Reuters Health News Summary

The European Medicines Agency's safety committee has also been looking at how AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine is associated with very rare cases of unusual blood clots and said it was now reviewing reports of capillary leak syndrome in people given AstraZeneca's vaccine. Iran orders 10-day shutdown amid 4th wave of coronavirus pandemic Iran imposed a 10-day lockdown across most of the country on Saturday to curb the spread of a fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic, state media reported.


Reuters | Updated: 11-04-2021 02:29 IST | Created: 11-04-2021 02:29 IST
Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

South African variant can 'break through' Pfizer vaccine, Israeli study says

The coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa can "break through" Pfizer/BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine to some extent, a real-world data study in Israel found, though its prevalence in the country is low and the research has not been peer reviewed. The study, released on Saturday, compared almost 400 people who had tested positive for COVID-19, 14 days or more after they received one or two doses of the vaccine, against the same number of unvaccinated patients with the disease. It matched age and gender, among other characteristics.

Italy reports 344 coronavirus deaths on Saturday, 17,567 new cases

Italy reported 344 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday against 718 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 17,567 from 18,938 the day before. Italy has registered 113,923 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the seventh-highest in the world. The country has 3.75 million cases to date.

J&J COVID-19 vaccine under EU review over blood clots

Europe's drug regulator said on Friday it is reviewing rare blood clots in four people in the United States who received Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine. The European Medicines Agency's safety committee has also been looking at how AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine is associated with very rare cases of unusual blood clots and said it was now reviewing reports of capillary leak syndrome in people given AstraZeneca's vaccine.

Iran orders 10-day shutdown amid 4th wave of coronavirus pandemic

Iran imposed a 10-day lockdown across most of the country on Saturday to curb the spread of a fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic, state media reported. The lockdown affects 23 of the country's 31 provinces, health ministry spokesman Alireza Raisi said. Businesses, schools, theatres and sports facilities have been forced to shut and gatherings are banned during the holy fasting month of Ramadan that begins on Wednesday.

French coronavirus intensive care cases and deaths keep rising

France reported a further increase in the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care on Saturday and the country's death toll from the epidemic also kept rising. Data showed there were 5,769 COVID-19 patients in intensive care, compared with 5,757 on Friday.

India's daily COVID-19 cases rise to record for fifth time this week

India's daily coronavirus cases on Saturday rose by a record for the fifth time this week and deaths surged to the highest in more than five months, with hospitals and crematoriums overflowing in parts of the country. New cases in the world's second-most populous country have totalled the most of anywhere in the world over the last two weeks. India's overall tally of 13.21 million is the third-highest globally, just shy of Brazil and below the worst affected country, the United States.

South Asia surpasses grim milestone of 15 million COVID-19 cases: Reuters tally

Coronavirus infections in the South Asia sub-region surpassed the grim milestone of 15 million on Saturday, a Reuters tally shows, led by India's record daily infections and vaccine shortages. South Asia - India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, and Sri Lanka - accounts for 11% of global cases and almost 6% of deaths. The region accounts for 23% of the world's population of 7.59 billion people.

Mexico reports 2,192 new coronavirus deaths in one of largest daily pandemic tolls

Mexico's government on Saturday reported 2,192 new confirmed coronavirus deaths, one of its biggest one-day tolls during the pandemic, bringing the country's total to 209,212 deaths. It was not immediately clear whether the Saturday figure, which far exceeds recent daily totals, was due to the government making changes in how it collects its data, as was the case in October, when the government reported 2,789 fatalities in a single day.

Libya launches COVID-19 vaccination drive after delays

Libya's new unity government launched a long-delayed COVID-19 vaccination programme on Saturday after receiving some 160,000 vaccine doses over the past week, with the prime minister receiving his jab on live television. While Libya is richer than its neighbours due to oil exports, the country's healthcare system has been strained by years of political turmoil and violence, and it has struggled to cope during the pandemic.

Unwanted vaccines needed to help poor countries catch up, international health officials say

Doses of vaccines rejected as countries fine-tune their inoculation campaigns will go to poor countries where possible to counter a "shocking imbalance" in distribution, international health officials said on Friday. Authorities in Australia and Greece became the latest to recommend alternatives to the AstraZeneca vaccine for younger people over fears of possible very rare blood clots, while Hong Kong delayed deliveries.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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