Health News Roundup: WHO proposes fresh coronavirus mission to China and lab audits; Smell tests can screen for COVID; Cancer patients need both Pfizer doses and more

U.S. cases of COVID-19 are up 70% over the previous week and deaths are up 26%, with outbreaks occurring in parts of the country with low vaccination rates, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said during a press briefing. Biden says social media carrying COVID misinformation is 'killing people' President Joe Biden on Friday said social media platforms such as Facebook "are killing people" after the White House continued criticizing the company for allowing misinformation about coronavirus vaccines to be posted on its platform.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

U.S. FDA sets January target to decide on approval of Pfizer's COVID-19 shot

The U.S. health regulator will review Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE's application for full approval of their COVID-19 vaccine in people 16 years and older by January, the companies said on Friday. The target action date does not mean the approval will not happen before January, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Acting Commissioner Janet Woodcock said on Twitter. (https://bit.ly/36Ixfkm)

UK scraps planned relaxation of France quarantine rules

Britain's government said on Friday that it was scrapping a planned relaxation of COVID quarantine rules for travellers from France, which had been due to take effect on Monday. Previously, Britain had planned to lift a requirement for double-vaccinated travellers from France to quarantine at home for 10 days after arrival, in line with plans for other countries on its amber travel watchlist.

Delta COVID variant now dominant strain worldwide, U.S. deaths surge -officials

The Delta variant of COVID-19 is now the dominant strain worldwide, accompanied by a surge of deaths around the United States almost entirely among unvaccinated people, U.S. officials said on Friday. U.S. cases of COVID-19 are up 70% over the previous week and deaths are up 26%, with outbreaks occurring in parts of the country with low vaccination rates, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said during a press briefing.

Biden says social media carrying COVID misinformation is 'killing people'

President Joe Biden on Friday said social media platforms such as Facebook "are killing people" after the White House continued criticizing the company for allowing misinformation about coronavirus vaccines to be posted on its platform. "They're killing people. Look, the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated. And they're killing people," Biden told reporters when asked about misinformation and what his message was to social media platforms such as Facebook.

WHO proposes fresh coronavirus mission to China and lab audits

The World Health Organization on Friday proposed a second phase of studies into the origins of the coronavirus in China, including audits of laboratories and markets in Wuhan, calling for transparency from authorities. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus presented the plan to member states a day after saying that investigations were being hampered by the lack of raw data on the first days of spread of COVID-19 in China.

Smell tests can screen for COVID; Cancer patients need both Pfizer doses

Here is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Smell test might improve COVID-19 screening

Mexico City to accelerate vaccinations as COVID infections, hospitalizations rise

Mexico City's government will speed up COVID-19 vaccinations to its more than 9 million inhabitants starting next week as infections and hospitalizations have risen significantly, mostly among younger people, Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday. The number of people in Mexico City hospitalized with COVID-19 rose by 650 from last week to 1,871. Infections are hitting 18- to 39-year-olds, many of them unvaccinated, the hardest, according the mayor's office.

Pfizer agrees to pay $345 million to resolve EpiPen pricing lawsuit

Pfizer Inc has agreed to pay $345 million to resolve claims by consumers who say they overpaid for EpiPens due to anticompetitive practices by the drugmaker and the company that markets the emergency allergy treatment, Mylan. The proposed class action settlement was disclosed in a filing in federal court in Kansas City, Kansas. The deal, which requires a judge's approval, would not resolve claims against Mylan, which is scheduled to face trial in January.

FDA investigating carcinogen found in recalled J&J sunscreen products

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday it is investigating the root cause of a cancer-causing chemical found in some of Johnson & Johnson's recalled sunscreen products. The drugmaker on Wednesday voluntarily recalled five Neutrogena and Aveeno brand aerosol sunscreens and advised consumers to stop using the products and discard them after internal testing found low levels of benzene in some sprays.

World leaders pledge to redouble pandemic fight at special APEC meeting

Leaders of the Asia-Pacific trade group APEC, including U.S. President Joe Biden, Russia's Vladimir Putin, and China's Xi Jinping, pledged on Friday to work to expand sharing and manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines to fight the global pandemic.

The leaders, struggling to tame outbreaks exacerbated by the Delta variant of coronavirus, said they would encourage the voluntary transfer of vaccine production technologies "on mutually agreed terms" as the region prepared for future health shocks.