Health News Roundup: J&J to resume rollout of COVID-19 vaccine; India reports more than 2,000 COVID-19 deaths in single day and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Fujifilm starts new late-phase trial of Avigan in Japan for COVID-19 patients

Fujifilm Holdings Corp said on Wednesday it started a new phase III trial of its anti-influenza drug Avigan in Japan for COVID-19 patients. The new trial in Japan is targeting patients with early-onset of COVID-19 who have risk factors for progression to severe symptoms, Fujifilm said in a release.

Japan weighs state of emergency for Tokyo, Osaka regions amid virus surge -media

Japan's government is considering a state of emergency for Tokyo and Osaka as new COVID-19 case numbers surge, broadcaster NHK reported on Wednesday, a move that would enable prefectural authorities to impose curbs to try to stop infections spreading. With thousands of new cases resulting from highly infectious strains of the virus, the government is expected to declare the state of emergency this week for the capital and Osaka prefecture, as well as the latter's neighboring Hyogo prefecture, a number of domestic media outlets reported.

European Medicines Agency: More than 300 cases of rare blood clot events worldwide

The European Union's drug regulator said on Tuesday there had been more than 300 cases worldwide of rare blood clotting incidents combined with low platelet counts after the use of COVID-19 vaccines. There were 287 occurrences with the AstraZeneca vaccine, eight with Johnson & Johnson's shot, 25 for Pfizer, and five for Moderna, said Peter Arlett, Head of Data Analytics at the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

U.S. administers 213.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC

The United States has administered 213,388,238 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Tuesday morning, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Tuesday. A total of 211,581,309 vaccine doses had been administered by April 19, the CDC said.

India reports more than 2,000 COVID-19 deaths in single day

India reported more than 2,000 deaths from COVID-19 over the last 24 hours, the highest single-day tally for the country so far, health ministry data showed on Wednesday. Coronavirus infections also rose by a record, increasing by 295,041 over the last 24 hours, the data showed. Total deaths reached 182,553.

J&J to resume rollout of COVID-19 vaccine in Europe with safety warning

Johnson & Johnson said on Tuesday it will resume rolling out its COVID-19 vaccine in Europe after the region's medical regulator said the benefits of the shot outweigh the risk of very rare, potentially lethal blood clots. Europe's health regulator, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), on Tuesday recommended adding a warning about rare blood clots with low blood platelet count to the vaccine's product label and said the benefits of the one-dose shot outweigh its risks.

Toronto area to close some workplaces amid COVID-19 surge

Canada's biggest city Toronto and neighboring Peel, both of which are in the midst of the third wave of COVID-19 infections, on Tuesday said they would order businesses to close if they had outbreaks involving five or more people, medical officials said. The closures would be for a minimum of 10 days if workers "could have reasonably acquired their infection at work," according to a release from Peel Public Health.

Oxygen supplies run low as India grapples with coronavirus "storm"

Indian authorities scrambled to shore up supplies of medical oxygen to hospitals in the capital, Delhi, on Wednesday as a fast-spreading second wave of coronavirus stretched medical infrastructure to breaking point, officials and doctors said. India, the world's second-most populous country, is reporting the world's highest number of new daily cases and approaching a peak of about 297,000 cases in one day that the United States hit in January.

Australian state seeks to build onshore mRNA vaccine site

Australia's Victoria state on Wednesday unveiled plans to develop an onshore messenger-RNA (mRNA) vaccine manufacturing facility and launched three mass coronavirus immunization centers to speed up the national inoculation program. Victoria would spend A$50 million ($39 million) initially to set up the mRNA facility in the state, which authorities said could become the first such center in the southern hemisphere. The mRNA technology is used in COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna.

J&J to cooperate in study of rare clots linked to COVID-19 vaccine, German scientist says

A German scientist studying extremely rare blood clots linked to AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine said on Tuesday Johnson & Johnson has agreed to work with him on the research after similar serious side effects emerged in recipients of its shot. Andreas Greinacher, a transfusion medicine expert at Greifswald University, announced the collaboration after the European Medicines Agency said it would add a label to J&J's vaccine warning of unusual blood clots with low platelet counts. AstraZeneca's shot has a similar warning.