Health News Roundup: Mass vaccination creates healthy oasis in Brazilian city; Mexico records 1,307 coronavirus cases, 52 more deaths and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

U.S. administers 294.9 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC

The United States has administered 294,928,850 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Sunday morning and distributed 366,316,945 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those figures are up from the 293,705,050 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by May 29 out of 366,314,625 doses delivered.

India's Serum Institute to raise AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine output in June

The Serum Institute of India will raise production of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to about 90 million doses in June from about 65 million a month now, a company spokesman told Reuters on Monday.

Decision on lifting England's lockdown will be driven by data, minister says

The decision to lift final lockdown measures in England on June 21 will be made after data on infection, hospitalization, vaccination, and new variants are assessed, Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said on Sunday. "We will share the evidence with the country on the 14th of June to basically explain exactly where we are on infection rates, on hospitalization, and of course, sadly, on deaths," he told the BBC's, Andrew Marr.

Brazil COVID-19 deaths at 461,931 as total cases hit 16.5 million

Brazil registered 43,520 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, reaching a total of 16.5 million cases. The country, which has the world's second largest number of COVID-19 deaths, registered 874 new deaths, raising the total to 461,931.

China reports surge of new COVID-19 cases in Guangzhou city, triggering flight cancellations

China on Monday reported a sudden surge in COVID-19 infections in the country's south, with 18 new local cases on May 30 in the city of Guangzhou, causing a flurry of flight cancellation. Of the 27 new coronavirus cases reported by the national health authority in its daily updates, only 7 infections were imported, with the remainder originating in Guangdong province.

Venezuela to receive 5 million vaccines via COVAX in July, Maduro says

Venezuela will receive 5 million coronavirus vaccines via the COVAX program as of July and will seek to receive doses of the Johnson & Johnson inoculation, President Nicolas Maduro said on Sunday. The South American nation this weekend announced the launch of a vaccination campaign following delays in obtaining inoculations due to payment problems, leaving it will behind most vaccination efforts in the region. The pandemic has been less severe in Venezuela than in other countries due to chronic gasoline shortages and early lockdown measures, according to research by local doctors and scientists. "(The) COVAX System has promised us more than 5 million doses of vaccines for the month of July," Maduro said in a televised broadcast. "We are also looking for the Johnson & Johnson (vaccine), Janssen, have request it from the COVAX system." The COVAX facility, backed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), aims to secure 2 billion vaccine doses for lower-income countries by the end of 2021. The Pan American Health Organization, which fields media inquiries about the COVAX program, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

India reports 152,734 new COVID-19 infections, 3,128 deaths

India reported on Monday its lowest daily rise in new coronavirus infections since April 11 at 152,734 cases over the past 24 hours, while deaths rose by 3,128. The South Asian nation's tally of infections now stands at 28 million, while the death toll has reached 329,100, health ministry data showed.

Mexico records 1,307 coronavirus cases, 52 more deaths - health ministry data

Mexico recorded 1,307 coronavirus cases and 52 more deaths on Sunday, according to health ministry data, bringing the overall number of cases to 2,412,810 and the death toll to 223,507.

Australia's Victoria COVID-19 cluster swells to 51, next few days 'critical'

Australia's second-most populous state of Victoria, the epicenter of the country's latest coronavirus hotspot, reported 11 new cases of community transmission on Monday, taking the current cluster to 51. Victoria went into a strict seven-day lockdown on Friday after new COVID-19 infections in the state capital Melbourne ended its three-month run of zero community cases.

Mass vaccination creates healthy oasis in Brazilian city

Serrana, a city in the southeastern Brazilian state of Sao Paulo, has seen a 95% drop in COVID-19 deaths after it concluded vaccination of almost all adults, TV Globo reported on Sunday. With 45,000 inhabitants Serrana is a healthy oasis in Brazil, which has the world's second-deadliest outbreak with more than 461,000 deaths so far and a very slow immunization pace due to the lack of vaccines.

(With inputs from agencies.)