Reuters Health News Summary

After it receives the recommendation, the FDA is likely to authorize the vaccine for emergency use within a day or so, making it the third available in the United States, and the only one that requires just one shot. France needs a lockdown as COVID-19 cases rise: hospital official France should impose a national lockdown given the increase in COVID-19 cases and the longer it waits, the higher the death toll will be, the head of the emergencies unit at a hospital in Paris said on Friday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. AstraZeneca, Sputnik vaccines face hurdles if COVID shots become annual affair

Vaccines from AstraZeneca, Russia's Gamaleya Institute and Johnson & Johnson fight the coronavirus with another virus, leaving scientists concerned the shots may lose potency if annual inoculations become necessary to fight new variants. So-called viral vector shots - also used by several Chinese COVID-19 vaccine developers - use harmless modified viruses as vehicles, or vectors, to carry genetic information that helps the body build immunity against future infections.

South Korea kicks off COVID-19 vaccination campaign South Korea launched its COVID-19 inoculation campaign on Friday, with shots to be administered in some 200 nursing homes, in an effort that officials call the first step in returning the country to more normal life. The first doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine began to be given at 9 a.m.(0000 GMT) to nursing home workers and some patients at facilities across the country of about 52 million.

FDA advisory panel to review Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine with thumbs up expected A panel of expert advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to recommend authorization of a one-dose COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson on Friday, setting the stage for the unleashing of millions more doses across the country next week. After it receives the recommendation, the FDA is likely to authorize the vaccine for emergency use within a day or so, making it the third available in the United States, and the only one that requires just one shot.

France needs a lockdown as COVID-19 cases rise: hospital official France should impose a national lockdown given the increase in COVID-19 cases and the longer it waits, the higher the death toll will be, the head of the emergencies unit at a hospital in Paris said on Friday. The government said on Thursday that a new lockdown was not on the agenda and it would see next week if local weekend lockdowns would be needed in 20 areas considered very worrying, including Paris and the surrounding region.

Japan to end state of emergency for six prefectures this month The Japanese government said on Friday it would end a state of emergency in six prefectures at the end of this month, a week earlier than scheduled, as new coronavirus cases decline.

Tokyo and three other prefectures would remain under the restrictions until early March, it added. UK to prioritise next stage of COVID-19 vaccines by age, not job

Police and teachers will not jump to the head of the queue in the second phase of Britain's COVID-19 vaccination rollout, with people instead prioritised by age, officials advising the government said on Friday, describing this as the best way to keep up the pace of immunisations. Britain's vaccine programme has been among the fastest in the world, meeting a government target to offer a first dose of vaccination to 15 million high-risk people by mid-February. Don't be selfish - get a COVID shot, says UK's Queen Elizabeth

Britain's 94-year-old Queen Elizabeth, who last month had her first COVID-19 vaccination dose, has encouraged the public to follow suit, saying it did not hurt and those who were wary should think of others. The monarch and her 99-year-old husband Prince Philip, who is currently in hospital with a non-COVID infection, received their shots from a household doctor at the queen’s Windsor Castle residence, with their age putting them in the priority group for England’s coronavirus vaccine rollout. Ivory Coast becomes second country to receive COVAX vaccines

Ivory Coast received a shipment of COVID-19 doses from the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility on Friday, becoming the second country to benefit from a programme meant to ensure fairer distribution amid a global scramble. A plane carrying 504,000 doses touched down in the commercial capital Abidjan, paving the way for the West African nation to launch a vaccination campaign. EU regulator advises use of Regeneron antibody cocktail for COVID-19

Europe's medicines regulator said on Friday an antibody drug combination developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals can be used to treat COVID-19 patients who do not require oxygen support and are at high risk of progressing to severe illness. The recommendation can now be used as guidance in individual European nations on the possible use of the combination of casirivimab and imdevimab before a marketing authorisation is issued, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said. (https://bit.ly/3syYgzB) Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine reduces transmission after one dose: UK study

A single dose of Pfizer and BioNtech's COVID-19 vaccine cuts the number of asymptomatic infections and could significantly reduce the risk of transmission of the virus, results of a UK study found on Friday. Researchers analysed results from thousands of COVID-19 tests carried out each week as part of hospital screenings of healthcare staff in Cambridge, eastern England.