Health News Roundup: Ireland is latest country to restrict use of AstraZeneca vaccine; UK reports highest number of new COVID cases since April 1 and more

White House coronavirus adviser Andy Slavitt told reporters the U.S. government would work to ensure that states such as Michigan were ordering the full amount of vaccine that was available to them but said that shifting distribution was not in line with the administration's public health strategy. Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus India approved the use of the Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, while England started to reopen its economy after three months of lockdown and Johnson & Johnson began delivering its single-dose vaccine to EU countries.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Gilead to stop late-stage study of COVID-19 treatment

Gilead Sciences Inc said on Monday it had decided to stop a late-stage trial of its intravenous treatment, Veklury, in high-risk non-hospitalized patients with COVID-19. The company said it no longer believes that developing a multiple day injection that requires administration in a healthcare setting addresses an unmet need for non-hospitalized patients.

India's daily virus infections are world's highest but crowds gather for festival

Hundreds of thousands of Hindu devotees flocked on Monday to take a holy bath in India's Ganges river, even as the nation racked up the world's highest tally of new daily coronavirus infections. With 168,912 new cases, India accounts for one in six of all new infections globally, although the figure is still well below the U.S. peak of nearly 300,000 new cases on Jan. 8.

Coronavirus pandemic 'a long way from over', WHO's Tedros says

GENEVA (Reuters) - Confusion and complacency in addressing COVID-19 means the pandemic is a long way from over, but it can be brought under control in months with proven public health measures, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday. So far some 780 million vaccines have been administered globally, but measures including wearing masks and maintaining physical distancing must be applied to reverse the trajectory.

Ireland is latest country to restrict use of AstraZeneca vaccine

Ireland became the latest European country to restrict the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, recommending on Monday that it only be given to those over 60, presenting a new challenge to the national vaccine rollout. A European Medicines Agency (EMA) investigation of blood clots in the brain reported by some people given the AstraZeneca vaccine has prompted an increasing number of European countries to change their recommendations on who should be given the shot.

UK reports highest number of new COVID cases since April 1

Britain reported the highest number of new COVID cases since April 1 on Monday, with 3,568 new cases reported, up from 1,730 on Sunday, government data showed. A further 13 people were reported as having died within 28 days of a positive test for COVID-19, taking the total number of deaths on the measure to 127,100.

More therapeutics but no surge in vaccine for Michigan, Biden administration says

The White House said on Monday it was prepared to send additional therapeutic treatments to the state of Michigan, which is experiencing a worrying number of COVID-19 cases, but declined to promise more vaccine as the state has sought. White House coronavirus adviser Andy Slavitt told reporters the U.S. government would work to ensure that states such as Michigan were ordering the full amount of vaccine that was available to them but said that shifting distribution was not in line with the administration's public health strategy.

Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

India approved the use of the Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, while England started to reopen its economy after three months of lockdown and Johnson & Johnson began delivering its single-dose vaccine to EU countries. DEATHS AND

J&J begins COVID-19 vaccine supplies to EU, 50 million doses expected in second quarter: lawmaker

Johnson & Johnson on Monday began delivering its COVID-19 single-dose vaccine to EU countries, European Union officials and the company said. The company had initially planned to start its deliveries at the beginning of April, but delayed the rollout due to production issues.

Ontario closes in-person schools due to rising COVID-19 cases - premier

The Canadian province of Ontario is closing schools for in-person learning due to rising variant-driven COVID-19 cases, Premier Doug Ford said on Monday without mentioning when the remote learning would end. Canada's most populous province shuttered most businesses to in-store shopping and issued a four-week stay-at-home order last week, in addition to closing restaurants for both indoor and outdoor dining as ICU occupancy increased dramatically and hospitals began cancelling elective surgeries for the second time since the pandemic began.

Autoimmune-disease drugs may reduce vaccine response; antibody treatments ineffective vs Brazil variant

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. Autoimmune disease treatments may reduce vaccine responses

(With inputs from agencies.)