Reuters Health News Summary

They are also in talks with regulatory authorities about testing a vaccine modified to protect specifically against the highly transmissible new variant found in South Africa and elsewhere, known as B.1.351, as a second arm of the same study. Wanted: More high-tech manufacturing space for a global vaccine push The number of available COVID-19 vaccine doses is steadily rising, but a shortage of physical space that meets standards for pharmaceutical manufacturing is a major bottleneck to further expansion, according to drugmakers, industry construction experts and officials involved in the U.S. vaccine program.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. EU leaders meet to speed up vaccine rollout in race against variants

European Union leaders will meet on Thursday to try to speed up the production and rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in a race against the emergence of new variants that some fear could bring a third wave of the pandemic across the continent. They will also consider how to strike the right balance between restrictions to stop the spread of infections and keeping borders open for a smooth flow of goods and services across the single market. China approves two COVID-19 vaccines from Sinopharm's affiliate, CanSino

China's National Medical Products Administration said on Thursday that it has approved two more COVID-19 vaccines for public use. The two vaccines are made by CanSino Biologics Inc and Sinopharm's affiliate Wuhan Institute of Biological Product. AstraZeneca says it will have no vaccine supply shortfall in second quarter, EU wary

AstraZeneca will deliver 180 million COVID-19 vaccines to Europe in the second quarter, including 20 million to Italy, the head of its Italian unit was quoted as saying on Thursday, but EU officials remained wary about supply. Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing an EU official directly involved in talks with the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker, that AstraZeneca expected to deliver less than half the COVID-19 vaccines it was contracted to supply the European Union in the second quarter. Debilitating 'long-COVID' may have severe health, social impacts: WHO

Thousands of COVID-19 patients continue to suffer serious, debilitating and lingering symptoms many months after their initial bout of infection, with major social, health and economic consequences, European health experts said on Thursday. Publishing a World Health Organization-led guidance report on the condition, often referred to as "long COVID" or "post-COVID syndrome", experts said around one in 10 COVID-19 patients are still unwell 12 weeks after their acute infection, and many suffer symptoms for far longer.

GSK narrows focus on elderly in trial to treat pneumonia from COVID-19 GlaxoSmithKline will extend a trial testing an experimental rheumatoid arthritis drug on patients suffering from pneumonia related to COVID-19 to focus on the elderly as it seeks to firm up encouraging findings so far. A trial started in May last year has shown that the drug known as otilimab helps patients over 70 with severe COVID-19 get off mechanical ventilation or high-flow oxygen support faster, the British drugmaker said on Thursday.

African Union backs call to waive IP rights on COVID-19 drugs The African Union is backing calls for drugmakers to waive some intellectual property rights on COVID-19 medicines and vaccines to speed up their rollout to poor countries, the head of its disease control body said on Thursday. South Africa and India, which both manufacture drugs and vaccines, made the proposal at the World Trade Organization (WTO) last year, arguing that intellectual property (IP) rules were hindering the urgent scale-up of vaccine production and provision of medical products to some patients.

Big turnout as Indonesia holds mass vaccination drive for clergy Thousands of Indonesia's religious figures gathered on Thursday for mass COVID-19 inoculations for clergy and faith groups, with monks, priests, imams and nuns queuing to receive their first doses of vaccine. Monks in orange, brown and maroon robes sat on chairs evenly spaced across the basement car park of Jakarta's Grand Istiqlal Mosque waiting to register for Sinovac Biotech's CoronaVac.

Pfizer-BioNTech testing booster of their COVID-19 vaccine in new trial Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE said on Thursday they are testing a third dose of their COVID-19 vaccine to better understand the immune response against new variants of the virus. They are also in talks with regulatory authorities about testing a vaccine modified to protect specifically against the highly transmissible new variant found in South Africa and elsewhere, known as B.1.351, as a second arm of the same study.

Wanted: More high-tech manufacturing space for a global vaccine push The number of available COVID-19 vaccine doses is steadily rising, but a shortage of physical space that meets standards for pharmaceutical manufacturing is a major bottleneck to further expansion, according to drugmakers, industry construction experts and officials involved in the U.S. vaccine program. The production of raw materials, vaccine formulation and vial filling all require "clean rooms" with features like air cleaners, sterile water and sterilizing steam designed and in some cases built by specialists.

Regeneron to stop giving placebo in COVID-19 drug trial after 'clear efficacy' Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said on Thursday that an independent panel found the company's COVID-19 antibody cocktail to have "clear clinical efficacy" in reducing the rates of hospitalization and deaths in patients. The cocktail, a combination of two antibodies casirivimab and imdevimab, was authorized in November for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.