Health News Roundup: Brazil begins mass vaccination of Tokyo-bound Olympians; U.S. restaurant association to nix indoor mask suggestion per CDC and more

The United Kingdom has delivered one of the world's fastest inoculation campaigns, giving a first shot to almost 70% of the adult population and a second to 36%, helping to reduce infection rates and deaths. U.S. officials hope new mask advice drives uptick in COVID shots With new federal guidance allowing people to ditch their masks in most places, it will be up to individuals to decide how to protect themselves now that vaccines are readily available, top U.S. health officials said on Friday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Canada plots course to fully vaccinated return to gatherings in fall

Canada on Friday said there would be a gradual return to a world with indoor sports and family gatherings as more people get vaccinated, but it did not go as far as the United States in telling people they could eventually ditch their masks. Canada has administered one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to just over half its adult population, and the country may be over the worst of its current third wave of infections, Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam said.

With ICUs nearly full, Colombia nears 80,000 COVID-19 deaths

Confirmed deaths from COVID-19 in Colombia were set to pass 80,000 on Friday with intensive care units almost full in the biggest cities, where large crowds have been gathering in protests that have entered their third week. Authorities warned this week that the protests - initially over proposed tax reforms but increasingly over other issues including inequality and police brutality - were set to prolong an already devastating third wave of the epidemic.

U.S. restaurant association to nix indoor mask suggestion per CDC

The U.S. National Restaurant Association will remove a suggestion from its operating guidance for restaurants that says fully vaccinated people should still wear masks indoors, following new advice from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday. "We still have a lot of questions for the CDC about how we need to implement their latest guidance," Larry Lynch, the NRA's Senior Vice President of Science and Industry, said in a statement sent to Reuters.

Delayed 2nd Pfizer/BioNTech shot boosts antibodies in elderly; COVID-19 obesity risk higher for men

The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Delaying second Pfizer/BioNTech dose boosts antibodies in elderly

India 'on war footing' as coronavirus infections pass 24 million

Prime Minister Narendra Modi sounded the alarm over the rapid spread of COVID-19 through India's vast countryside on Friday, as 4,000 people died from the virus for the third straight day and total infections crossed 24 million. India is in the grip of the highly transmissible B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus, first detected there and now appearing across the globe. Modi said his government was "on a war footing" to try to contain it.

Explainer: What is the science behind the new U.S. mask guidance?

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday advised that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks outdoors and can avoid wearing them indoors in most places, updated guidance the agency said will allow life to begin to return to normal. The following lays out some of recent scientific evidence on which the CDC and Director Rochelle Walensky based their updated guidelines, including vaccine efficacy against virus variants, increased availability and a reduction in cases:

Brazil begins mass vaccination of Tokyo-bound Olympians

Brazil began a mass vaccination program on Friday for athletes, coaches, staff and journalists heading to the Olympic Games in Tokyo in July. Doctors in six Brazilian cities vaccinated the first groups of 1,800 people, Olympians and Paralympians among them.

UK to speed up vaccinations, warns Indian variant may delay full reopening

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday Britain would accelerate its COVID-19 vaccination programme, to try to contain a fast-spreading variant first identified in India that could knock a re-opening of the economy off track. The United Kingdom has delivered one of the world's fastest inoculation campaigns, giving a first shot to almost 70% of the adult population and a second to 36%, helping to reduce infection rates and deaths.

U.S. officials hope new mask advice drives uptick in COVID shots

With new federal guidance allowing people to ditch their masks in most places, it will be up to individuals to decide how to protect themselves now that vaccines are readily available, top U.S. health officials said on Friday. "What we're really doing is empowering individuals to make decisions about their own health," U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said. "If you are vaccinated and you're making the decision to take off your mask ... you are safe. If you are unvaccinated, then you've made the decision to take that risk."

WHO urges rich countries to donate shots instead of vaccinating children

The World Health Organization urged rich countries on Friday to reconsider plans to vaccinate children and instead donate COVID-19 shots to the COVAX scheme that shares them with poorer nations. The WHO is hoping more countries will follow France and Sweden in donating shots to COVAX after inoculating their priority populations to help address a gulf in vaccination rates.

(With inputs from agencies.)