Health News Roundup: Sinopharm vaccine gets WHO nod in potential boost to COVAX pipeline; CDC says U.S.-bound travelers can use some self COVID-19 tests and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

'You feel naked': Some Americans hesitate to shed masks despite eased outdoor rules

Anita Glick felt somewhat liberated as she walked her friend's dog around Washington's Capitol Hill neighborhood this week, her face mask looped around a wrist thanks to U.S. health authorities' new guidance on outdoor mask wearing. But even under the eased U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rules, which say people like her who are vaccinated against COVID-19 need not wear masks outside in most cases, the 70-year-old retired teacher said she would keep hers on around others as a courtesy.

Key EU countries rebuff Biden on sharing COVID vaccine patents

European countries distanced themselves on Friday from a proposal backed by U.S. President Joe Biden to waive patent rights on coronavirus vaccines, arguing that key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic was making and sharing vaccines more quickly.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the question of sharing patents was not the issue of the day, and called out Britain and the United States for blocking the export of vaccines and their ingredients to the wider world.

Gandhi warns 'explosive' COVID wave threatens India and the world

India's main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi warned on Friday that unless the deadly second COVID-19 wave sweeping the country was brought under control it would devastate India as well as threaten the rest of the world. In a letter, Gandhi implored Prime Minister Narendra Modi to prepare for another national lockdown, accelerate a countrywide vaccination programme and scientifically track the virus and its mutations.

U.S. CDC panel to vote on using Pfizer COVID-19 shot in adolescents

An advisory panel to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will meet on Wednesday to review data on the use of Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine in adolescents aged 12 to 15. The vaccine is currently authorized for use in Americans aged 16 and above.

One out of three Americans fully vaccinated for COVID-19, CDC says

The United States has fully vaccinated 110,874,920 people for COVID-19 as of Friday morning, accounting for 33.4% of the population, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday. The country has administered 254,779,333 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country and distributed 327,124,625 doses.

The World Health Organization (WHO) approved a COVID-19 vaccine from China's state-owned drugmaker Sinopharm for emergency use on Friday, a boost to Beijing's push for a big role in inoculating the world. The vaccine, one of two main Chinese coronavirus vaccines that have been given to hundreds of millions of people in China and elsewhere, is the first developed by a non-Western country to win WHO backing.

CDC says U.S.-bound travelers can use some self COVID-19 tests

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Friday that U.S.-bound international travelers can use some self COVID-19 tests to meet entry requirements. In January, the CDC mandated all passengers two and older get negative COVID tests within three days of coming to the United States or show proof of recovery from COVID-19. Airlines for America, a trade group, praised the CDC decision "to allow FDA-approved proctored home testing for international passengers entering the U.S. This is an encouraging step in facilitating the international travel process."

How the U.S. locked up vaccine materials other nations urgently need

To fight the pandemic at home, the United States gave its own vaccine manufacturers priority access to American-made materials needed to make the shots. As a result, the U.S. government laid claim not only to vast quantities of finished COVID-19 vaccines but also to vaccine components and equipment all along the supply chain, according to a Reuters review of more than a dozen contracts involving some major suppliers.

EU calls on U.S. and others to exports their vaccines

The European Commission called on Friday on the United States and other major COVID-19 vaccine producers to export what they make as the European Union does, rather than talk about waiving intellectual property rights to the shots. Commission head Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference on the sidelines of a summit of EU leaders that discussions on the waiver would not produce a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine in the short- to medium-term.

Brazilian firm to produce Russian vaccine without regulatory approval

The Brazilian pharmaceutical company that plans to produce Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine will start making it next week even before health regulator Anvisa gives approval for use in Brazil, the company's chief executive said on Friday.

União Quimica's facility in São Paulo has been certified by Anvisa for good production practices and the vaccine will be made for export to countries that have approved it, said CEO and founder Fernando Marques.