Reuters Health News Summary

Cambodia also reported a daily record of 10 new coronavirus deaths on Saturday, its health ministry said, as infections spike following an outbreak first detected in late February. India's Bharat Biotech to supply Covaxin to states, hospitals at Rs 600-1,200 per dose India's Bharat Biotech said on Saturday that it will supply Covaxin directly to state governments at 600 rupees per dose, while it will supply the vaccine directly to private hospitals at 1,200 rupees per dose.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

S.Korea signs with Pfizer for additional 40 million COVID-19 vaccine doses

South Korea said on Saturday it signed a contract with Pfizer Inc to purchase an additional 40 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine amid fears of spiking infections at home. That brings the current amount of Pfizer vaccines to 66 million doses, it said in a statement.

Italy reports 322 coronavirus deaths on Saturday, 13,817 new cases

Italy reported 322 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday against 342 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 13,817 from 14,761. Italy has registered 119,021 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak last year, the second highest toll in Europe after Britain and the seventh highest in the world.

Cambodia closes markets to curb COVID-19, thousands plead for food

Cambodia closed all markets in the capital Phnom Penh on Saturday to contain a surge in coronavirus infections and thousands of families pleaded to the government for food as a two-week lockdown continued. Cambodia also reported a daily record of 10 new coronavirus deaths on Saturday, its health ministry said, as infections spike following an outbreak first detected in late February.

India's Bharat Biotech to supply Covaxin to states, hospitals at Rs 600-1,200 per dose

India's Bharat Biotech said on Saturday that it will supply Covaxin directly to state governments at 600 rupees per dose, while it will supply the vaccine directly to private hospitals at 1,200 rupees per dose. In a tweet, the company said it will develop, manufacture and supply Covaxin to India's central government at 150 rupees per dose. https://bit.ly/2S1W3zC

Venezuela gets 80,000 more Sputnik V vaccine doses as COVID-19 cases surge

Venezuela received a new shipment of some 80,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, officials said on Saturday, as COVID-19 cases surged and opposition lawmakers criticized the government's vaccine rollout. The shipment brings the total number of vaccines that Venezuela has received to 880,000, Health Minister Carlos Alvarado said. He said the government would focus on inoculating healthcare workers and the elderly with the new shipments. Venezuela has also inoculated public officials, firefighters, civil protection personnel and oxygen distribution workers.

Indian hospitals turn away patients in COVID-19 'tsunami'

Overwhelmed hospitals in India begged for oxygen supplies on Saturday as the country's coronavirus infections soared again overnight in a "tsunami" of disease, setting a new world record for cases for the third consecutive day. Max Healthcare, which runs a network of hospitals in north India, tweeted that it had less than two hours of oxygen left while Fortis Healthcare, another big chain, said it was suspending new admissions in Delhi.

Malaysia receives first batch of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines - Bernama

Malaysia received 268,800 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines on Friday night, its first batch from the pharmaceutical company, state news agency reported on Saturday. Health Minister Adham Baba said the batch was purchased through the COVAX facility.

U.S. ends J&J COVID-19 vaccine pause; shots to resume immediately

The United States can immediately resume use of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, top health regulators said on Friday, ending a 10-day pause to investigate its link to extremely rare but potentially deadly blood clots. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration said the risks of experiencing the syndrome involving severe blood clots and low platelets as a result of the vaccine was very low. They found 15 cases in the 8 million shots given.

U.S. administers 225.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines -CDC

The United States had administered 225,640,460 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Saturday morning and distributed 290,685,655 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. That is an increase from the 222,322,230 vaccine doses the CDC said had been administered by April 23 out of 286,095,185 doses delivered.

Half of British population has had first COVID-19 vaccine

The United Kingdom has reached another COVID-19 vaccination milestone with over half of the population having had at least one injection, health secretary Matt Hancock said on Saturday. Official data showed a total of 33.51 million people in the UK have received the first dose, with more than 12 million people having been given both.