Health News Roundup: Biden says world on cusp of some 'real breakthroughs' on cancer; Czech Republic declines intermediary's offer for AstraZeneca vaccines and more

Biden says it's a 'big mistake' for states to lift mask mandates U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday said decisions to end the required wearing of masks - such as those by governors of Texas and Mississippi - amounted to "Neanderthal thinking" given the rising death toll from the coronavirus pandemic.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

White House urges Americans to follow COVID guidelines despite state restrictions lifting

The White House said on Wednesday that President Joe Biden hoped Americans would continue to follow coronavirus guidelines such as mask-wearing even as some states, including Texas, lift their restrictions amid the ongoing pandemic. Biden administration officials have sought to push back against the lifting of restrictions, warning that now is not the time to stop being vigilant.

'When will it end?': How a changing virus is reshaping scientists’ views on COVID-19

Chris Murray, a University of Washington disease expert whose projections on COVID-19 infections and deaths are closely followed worldwide, is changing his assumptions about the course of the pandemic. Murray had until recently been hopeful that the discovery of several effective vaccines could help countries achieve herd immunity, or nearly eliminate transmission through a combination of inoculation and previous infection. But in the last month, data from a vaccine trial in South Africa showed not only that a rapidly-spreading coronavirus variant could dampen the effect of the vaccine, it could also evade natural immunity in people who had been previously infected.

Vir, GSK to halt enrollment in U.S. COVID-19 antibody trial sub-study

Vir Biotechnology and Britain's GSK said on Wednesday they would pause enrollment into a study testing their experimental COVID-19 antibody therapy, which is a part of a large U.S. trial. The companies will now wait for more data from this sub-study after an independent panel found that while their drug, VIR-7831, met the criteria to move into the next stage of testing and was safe to use, there was lack of evidence to support how well it would work.

COVID infections are dropping in North America, but vaccination too slow in Latin America, says PAHO

New infections of COVID-19 are dropping in the United States, Canada and Mexico, but in Latin America vaccinations have hardly begun, raising the risk of dangerous new variants emerging, the Pan American Health Organization said on Wednesday. "As long as COVID-19 endures in one part of the world, the rest of the world can never be safe," PAHO director Carissa Etienne said in a briefing on the pandemic in the Americas.

Czechs and Slovaks to get 100,000 extra vaccines each from EU partners

The Czech Republic and Slovakia, both under severe pressure from the coronavirus pandemic, will each receive an extra 100,000 doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine from their European Union partners. Both have ranked among the world's worst affected countries in recent weeks, with hospitals running out of beds and personnel, and have tried to accelerate their vaccination programmes.

American, United to begin providing J&J COVID-19 vaccine to Chicago workers

American Airlines and United Airlines on Thursday will begin providing workers with Johnson & Johnson's single-shot COVID-19 vaccine at Chicago's O'Hare airport, according to letters sent to Chicago-based employees. So far, U.S. airlines are not requiring that employees take the vaccine, which the industry widely views as a key element to a recovery in travel, but they strongly encourage them to do so.

Czech Republic declines intermediary's offer for AstraZeneca vaccines

The Czech Republic has declined an offer to buy AstraZeneca Plc's coronavirus vaccines from an intermediary in the United Arab Emirates, Czech officials said on Wednesday. Health Minister Jan Blatny said the offer was not officially from the UAE but that it came from an unnamed third party.

Biden says it's a 'big mistake' for states to lift mask mandates

U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday said decisions to end the required wearing of masks - such as those by governors of Texas and Mississippi - amounted to "Neanderthal thinking" given the rising death toll from the coronavirus pandemic. Asked if he had a message to Texas and Mississippi, Biden told reporters: "I think it's a big mistake. Look, I hope everybody's realized by now, these masks make a difference."

Biden says world on cusp of some 'real breakthroughs' on cancer

U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday met with a bipartisan group of lawmakmers to brainstorm ways to accelerate the fight against cancer, saying he believed the world was nearing some "real breakthroughs." Biden told reporters before the meeting that cancer or "the C word" remained the most frightening word in the English language, but adopting a different approach to research could lead to more results.

T cell response to virus variants remains potent; Asthma does not raise severe COVID-19 risk

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. Immune system T cell responses to variants remain potent

(With inputs from agencies.)