Health News Roundup: Taiwan's COVID vaccine arsenal more than doubled by a donation from Japan; China reports 24 new coronavirus cases on June 3, same as the previous day and more

The study, published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhl/article/PIIS2666-7568(21)00093-3/fulltext on Thursday, found that care home residents who had been previously infected with COVID-19 were approximately 85% less likely to be infected between October and February than those who had not been infected. Biden outlines plan to quickly share 25 million COVID-19 vaccines with the world The White House laid out a plan for the United States to share 25 million surplus COVID-19 vaccine doses to the world, with the first shots shipping as soon as Thursday, and said it would ease other countries' access to U.S.-made supplies for vaccine production.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Novartis' nuclear therapy helps men with prostate cancer live longer - data

Men with a deadly form of advanced prostate cancer who failed other treatments survived four months longer after getting an experimental, tumor-targeting radiation therapy from Swiss drugmaker Novartis, data released on Thursday showed. The company's Lu-PSMA-617 therapy boosted median overall survival (OS) to 15.3 months in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, according to data released at the 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting.

Taiwan's COVID vaccine arsenal more than doubled by donation from Japan

Japan will deliver to Taiwan on Friday 1.24 million doses of AstraZeneca PLC's coronavirus vaccine for free, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said, in a gesture that will more than double the number of shots the island has received to date.

Taiwan is battling a spike in domestic infections and has vaccinated only around 3% of its population. Japan has contracted to procure more than 300 million doses of coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer Inc, Moderna Inc, and AstraZeneca, more than enough to cover its entire population.

China reports 24 new coronavirus cases on June 3, same as previous day

China reported on Friday 24 new coronavirus cases on the mainland for June 3, the same number as a day earlier, the country's health authority said in a statement. Of the new infections, 15 were imported, the National Health Commission said, and the nine local cases were all in southern Guangdong province. There were no new deaths.

IMF and World Bank urge G7 to release surplus vaccines

The heads of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank on Thursday urged the Group of Seven advanced economies to release any excess COVID-19 vaccines to developing countries as soon as possible and called on manufacturers to ramp up production. In a joint statement to the G7, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank President David Malpass also called on governments, pharmaceutical companies, and groups involved in vaccine procurement to boost transparency about contracting, financing and deliveries.

Australia finds highly infectious Delta variant in Melbourne virus outbreak

Australia's Victoria state authorities said on Friday they had detected the highly infectious Delta COVID-19 virus variant for the first time in the latest outbreak in Melbourne, stoking concerns of a major spike in cases. The Delta variant, which has been classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as among the four COVID-19 variants of concern due to evidence that they spread more easily, likely caused the latest devastating outbreak in India.

Prior COVID-19 infection reduces infection risk for 10 months - study

Previous COVID-19 infection substantially reduces the risk of a new infection for up to 10 months afterwards, according to a study of care home residents and staff by University College London (UCL) scientists. The study, published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhl/article/PIIS2666-7568(21)00093-3/fulltext on Thursday, found that care home residents who had been previously infected with COVID-19 were approximately 85% less likely to be infected between October and February than those who had not been infected.

Biden outlines plan to quickly share 25 million COVID-19 vaccines with world

The White House laid out a plan for the United States to share 25 million surplus COVID-19 vaccine doses to the world, with the first shots shipping as soon as Thursday, and said it would ease other countries' access to U.S.-made supplies for vaccine production. President Joe Biden said the United States would give the vaccines without expectation of political favors in return. The dose shipments are the first of some 80 million COVID-19 vaccines that Biden has pledged to provide internationally this month as concern grows about the huge disparity in vaccination rates between advanced economies and developing countries.

Vietnam approves China's Sinopharm vaccine for use against COVID-19

Vietnam has approved China's Sinopharm vaccine for use against COVID-19, state media reported on Friday, making it the third shot to be endorsed in the Southeast Asian country that is tackling a new outbreak of infections. The decision to approve the Sinopharm vaccine was issued by the health ministry, the official Vietnam News Agency reported. Vietnam has previously approved the AstraZeneca vaccine and Russia's Sputnik V.

Bristol-Myers is sued for $6.4 billion over delayed cancer drug

Bristol Myers Squibb Co was sued for $6.4 billion on Thursday for allegedly delaying its Breyanzi cancer drug to avoid payments to shareholders of the former Celgene Corp, which the drugmaker bought in 2019. According to a complaint in Manhattan federal court, Bristol Myers failed to use contractually required "diligent efforts" to win U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for the non-Hodgkin lymphoma drug by a Dec. 31, 2020, deadline.

Fauci calls on China to release medical records of Wuhan lab workers - FT

Top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci has called on China to release the medical records of nine people whose ailments might provide vital clues into whether COVID-19 first emerged as the result of a lab leak, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. "I would like to see the medical records of the three people who are reported to have got sick in 2019. Did they really get sick, and if so, what did they get sick with?" the report https://on.ft.com/3igFTgU quoted Fauci as saying.

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