Health News Roundup: AstraZeneca says EU loses legal bid for more vaccine supplies by end-June; Germany removes France, Greece, parts of Spain from COVID risk list and more

At the same time, Italy will lift curbs on travellers from the United States, Canada, Japan and other European Union states if they have a green pass showing they are vaccinated or recently tested negative, the minister wrote on Facebook. India should brace for third COVID-19 wave by Oct, say health experts A third wave of coronavirus infections is likely to hit India by October, and although it will be better controlled than the latest outbreak the pandemic will remain a public health threat for at least another year, according to a Reuters poll of medical experts.


Reuters | Updated: 18-06-2021 18:52 IST | Created: 18-06-2021 18:31 IST
Health News Roundup: AstraZeneca says EU loses legal bid for more vaccine supplies by end-June; Germany removes France, Greece, parts of Spain from COVID risk list and more
Image Credit: Flickr

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

AstraZeneca says EU loses legal bid for more vaccine supplies by end-June

AstraZeneca on Friday said the European Union had lost a legal case against the pharmaceutical firm over the supply of COVID-19 vaccines as a court in Brussels rejected an EU request for more deliveries by the end of June. The Anglo-Swedish firm committed in a contract to do its best to deliver to the 27-nation bloc 300 million doses by the end of June, but production problems led the pharmaceutical company to revise down its target to 100 million vaccines.

Germany removes France, Greece, parts of Spain from COVID risk list

Germany has removed popular summer holiday destinations France, Greece, Switzerland and parts of Spain from its list of coronavirus risk areas, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases said on Friday. This means that people entering Germany from these regions will no longer be required to quarantine for ten days.

Taiwan to allow Foxconn's Gou, TSMC to negotiate for vaccines

Taiwan will allow Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of Taiwan's Foxconn, and TSMC to negotiate on its behalf for COVID-19 vaccines, a government spokesman said on Friday, but warned there was no guarantee of success. Taiwan is trying to speed up the arrival of the millions of vaccines it has on order as it deals with a rise in domestic cases, although infections remain comparatively low. Only around 6% of Taiwan's 23.5 million people have received at least one of the two-shot coronavirus vaccine regimen.

South Korea pledges $200 million to international COVID-19 vaccine effort

South Korea has pledged to donate a total of $200 million to the COVAX programme that is supplying coronavirus vaccines for lower-income countries, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) said on Friday. COVAX, backed by GAVI and the World Health Organization (WHO), aims to secure 2 billion vaccine doses by the end of 2021.

Britain reports steep rise in weekly Delta variant cases

Britain has reported another steep rise in the weekly reported cases of the Delta coronavirus variant, Public Health England data showed on Friday, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson decided to delay the final lifting of lockdown restrictions. PHE said there had been 33,630 new cases of the Delta variant first identified in India in the week to June 16, taking the number of confirmed cases to 75,953, a 79% increase on the previous total.

Experts urge India's richest state to gear up for third wave of COVID-19

Health officials in India's richest state have urged authorities to step up preparations against a possible third wave of coronavirus infections, they said on Friday, as lockdowns eased less than a month after a surge that killed thousands. India's second most populous state of Maharashtra lifted many curbs this week in its cities, such as the financial capital of Mumbai, re-opening malls, movie theatres and gyms at 50% capacity and freeing offices from staff attendance limits.

Delta variant of coronavirus seen dominant in Germany by autumn

The more infectious Delta coronavirus variant will become dominant in Germany by the autumn at the latest, the country's top public health official said on Friday, urging the public both to continue wearing masks indoors and to get vaccinated. "The Delta variant makes up about 6% of infections, but its share is growing," Lothar Wieler, head of the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases said, referring to the variant first identified in India.

Analysis: Rival treatments may help justify FDA gamble with Biogen Alzheimer's drug

Data from clinical trials of three experimental Alzheimer's disease drugs expected to start emerging next year could help shed light on whether U.S. regulators were justified in their controversial approval of a Biogen Inc treatment without clear evidence that it works. In approving Biogen's Aduhelm over the objection of its own panel of outside expert advisers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has required a trial to confirm that the medicine will indeed slow progression of the lethal, mind-wasting disease - a process that could take several years - even as the drug is being used by patients.

Italy imposes quarantine on UK visitors, opens door to USA, Canada, Japan and EU

Italy is introducing mandatory testing and a five-day quarantine for visitors from Britain, Health Minister Roberto Speranza said on Friday, as concerns grow over the spread of a highly contagious coronavirus variant. At the same time, Italy will lift curbs on travellers from the United States, Canada, Japan and other European Union states if they have a green pass showing they are vaccinated or recently tested negative, the minister wrote on Facebook.

India should brace for third COVID-19 wave by Oct, say health experts

A third wave of coronavirus infections is likely to hit India by October, and although it will be better controlled than the latest outbreak the pandemic will remain a public health threat for at least another year, according to a Reuters poll of medical experts. The June 3-17 snap survey of 40 healthcare specialists, doctors, scientists, virologists, epidemiologists and professors from around the world showed a significant pickup in vaccinations will likely provide some cover to a fresh outbreak.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Give Feedback