Health News Roundup: Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 15,685; Brazil eyes new Pfizer deal next week for more COVID-19 shots and more

The reported death toll rose by 238 to 84,648, the tally showed. Brazil eyes new Pfizer deal next week for 100 million more COVID-19 shots Brazil expects to sign a new deal next week with Pfizer Inc for 100 million more COVID-19 vaccine doses, a Health Ministry official said on Friday, which would double the U.S. drugmaker's delivery to the Latin American country this year.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 15,685 - RKI

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 15,685 to 3,507,673, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Saturday. The reported death toll rose by 238 to 84,648, the tally showed.

Brazil eyes new Pfizer deal next week for 100 million more COVID-19 shots

Brazil expects to sign a new deal next week with Pfizer Inc for 100 million more COVID-19 vaccine doses, a Health Ministry official said on Friday, which would double the U.S. drugmaker's delivery to the Latin American country this year. Rodrigo Cruz, executive secretary at the ministry, told journalists the contract has been agreed and just needs to be signed. Earlier this week, Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga said 35 million of these shots are due to be delivered in October.

Sri Lanka approves Pfizer COVID vaccine for emergency use

Sri Lanka on Saturday approved Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in Sri Lanka, as the island nation battles a third wave of the virus, while suffering a restricted supply of vaccines from neighboring India. Dr. Sudharshani Fernandopulle, the minister overseeing the fight against the epidemic, said in a statement the government would order 5 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

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.

China administered total of 308.23 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of May 7

China carried out about 10.5 million vaccinations against COVID-19 on May 7, bringing the total number administered to 308.23 million, according to data released by the National Health Commission on Saturday.

Indian states impose stricter lockdowns as COVID deaths hit record high

India on Saturday reported its highest ever single-day COVID-19 death toll, as cases continued to rise and states imposed stricter lockdowns. India's health ministry reported 4,187 fatalities over the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll close to 240,000. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that India will see 1 million COVID deaths by August.

Thailand set to boost COVID-19 vaccinations, expects to approve Moderna shots

Thailand expects to offer the Moderna vaccine to most of its population soon as it steps up the rollout of its COVID-19 vaccination campaign, a health official said on Saturday. The latest drive comes amid growing public criticism of the slow rollout of free vaccinations offered by the government, which stands at 1.73 million shots so far - less than 1% of its population.

Egypt to test visitors from countries with COVID-19 variants on arrival

Egypt will require all visitors arriving from "countries where variants of the virus have appeared" to take a rapid COVID-19 test upon arrival, its health ministry said in a statement on Saturday. The statement did not specify the countries from which passengers would take the 15-minute DNA test, called ID NOW.

Russia reports 8,329 new COVID-19 cases, 370 deaths

Russia reported 8,329 COVID-19 cases on Saturday, including 2,765 in Moscow, taking the official national tally since the pandemic began to 4,871,843. The government coronavirus task force said 370 people had died of coronavirus-linked causes in the past 24 hours, taking the national death toll to 112,992.

EU seals new Pfizer deal for 1.8 billion COVID-19 vaccines

The European Union signed a new contract with Pfizer-Biontech to receive 1.8 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines for 2021-2023, to cover booster shots, donations and reselling of doses, the European Commission said on Friday. "Happy to announce that @EU_Commission has just approved a contract for guaranteed 900 million doses (+900 million options) with @BioNTech_Group and @Pfizer for 2021-2023," European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said on Twiter.