Health News Roundup:India's oxygen crisis to ease by mid-May, output to jump 25% - executive; Chile studies 'green card' to incentivize coronavirus inoculation and more

A brutal surge of coronavirus infections this year has pushed hospitals around the country to the brink of their capacities and led to 100,000 deaths in just over a month. Russian vaccine developer plans to sue Brazilian regulator for defamation The Russian developer of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine said on Thursday that it would sue the Brazilian health regulator Anvisa for defamation, accusing it of knowingly spreading false information.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

U.S. administers 237.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines: CDC

The United States has administered 237,360,493 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Thursday morning and distributed 305,478,495 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday. Those figures are up from the 234,639,414 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Wednesday out of 301,857,885 doses delivered.

Chile studies 'green card' to incentivize coronavirus inoculation

Chile, a global leader in vaccination, is considering issuing a "green card" to those inoculated against the coronavirus in an effort to encourage younger adults who may be reluctant to turn out for their shots, health officials said on Thursday. Chile's vaccination drive is the fastest in Latin America thus far, and among the top five globally in terms of percentage of its population with at least one shot, according to a Reuters tabulation.

U.S. lawmakers introduce eight antitrust bills aimed at drug prices

U.S. lawmakers from both parties and both houses of Congress have introduced eight antitrust bills aimed at tackling the problem of high and rising drug prices, including bills to stop brand name drug companies from paying generic firms to stay off the market. In an unusual hearing of the House Judiciary Committee's antitrust panel on Thursday, lawmakers from both parties and from both the Senate and the House said that they had introduced bills aimed at stopping practices that pharmaceutical companies use to fend off generic competition, which studies show tend to push down prices.

India infections top 18 million as gravediggers work round the clock

India's total COVID-19 cases passed 18 million on Thursday after another world record number of daily infections, as gravediggers worked around the clock to bury victims and hundreds more were cremated in makeshift pyres in parks and parking lots. India reported 379,257 new infections and 3,645 new deaths on Thursday, health ministry data showed, the highest number of fatalities in a single day since the start of the pandemic.

Exclusive: India's oxygen crisis to ease by mid-May, output to jump 25% - executive

India's severe medical oxygen supply crisis is expected to ease by mid-May, a top industry executive told Reuters, with output rising by 25% and transport infrastructure ready to cope with a surge in demand caused by a dramatic rise in coronavirus cases. Dozens of hospitals in cities such as New Delhi and Mumbai have run short of the gas this month, sending relatives of patients scrambling for oxygen cylinders, sometimes in vain.

Brazil nears 400,000 COVID-19 deaths with surge to remain near peak for months

Brazil on Thursday is set to become the second country to pass 400,000 COVID-19 deaths after the United States, and experts warned that the daily toll could remain high for several months due to slow vaccinations and loosening social restrictions. A brutal surge of coronavirus infections this year has pushed hospitals around the country to the brink of their capacities and led to 100,000 deaths in just over a month.

Russian vaccine developer plans to sue Brazilian regulator for defamation

The Russian developer of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine said on Thursday that it would sue the Brazilian health regulator Anvisa for defamation, accusing it of knowingly spreading false information. Anvisa's board on Monday rejected requests to approve Sputnik V for import. Anvisa's medicines and biological products manager Gustavo Mendes said there was evidence an adenovirus used in the vaccine could reproduce, and that this was a serious defect.

Argentina freezes price of medicinal oxygen amid COVID-19 spike

Argentina has frozen the price of medicinal oxygen for 90 days and directed liquid oxygen producers in the country to give priority to the health system due to a spike in COVID-19 cases, the government said on Thursday. The country is getting hit by a second wave of infections, pushing the number of deaths from the virus in the country to over 60,000 as the government tightens lockdown measures. Argentina, with a population of about 45 million, has had 2.92 million cases of COVID-19 so far.

British regulator cites 41 more blood clot reports following AstraZeneca shots

Britain's medicine regulator on Thursday said there had been a further 41 reports of rare blood clots after doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, but that the benefits of the shot continued to outweigh the risks for the majority of people.

In a weekly update on side effects from COVID-19 vaccines, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said there were a total of 209 clots with low platelet counts following vaccination with AstraZeneca's shot, compared to a total of 168 reported last week.

'Light at end of the tunnel': New York mayor envisions full reopening by July 1

New York City aims to "fully reopen" on July 1 after more than a year of closures and capacity restrictions, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Thursday, citing satisfactory progress in vaccinating its more than 8 million residents. "We are ready to bring New York City back fully on July 1," de Blasio told a news briefing. "Now we can see that light at the end of the tunnel."