Health News Roundup: U.S. administers 275.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines; Bahrain allows vaccination for ages 12 to 17 - BNA, and more

The decision by the health ministry's vaccination committee followed recommendations by the World Health Organization's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization and the United States' Center for Disease Control, BNA added. GAVI hopeful COVID-19 vaccine exports from India can resume in Q3 The GAVI Vaccine Alliance hopes deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines from India can be resumed in the third quarter of this year, it said on Tuesday, after the pandemic-battered country halted exports to focus on its own surge in infections.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Planned Parenthood sues Texas city over abortion ban

Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas has filed a lawsuit against the city of Lubbock over an abortion ban voters approved earlier this month. Planned Parenthood says in the lawsuit that the "sanctuary city for the unborn" ordinance will infringe on women's constitutional right to seek an abortion. The lawsuit was filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Angst and apprehension for some women as U.S. Supreme Court revisits abortion

Jessy Rosales did not realize she was pregnant for weeks. When she found out, Rosales - a 20-year-old college student at the time - hid it from her family, whose judgment she feared, and struggled to find an abortion clinic that would accept her student health insurance. The Los Angeles resident scrambled for more than a month in 2016 to save the $700 needed for the procedure and was failing her classes due to the stress. Rosales managed to end her pregnancy at around 16 weeks.

Texas governor bars mask mandates for schools, other government entities

Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Tuesday ordered all government entities in the state, including school districts, to lift mask mandates by week's end, though existing guidelines for face-coverings in schools may remain in effect through June 4. Abbott's executive order puts Texas at odds with the latest guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommending that students in schools across the United States wear masks for the 2020-2021 academic year because not all will be inoculated against the coronavirus.

U.S. administers 275.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC

The United States has administered 275,535,207 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Tuesday morning and distributed 346,672,525 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday. Those figures are up from the 274,411,901 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by May 17 out of 344,503,595 doses delivered.

Spain approves Pfizer shots for under-60s who got AstraZeneca first dose -El Pais

Spain's public health commission has approved a proposal by the health ministry that Spaniards under 60 who have received a first dose of AstraZeneca's vaccine get a second shot of the coronavirus vaccine produced by Pfizer Inc , El Pais newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources. The proposal will affect about 1.5 million Spaniards who received the AstraZeneca shot before the government banned it for those aged under 60 due to blood clot concerns.

Bahrain allows vaccination for ages 12 to 17 - BNA

Bahrain will vaccinate adolescents aged 12-17 with two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, state news agency BNA said, citing the country's National Medical Task Force for Combatting the Coronavirus (COVID-19) on Tuesday. The decision by the health ministry's vaccination committee followed recommendations by the World Health Organization's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization and the United States' Center for Disease Control, BNA added.

GAVI hopeful COVID-19 vaccine exports from India can resume in Q3

The GAVI Vaccine Alliance hopes deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines from India can be resumed in the third quarter of this year, it said on Tuesday, after the pandemic-battered country halted exports to focus on its own surge in infections. "We remain in regular and close contact with both the government and SII (Serum Institute of India), and remain hopeful that deliveries could resume, in reduced quantity, in the third quarter," GAVI told Reuters.

U.S. vaccinated 600,000 12-15 year olds last week -health official

The United States administered COVID-19 vaccinations to around 600,000 children ages 12 to 15 last week after regulators cleared Pfizer Inc’s and BioNTech’s shots for use in that age group, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said in a media call on Tuesday. In total, more than 4 million people under 17 have been vaccinated in the United States so far, she added. Top U.S. infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci said he expects that by the end of 2021 the United States will have enough safety data to vaccinate children of any age.

Judge raises doubts ahead of hearing on Bayer's $2 billion Roundup settlement deal

A federal judge on Tuesday questioned a $2 billion proposal by Bayer AG that would create a framework for resolving future claims that its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer, casting doubt on the plan a day before a key hearing. Bayer and class action attorneys hope U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco will give preliminary approval on Wednesday to create a class of people exposed to Roundup who could get sick in the future.

Fragrance expert helps COVID-19 patients learn to smell again

After 13-year-old Sahil Shah lost his sense of smell to COVID-19 in November, his parents looked everywhere for help.

"We met with neurologists, neurosurgeons, ENT specialists, and all of them said if it was supposed to come back, it would have come back by now," said Sahil's father, Pratik Shah.

(With inputs from agencies.)