Reuters Health News Summary

New U.S. COVID-19 cases fall 12% last week, vaccinations top 2 million a day The United States reported a 12% decline in new cases of COVID-19 last week, while vaccinations accelerated to a record 2.2 million shots per day, according to a Reuters analysis of state, county and CDC data.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. New U.S. COVID-19 cases fall 12% last week, vaccinations top 2 million a day

The United States reported a 12% decline in new cases of COVID-19 last week, while vaccinations accelerated to a record 2.2 million shots per day, according to a Reuters analysis of state, county and CDC data. New infections have dropped for eight weeks in a row, averaging 60,000 new cases per day for the week ended March 7. Deaths linked to COVID-19 fell 18% last week to 11,800, the lowest since late November and averaging 1,686 per day. Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine neutralizes Brazil variant in lab study

The COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE was able to neutralize a new variant of the coronavirus spreading rapidly in Brazil, according to a laboratory study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Monday. Blood taken from people who had been given the vaccine neutralized an engineered version of the virus that contained the same mutations carried on the spike portion of the highly contagious P.1 variant first identified in Brazil, the study conducted by scientists from the companies and the University of Texas Medical Branch found. Fully vaccinated people can gather without masks indoors, should still avoid travel: U.S. says

People who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can meet without masks indoors in small groups with others who have been inoculated but should avoid non-essential travel and continue to wear face-coverings in public, the Biden administration said on Monday. In a long-awaited update of its guidance for behaviors to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said fully vaccinated people could also meet in small groups with unvaccinated individuals deemed at low-risk for severe COVID-19 from one other household without masks. NHS expects to receive increased vaccine supply from AstraZeneca: report

Britain's NHS is expecting a significant increase in the supply of COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca Plc, and will roll this out from March 15, Times Radio chief political commentator Tom Newton Dunn tweeted https://twitter.com/tnewtondunn/status/1369073411113299968 late on Monday. Vaccine supplies will increase to close to 500,000 a day, or up from around 2 million a week now to 3 million, according to Dunn's tweet. Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 4,252: RKI

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 4,252 to 2,509,445, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Tuesday. The reported death toll rose by 255 to 72,189, the tally showed. 'No syringes, no beds': Paraguay protests build amid impeachment calls

Thousands of Paraguayans gathered around Congress in downtown Asunción on Monday, marking the fourth day of protests amid calls to impeach President Mario Abdo over the government's handling of the COVID-19 health crisis. The protesters, many wearing soccer jerseys and carrying national flags, chanted "Out Marito" and "Everyone out", while criticizing the authorities for the lack of medicines and intensive care beds amid a spike in coronavirus cases. Indonesia approves AstraZeneca vaccine for emergency use

Indonesia has approved AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, Penny K. Lukito, the chief of the country's food and drug agency, told a news conference on Tuesday. More than one million doses of the vaccine arrived late on Monday via the COVAX global vaccine-alliance scheme. About 38 million doses of a vaccine produced by China's Sinovac Biotech have arrived in the Southeast Asian country so far, some of which have been used in a mass inoculation drive starting in January. Japan's Terumo says makes syringe to draw seven doses from Pfizer vaccine vials

Japan's Terumo Corp said on Tuesday it has developed a new syringe that can get seven doses out of each vial of COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer Inc, at least one more than accessible with existing syringes. The health ministry approved the design on Friday, and Terumo will begin production at the end of March, a Terumo spokesman told Reuters. The Kyodo News agency, which first reported the development, said Terumo is aiming to make 20 million units this year. U.S. administers 92.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines: CDC

The United States has administered 92,089,852 doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of Monday morning and delivered 116,378,615 doses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The tally of vaccine doses are for both Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech PFE.N vaccines as of 6:00 a.m. ET on Monday, the agency said. Australia PM says COVID-19 vaccination drive on track to meet targets

Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he remained optimistic the country's COVID-19 vaccination drive would finish on time by October despite initial delays as it reported zero new local cases for the 11th straight day on Tuesday. Australia began mass inoculation for its 25 million population on Feb. 22 but missed its targets in the first two weeks as the pace of vaccination slowed after two elderly people were inadvertently given four times the recommended dose.

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