Health News Roundup: Thailand reports 965 new coronavirus cases; India's 161,736 new coronavirus infections are world's highest and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

World Bank, Gavi urge countries with excess COVID-19 vaccines to release them

World Bank President David Malpass and José Manuel Barroso, chair of the Gavi vaccine alliance, on Monday discussed the importance of countries with excess COVID-19 vaccine supplies releasing them as soon as possible, the World Bank said. Malpass expressed his desire to work closely with Gavi on a 2022 strategy, including helping expand vaccine production capacity for developing countries, the bank said in a statement.

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.

Australia shelves plans to buy J&J's one-dose COVID-19 vaccine

Australia has no current plans to add Johnson & Johnson's one-dose coronavirus vaccine to its immunization drive, authorities said on Tuesday, as it moves away from procuring vaccines under review over blood clots. Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and AstraZeneca anti-COVID vaccine doses use an adenovirus, a harmless class of common-cold viruses, to introduce coronavirus proteins into cells in the body and trigger an immune response.

British variant of COVID-19 not as severe as feared - The Lancet

A highly contagious variant of COVID-19 first identified in Britain does not cause more severe disease in hospitalized patients, according to a new study published in the medical journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases on Monday. The strain, known as B.1.1.7, was identified in Britain late last year and has become the most common strain in the United States, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Japan's Osaka to report over 1,000 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday: media

Japan's western region of Osaka is set to report a daily record of more than 1,000 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, the Yomiuri newspaper said in its online edition. The virus has hit the prefecture, home to 8.8 million people, hard in recent weeks, prompting authorities to enforce targeted lockdown measures. Similar curbs were adopted in Tokyo on Monday amid a rebound in the capital region.

India's 161,736 new coronavirus infections are world's highest

India reported 161,736 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, hitting the world's highest daily tally once again, for a total of 13.69 million cases, health ministry data showed. Deaths rose by 879 to 171,058. Numbers typically fall on Tuesdays because of delayed results from tests done on weekends.

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.

U.S. COVID cases march higher, hospitalizations up for second week in a row

The United States reported an 8% rise in new cases of COVID-19 to 490,000 last week, the fourth week in a row that infections have increased, according to a Reuters analysis of state and county data. In the week ended April 11, Michigan reported the highest number of new cases per capita of all 50 states and also led the country in hospitalizations per capita. (Open https://graphics.reuters.com/HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/USA-TRENDS/dgkvlgkrkpb/index.html in an external browser to see details on other states.)

Britain says it has offered COVID-19 vaccine to all over-50s

Britain on Monday said it had offered all over-50s the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, hitting a target to offer injections to all people in its nine highest priority groups by April 15. Britain has seen one of the world's quickest vaccine rollouts, behind only Israel in the proportion of its population receiving at least one dose of a COVID-19 shot.

Thailand reports 965 new coronavirus cases, no new deaths

Thailand reported 965 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday after registering record daily rises in the past two days as the country deals with the third wave of infections and a highly contagious variant. No new deaths were reported. The new cases took the total number of infections to 34,575, with deaths remaining at 97.

(With inputs from agencies.)