Health News Roundup: Pfizer submits data showing COVID-19 vaccine's stability at higher temperatures; Pandemic will not end until world is vaccinated, Merkel says and more

U.S. storms delay COVID-19 vaccines in all 50 states: White House The United States has a backlog of six million COVID-19 vaccine doses due to winter storms and power outages weather, White House officials said at a media briefing on Friday, adding that the federal government expects to catch up with vaccine distribution by next week.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

U.S. storms delay COVID-19 vaccines in all 50 states: White House

The United States has a backlog of six million COVID-19 vaccine doses due to winter storms and power outages weather, White House officials said at a media briefing on Friday, adding that the federal government expects to catch up with vaccine distribution by next week. All 50 states are impacted, said Andy Slavitt, senior adviser to the White House COVID-19 response team. He said delays were due to road closures, shipping company employees unable to get to work, and power outages in certain locations.

EU agreed to pay 870 million euros for supply of AstraZeneca vaccines by June, contract shows

The European Union agreed to pay about 870 million euros ($1.06 billion) for its supply of 300 million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine and to receive them by June, the contract published on Friday by Italy's RAI television shows. The publication of the contract, signed on Aug. 27, 2020, unveils confidential details about the price and the timetable for deliveries agreed by AstraZeneca. The Anglo-Swedish company revised down the timetable last month because of production issues, leading to a bitter fight with the EU over delayed supplies.

Pfizer submits data showing COVID-19 vaccine's stability at higher temperatures

Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech SE said on Friday they have submitted new data to the U.S. health regulator showing the stability of their COVID-19 vaccine at temperatures commonly found in pharmaceutical freezers and refrigerators.

AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine more effective with longer dose gap: study

AstraZeneca and Oxford University's COVID-19 vaccine is more effective when its second dose is given three months after the first, instead of six weeks, a peer-reviewed study published in The Lancet medical journal showed on Friday. The study confirmed the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker's findings from earlier this month that showed the vaccine had 76% efficacy against symptomatic coronavirus infection for three months after the first dose.

COVID-19 heart problems may persist for months; smartphone oxygen meters prove helpful

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.

COVID-19 heart problems may remain evident months later Biden confident U.S. will deliver more than 100 million vaccine shots in 100 days

President Joe Biden on Friday said he is confident the United States will exceed his goal of delivering 100 million vaccine doses in the first 100 days of his term in office.

First month of shots find no safety issues with Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna vaccines: U.S. data

The two COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in the United States have reassuring safety profiles with no concerning new issues found in data collected from the first month of vaccinations, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday. After administration of 13.8 million doses of the Pfizer/ BioNTech and Moderna Inc vaccines to the U.S. population, most reports indicated non-serious side effects of the type that had been expected, such as headaches and fatigue. No deaths have been attributed to the vaccines, the data showed.

Pandemic will not end until world is vaccinated, Merkel says

Germany and other wealthy countries may need to give some of their own stock of vaccines to developing countries in addition to money, since only vaccinating the whole world will end the coronavirus pandemic, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday. Speaking after a video conference of leaders of the G7 group of large developed economies, Merkel said they had not discussed specific percentages of their vaccine stocks that should be given to poorer countries.

Pfizer to double weekly U.S. output of vaccine in next few weeks: CEO

Pfizer Inc Chief Executive Albert Bourla said on Friday that the drugmaker expects to be able to double the weekly number of doses of its COVID-19 vaccine it will supply to the United States in the next few weeks. Bourla, speaking after U.S. President Joe Biden toured his company's vaccine manufacturing facility in Michigan, said Pfizer was currently sending out an average of 5 million doses per week and expects to "more than double that number" in coming weeks.

Exclusive: White House working with Facebook and Twitter to tackle anti-vaxxers

The White House has been reaching out to social media companies including Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet Inc's Google about clamping down on COVID misinformation and getting their help to stop it from going viral, a senior administration official said. President Joe Biden, who has raced to curb the pandemic since taking office, has made inoculating Americans one of his top priorities and called the move "a wartime effort." But tackling public fear about taking the vaccine has emerged as a major impediment for the administration.