesday, Premier Daniel Andrews said, as it reported just two new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Cuomo acknowledges withholding New York nursing home pandemic death toll from lawmakers, public

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo acknowledged on Monday that his office should not have withheld data on COVID-19 nursing home deaths from state lawmakers, the public and press - falling short of an apology a senior aide made to lawmakers last week. Cuomo said at a press conference that "lessons were learned' in not releasing the data and that things "should have been done differently."

Australia medical regulator approves AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine

Australia's medical regulator said on Tuesday it had granted provisional approval for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca, making it the second vaccine to get regulatory approval in Australia. The regulator last month approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use and inoculations for its 25 million population will begin from Feb. 22.

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: Vaccines touch down in Australia and New Zealand Australia's Victoria 'well placed' to start easing COVID-19 curbs, premier says

Australia's Victoria state is well placed to begin easing out of a snap five-day coronavirus lockdown on Wednesday, Premier Daniel Andrews said, as it reported just two new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday. Victoria, the second most populous state in the country, was plunged into hard lockdown from midnight on Friday after a fresh outbreak linked to a quarantine hotel.

South Africa asks Serum Institute to take back 1 million vaccine doses: report

South Africa has asked the Serum Institute of India to take back the one million COVID-19 vaccine doses the company had sent in early February, The Economic Times reported on Tuesday, a week after the country said it will put on hold use of AstraZeneca's shot in its vaccination program. Serum Institute of India, which is producing AstraZeneca's shot, has emerged as a key vaccine supplier. One million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine landed in South Africa last week and another 500,000 were due to arrive in the next few weeks.

UK PM Johnson wants 'cautious but irreversible' path out of COVID-19 lockdown

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday he would plot a cautious but irreversible path out of the COVID-19 lockdown this week after the vaccination of 15 million vulnerable people. With nearly a quarter of Britain's population now inoculated with a first dose of a COVID vaccine in a little over two months, Johnson is under pressure from some lawmakers and businesses to reopen the economy.

Syringe shortage hampers Japan's COVID-19 vaccination roll out

Japan is scrambling to secure special syringes to maximise the number of COVID-19 vaccine shots used from each vial, but manufacturers are struggling to ramp up production quickly, raising fears that millions of doses could go waste. Japan, with a population of 126 million, last month signed a contract with Pfizer Inc to procure 144 million doses of its vaccine, or enough for 72 million people, with the vaccination campaign set to start on Wednesday.

Factbox: Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

The World Health Organization listed AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, widening access in the developing world, while sources said the EU is in talks with Moderna on buying more vaccines. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS * Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals https://apac1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1592404098 for a case tracker and summary of news.

Bristol-Myers, Sanofi ordered to pay Hawaii $834 million over Plavix warning label

A judge in Hawaii on Monday ordered Bristol-Myers Squibb Co and Sanofi SA to pay more than $834 million to the state for failing to warn non-white patients properly of health risks from its blood thinner Plavix. Judge Dean Ochiai in Honolulu concluded the companies engaged in unfair and deceptive business practices from 1998 to 2010 by failing to change the drug's label to warn doctors and patients despite knowing some of the risks.

Malaysia to kick off COVID-19 vaccination drive next week

Malaysia will get its first batch of COVID-19 vaccines produced by U.S. and German drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech on Feb. 21, and kick off its inoculation drive five days after that, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Tuesday. Malaysia aims to vaccinate at least 80% of its 32 million population within a year as it pushes to revive an economy that, slammed by coronavirus-related curbs last year, recorded its worst annual performance in over two decades.

(With inputs from agencies.)