Health News Roundup: Israel says COVID-19 vaccines rejected by Palestinians were safe; Mexico posts 3,964 new coronavirus cases; 192 more deaths and more

Israel and the PA on Friday announced a vaccine swap deal that would have seen Israel send up to 1.4 million doses of the vaccine made jointly by Pfizer (PFE.N) and BioNTech (22UAy.DE) to the PA in exchange for receiving a reciprocal number of doses later this year. Mexico posts 3,964 new coronavirus cases; 192 more deaths Mexico's health ministry on Saturday reported 3,964 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country and 192 more fatalities, bringing the total figures to 2,475,705 infections and 231,151 deaths.


Reuters | Updated: 20-06-2021 10:51 IST | Created: 20-06-2021 10:30 IST
Health News Roundup: Israel says COVID-19 vaccines rejected by Palestinians were safe; Mexico posts 3,964 new coronavirus cases; 192 more deaths and more
Representative Image Image Credit: ANI

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Israel says COVID-19 vaccines rejected by Palestinians were safe

COVID-19 vaccines delivered by Israel and then rejected by the Palestinian Authority (PA) over their expiration date were fine, the Israeli health ministry said on Saturday. Israel and the PA on Friday announced a vaccine swap deal that would have seen Israel send up to 1.4 million doses of the vaccine made jointly by Pfizer (PFE.N) and BioNTech (22UAy.DE) to the PA in exchange for receiving a reciprocal number of doses later this year.

Mexico posts 3,964 new coronavirus cases; 192 more deaths

Mexico's health ministry on Saturday reported 3,964 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country and 192 more fatalities, bringing the total figures to 2,475,705 infections and 231,151 deaths. The government has said the real number of cases is likely significantly higher, and separate data published in March suggested the actual death toll is at least 60% above the confirmed figure.

India posts lowest daily rise in coronavirus cases in nearly 3 months

India reported 58,419 new COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours on Sunday, the lowest daily number in nearly three months, data from the health ministry showed. The total number of cases of COVID-19 in India have risen to 29.9 million and so far 386,713 people have died. Deaths rose by 1,576 overnight.

'Forces for good will prevail' - Taiwan welcomes massive US vaccine aid

Taiwan reacted with an outpouring of thanks to the United States for shipping 2.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to the major semiconductor-producing island, more than doubling its arsenal as it deals with a rise in domestic infections. Washington, competing with Beijing to deepen geopolitical clout through "vaccine diplomacy," initially had promised to donate 750,000 doses but increased that number as President Joe Biden's administration advances its pledge to send 80 million U.S.-made shots around the world.

Small COVID-19 outbreaks keep plaguing Australia

Australia's state of Queensland recorded one locally acquired coronavirus infection on Sunday, the latest streak of small outbreaks that have been plaguing the country in recent months. The Queensland case comes as a cluster of the highly infectious Delta variant has grown by two cases to nine in New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, prompting health officials to expand mask wearing rules.

U.S. administers more than 317 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC

The United States has administered 317,117,797 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Saturday morning and distributed 379,003,410 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those figures are up from the 316,048,776 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by June 18 out of 377,935,390 doses delivered.

China reports 23 new COVID-19 cases versus 30 the day before

China reported 23 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the mainland for June 19, down from 30 infections a day earlier, the country's health authority said on Sunday. All new cases were imported infections from overseas, with 12 reported in the southern province Guangdong, the National Health Commission said.

Cuba encouraged by early efficacy results of homegrown COVID-19 vaccine

Cuba's Soberana 2 vaccine candidate has shown 62% efficacy with just two of its three doses, state-run biopharmaceutical corporation BioCubaFarma said on Saturday, citing preliminary data from late phase trials. Cuba, whose biotech sector https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-vaccine-cuba-focus-idUKKBN27S1OZ has exported vaccines for decades, has five vaccine candidates in clinical trials, of which two - Soberana 2 and Abdala - are in late phase trials.

Mexico City shuts down classes again, enters higher COVID-19 risk tier

Mexico City schools that had just gone back to in-person classes will be closed again starting Monday as the sprawling capital climbs into a higher tier of coronavirus risk, education authorities said on Saturday. Mexico City officials had loosened restrictions on gatherings in schools, hotels, stores and restaurants just two weeks ago as the dense urban zone moved into the lowest risk tier of the government's four-level "traffic light" model.

Brazil passes half a million COVID-19 deaths, experts warn of worse ahead

Brazil's death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 500,000 on Saturday as experts warn that the world's second-deadliest outbreak may worsen due to delayed vaccinations and the government's refusal to back social distancing measures. Only 11% of Brazilians have been fully vaccinated and epidemiologists warn that, with winter arriving in the southern hemisphere and new variants of the coronavirus circulating, deaths will continue to mount even if immunizations gain steam.

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

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