Health News Roundup: Africa COVID-19 deaths cross 100,000; Pfizer, BioNTech start testing COVID-19 vaccine in pregnant women and more

The laboratory study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, is another worry for the country hardest-hit by the pandemic on the African continent after it placed AstraZeneca vaccinations on hold earlier this month.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

AstraZeneca vaccine faces resistance in Europe after health workers suffer side-effects

Health authorities in some European countries are facing resistance to AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine after side-effects led hospital staff and other front-line workers to call in sick, putting extra strain on already-stretched services. Such symptoms, as reported in clinical trials for the AstraZeneca shot, can include a high temperature or headache and are a normal sign that the body is generating an immune response. They usually fade within a day or so.

Fauci hopes for return to normal by Christmas, in line with Biden target

Top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci on Thursday said that a post-pandemic return to "normal" could come by the end of the year, aligning his forecast with a Christmas target U.S. President Joe Biden set earlier this week. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), had guided Americans to the long-sought return to something approaching normal life in the early Autumn.

Individual vaccine arrangements undermine fair distribution, WHO head says

The World Health Organization on Thursday urged nations producing COVID-19 vaccines not to distribute them unilaterally but to donate them to the global COVAX scheme to ensure fairness. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the plea as China hashes out agreements across Africa, Russia distributes shots in Latin America and the European Union eyes giving vaccines to poorer countries, all outside of the COVAX facility.

UK Black and South Asian groups lag in COVID-19 vaccinations

Only 55% of Black people in England in their 70s had been vaccinated against COVID-19 by last week compared with 86% of white people that age, a study showed, as celebrities and officials encourage minorities to accept the vaccine shots. Britain has outpaced most other countries by giving at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine to more than a quarter of its population.

'I just ask God to help me': Texas funeral home crushed by death as U.S. COVID toll nears 500,000

Sunday is traditionally a quiet day for Chuck Pryor's Houston funeral home, but on this Sunday in February, almost a year after the global pandemic reached Texas, the phone was still ringing. Pryor took the call: COVID-19 had taken yet another American life -- pushing the nation's death toll closer to the half-million mark -- and another grieving family required the services of the exhausted funeral director and his staff.

Pfizer study another worry for South Africa's vaccine rollout

Scientists will meet on Thursday to advise South Africa's government on its next steps after a study suggested the dominant local coronavirus variant may reduce protective antibodies from Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine by two-thirds. The laboratory study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, is another worry for the country hardest-hit by the pandemic on the African continent after it placed AstraZeneca vaccinations on hold earlier this month.

Congo confirms two new Ebola cases, including one far from centre of outbreak

Democratic Republic of Congo has confirmed two new cases of Ebola, including one far from the centre of the outbreak, provincial Health Minister Eugene Nzanzu Salita said on Thursday. The cases were found in Katwa and in Manguredjipa, which is about 150 km (93 miles) west of the city of Butembo, where all the previous cases have been clustered.

Researchers urge delaying Pfizer vaccine's second dose as first highly effective

The second dose of Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine could be delayed in order to cover all priority groups as the first one is highly protective, two Canada-based researchers said in a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The vaccine had an efficacy of 92.6% after the first dose, Danuta Skowronski and Gaston De Serres said, based on an analysis of the documents submitted by the drugmaker to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Pfizer, BioNTech start testing COVID-19 vaccine in pregnant women

Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE have started an international study with 4,000 volunteers to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of their COVID-19 vaccine in healthy pregnant women, the companies said on Thursday. Pregnant women are at higher risk of developing severe COVID-19, and many public health officials have recommended some women in high-risk professions take coronavirus vaccines even without proof they are safe for them.

Africa COVID-19 deaths cross 100,000 after second wave: Reuters tally

Africa's coronavirus death toll surpassed the 100,000 mark on Friday, as a second wave of infections overwhelms hospitals in the continent. So far, the region has reported 3,818,608 cases and 100,003 deaths, according to a Reuters tally.