Health News Roundup: Israel to discuss COVID-19 vaccine venture with Austria; What you need to know about the coronavirus right now and more

Exclusive: Six-week sprint got Indian-made AstraZeneca vaccine approved in Canada Problems at AstraZeneca Plc's European production site in January kicked off a six-week push to get a version of its COVID-19 vaccine made at an Indian facility approved by Canada's drug regulator, according to the Canadian pharmaceutical company that filed the application.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Global COVID-19 infections up for first time in seven weeks, WHO says

The number of new coronavirus infections globally rose last week for the first time in seven weeks, the World Health Organization said on Monday. "We need to have a stern warning for all of us: that this virus will rebound if we let it," Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO technical lead for COVID-19, told a briefing. "And we cannot let it."

Fraudsters offer 1 billion COVID-19 doses across EU, agency warns

Dubious intermediaries have offered governments across the European Union a total of about 1 billion non-existent COVID-19 vaccine doses worth about 14 billion euros, the bloc's anti-fraud agency told Reuters on Monday. Such middleman are asking for advance payments and giving no delivery details, Ville Itala, the head of the European anti-fraud office OLAF, said, stressing that pharmaceutical companies insist they sell directly to governments.

U.S. to give Americans COVID-19 vaccines before discussing sharing with Mexico: White House

The Biden administration on Monday downplayed the prospect of sharing coronavirus vaccines with Mexico, saying it is focused first on getting its own population protected against a pandemic that has killed more than 500,000 Americans. The remarks by White House press secretary Jen Psaki came hours before Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is expected to ask U.S. President Joe Biden to consider sharing some of its COVID-19 vaccine supply.

Exclusive: Six-week sprint got Indian-made AstraZeneca vaccine approved in Canada

Problems at AstraZeneca Plc's European production site in January kicked off a six-week push to get a version of its COVID-19 vaccine made at an Indian facility approved by Canada's drug regulator, according to the Canadian pharmaceutical company that filed the application. Last week, when Health Canada approved AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, it also cleared a version of the shot made by the Serum Institute of India (SII). SII filed the application with a Canadian partner, Verity Pharmaceuticals.

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: EU audits Indian vaccine maker J&J CEO sees COVID-19 shots in American arms in 1-2 days as shipping starts

Johnson & Johnson's newly authorized COVID-19 vaccine has started shipping and its top executive said on Monday that Americans should be able to receive the single-dose shot within the next 24 to 48 hours, adding a third vaccine in the United States. The drugmaker plans to deliver 4 million vaccine doses this week, 20 million by the end of March and 100 million doses by June, J&J Chief Executive Office Alex Gorsky said in interviews with NBC News' Today program and CNBC.

Amid scramble for COVID-19 vaccine, Latin America turns to Russia

As Bolivia struggled late last year to secure deals with large drug firms to supply COVID-19 vaccines, the incoming president, Luis Arce, turned to Russia for help. By the end of December, Bolivia clinched its first major COVID-19 vaccine deal, with enough shots for some 20% of the population. The first Sputnik V doses arrived in the country in late January, just as virus cases were spiking.

Israel to discuss COVID-19 vaccine venture with Austria, Denmark, Netanyahu says

Israel will discuss the possibility of a COVID-19 vaccine venture with Austria and Denmark, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday. Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen are expected in Israel this week to see Israel's rapid vaccine rollout up close, Netanyahu said in public remarks.

UK health official says more data needed on vaccine effectiveness on Brazil variant

More data is needed to access the effectiveness of vaccines against the so-called Brazil variant of COVID-19, an British health official said on Monday. "The current vaccines have not yet been studied against this variant, and we will need to wait for further clinical and trial data to understand the vaccine effectiveness against this variant," Susan Hopkins from Public Health England told a news conference.

'Please get in touch': Britain hunts mystery spreader of Brazil variant

Britain on Monday appealed for a mystery individual infected with a highly transmissible Brazilian variant of the novel coronavirus to come forward, more than two weeks after they tested positive but failed to give proper contact details. Britain said six cases had been detected of the "P.1" variant identified in the Brazilian city of Manaus, against which current vaccines appear to be less effective. Two were in South Gloucestershire in England and three in Scotland.

(With inputs from agencies.)