Health News Roundup: China reports first human case of H10N3 bird flu; India reports 132,788 new COVID-19 infections, 3,207 deaths and more


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 02-06-2021 10:31 IST | Created: 02-06-2021 10:27 IST
Health News Roundup: China reports first human case of H10N3 bird flu; India reports 132,788 new COVID-19 infections, 3,207 deaths and more
Representative image Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Israel sees probable link between Pfizer vaccine and myocarditis cases

Israel's Health Ministry said on Tuesday it found the small number of heart inflammation cases observed mainly in young men who received Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine in Israel were likely linked to their vaccination. Pfizer has said it has not observed a higher rate of the condition, known as myocarditis than would normally be expected in the general population.

China reports first human case of H10N3 bird flu

A 41-year-old man in China's eastern province of Jiangsu has been confirmed as the first human case of infection with a rare strain of bird flu known as H10N3, Beijing's National Health Commission (NHC) said on Tuesday. Many different strains of bird flu are present in China and some sporadically infect people, usually those working with poultry. There is no indication that H10N3 can spread easily in humans.

Consider global shortages before giving COVID-19 shots to teens, EU body says

European Union countries should take account of global shortages of COVID-19 vaccines before rolling out shots for adolescents, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said on Tuesday. Last week, the EU drugs regulator authorized Pfizer and partner BioNTech SE's COVID-19 vaccine for children as young as 12. Its previous guidance was for adults aged 16 and above.

Japan to donate additional $800 million, vaccines to WHO's COVAX body - media

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is planning to pledge an additional $800 million to the World Health Organisation's COVAX program, which provides COVID-19 vaccines to countries in need, the Mainichi newspaper reported on Wednesday. Japan has already pledged $200 million to COVAX, and the country is expected to announce donations of vaccine doses to the program, the newspaper said without citing a source.

U.S. to detail global distribution plan for 80 million vaccine doses

The United States will announce in the next two weeks how it plans to distribute 80 million COVID-19 vaccine doses it has pledged globally, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday. Speaking at a joint news conference with Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado, Blinken said the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden would focus on equitable distribution of the vaccines and not tie political strings to the process, a criticism at times directed at China.

Australia's Victoria extends Melbourne COVID-19 lockdown for 2nd week

Australia's Victoria state on Wednesday extended a snap COVID-19 lockdown for a second week in Melbourne in a bid to contain an outbreak of the highly contagious virus strain first detected in India but will ease some restrictions in other regions. Victoria, Australia's second-most populous state, was plunged into lockdown last Thursday, initially until June 3, after the first locally acquired cases were detected in three months, infections rose steadily and close contacts reached several thousand.

India reports 132,788 new COVID-19 infections, 3,207 deaths

India on Wednesday reported a daily rise in new coronavirus infections of 132,788 cases over the past 24 hours, while deaths rose by 3,207. The South Asian nation's tally of infections now stands at 28.3 million, while the death toll has reached 335,102, health ministry data showed.

U.S. administers 296.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC

The United States has administered 296,404,240 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Tuesday morning and distributed 366,317,045 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday. Those figures are up from the 294,928,850 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by May 30 out of 366,316,945 doses delivered.

Britain seeks extra AstraZeneca shots to combat 'beta' COVID-19 variant

Britain is in talks with Oxford and AstraZeneca for additional doses of their COVID-19 vaccine that has been modified to better target the "beta" coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa, and it will fund trials of the shots. Britain has previously secured 100 million doses of the vaccine, developed at the University of Oxford and licensed to AstraZeneca, and the health ministry said the extra doses under discussion would be tailored to target the B.1.351 variant.

U.S. Supreme Court rebuffs J&J appeal over $2 billion baby powder judgment

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear Johnson & Johnson's bid to overturn a $2.12 billion damages award to women who blamed their ovarian cancer on asbestos in the company's baby powder and other talc products. The justices turned away a J&J appeal and left in place a Missouri state court ruling in litigation brought by 22 women whose claims were heard together in one trial.

(With inputs from agencies.)

Give Feedback