Health News Roundup: Benefits of mRNA COVID vaccines outweigh rare heart risks, says WHO; U.S. administers nearly 333 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC and more

In a statement, the WHO said that reports of two rare conditions - myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart, and of its lining, called pericarditis - had typically occurred within days of vaccination, mainly among younger males after the second dose. U.S. administers nearly 333 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC The United States had administered 332,966,409 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Friday morning and distributed 386,058,070 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Benefits of mRNA COVID vaccines outweigh rare heart risks, says WHO

The benefits of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines outweigh the very small risk they might cause heart inflammation, as the jabs reduce hospitalisations and deaths, an advisory panel of the World Health Organization said on Friday. In a statement, the WHO said that reports of two rare conditions - myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart, and of its lining, called pericarditis - had typically occurred within days of vaccination, mainly among younger males after the second dose.

U.S. administers nearly 333 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC

The United States had administered 332,966,409 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Friday morning and distributed 386,058,070 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those figures are up from the 332,345,797 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by July 8 out of 385,495,790 doses delivered.

Locked-down Sydney warned worse may be ahead, COVID-19 cases at 2021 high

Australia's New South Wales state reported its biggest daily rise in locally acquired coronavirus infections this year on Saturday, with authorities warning that worse may yet to come for Sydney, which is in a three-week hard lockdown. There were 50 new cases of community transmission in the country's most populous state, up from 44 a day earlier, the previous 2021 record high. This brings the outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant to 489 cases.

S.Korea reports third consecutive record high new COVID-19 cases -KDCA

South Korea posted its highest-ever number of new daily COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said on Saturday, the third consecutive day of record highs in new infection cases. Starting on Monday, coronavirus curbs will be tightened to the strictest level possible in Seoul and neighbouring regions for the first time, South Korea said on Friday, as the streak of record new cases fanned concern.

U.S. CDC updates school guidance to emphasize in-person learning

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday updated its guidance for U.S. schools reopening in the fall, recommending masking indoors for everyone who is not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and three feet of distance within classrooms. The agency said school administrators can require indoor mask use even for students and educators who are vaccinated, depending on the needs of the community. Reasons would include schools with children under age 12, who are not currently authorized to receive COVID-19 vaccines, or high rates of COVID-19 transmission in the region.

FDA seeks probe into its talks with Biogen before Alzheimer's drug approval

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday called for an independent federal probe into its representatives' interactions with Biogen Inc that led to approval of the company's Alzheimer's disease drug last month. The drugmaker's shares closed down 3% after the agency's acting commissioner Janet Woodcock asked the Office of the Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services to probe if the talks were inconsistent with the regulator's policies.

EU finds potential link between heart inflammation and mRNA COVID shots

Europe's drug regulator has found a possible link between very rare heart inflammation and COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, it said on Friday, stressing that the benefits of the shots outweighed any risks. The conditions, myocarditis and pericarditis, must be listed as side-effects of the two mRNA vaccines, the safety committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said, adding that such cases primarily occurred within 14 days of inoculation.

Vietnam receives 2 million coronavirus vaccines as it tackles worst outbreak

Vietnam has received the first shipment of 2 million doses of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine donated by the U.S. government, the American embassy in Hanoi said on Saturday, as the Southeast Asian country battles its worst outbreak. The shipment, delivered via the COVAX sharing facility, is part of the 80 million vaccine doses President Joe Biden committed from U.S. vaccine supplies to support global needs, the embassy said in an emailed statement.

Canada says COVID booster shots may be needed, closely monitoring variants

Canada on Friday said that while booster COVID-19 shots may be needed, it has received no request from Pfizer to approve one, and health authorities are currently studying the duration of protection from two doses. Pfizer and BioNTech plan to ask U.S. and European regulators within weeks to authorize a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine, based on evidence of greater risk of infection six months after inoculation and the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.

Cuban drug regulator gives emergency approval to Abdala COVID-19 vaccine

Cuba's drug regulator announced on Friday it had granted emergency approval of the Abdala COVID-19 vaccine, which is already being deployed on the Caribbean island nation amid a surge in infections. Approval by the Center for State Control of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices should help with the selling and licensing abroad of Abdala, which Cuba says has a 92.28% efficacy against the coronavirus.