Health News Roundup: Olympics - Pandemic takes toll on athlete mental health at Tokyo Games; Thailand builds COVID-19 hospital in Bangkok airport amid surge in cases

The study, published in the Lancet medical journal, found that the estimated rate of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) after the first dose was 8.1 per million in those inoculated, AstraZeneca said https://www.astrazeneca.com/content/astraz/media-centre/press-releases/2021/vaxzevria-showed-no-increased-incidence-of-thrombosis-with-thrombocytopenia-after-second-dose.html. UK wants world vaccinated by middle of 2022, Raab says British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab warned that the world would not be vaccinated until 2024 under current rates and urged other countries to join Britain in donating shots to poorer nations to bring that date forward to the middle of next year.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: U.S. urges vaccinated Americans to wear masks indoors in many places

Olympics - Pandemic takes toll on athlete mental health at Tokyo Games

Isolation and the absence of family and friends have taken a toll on athletes' mental health at the Tokyo Olympics, with some struggling to cope with the challenges posed by the pandemic while carrying their country's hopes on the global sports stage. After her stunning exit from the women's gymnastics team event on Tuesday, Simon Biles said she felt she had been carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. That burden seems to have been exacerbated by a year a grief, loss and restrictions tied to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thailand builds COVID-19 hospital in Bangkok airport amid surge in cases

Thai volunteers on Wednesday turned a cargo warehouse at Bangkok's Don Muang Airport into a 1,800-bed field hospital for COVID-19 patients with less severe symptoms, as the country deals with its biggest outbreak to date. The Southeast Asian nation reported a daily record of 16,533 new cases, plus 133 new deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total accumulated cases to 543,361 and 4,397 deaths.

CanSinoBIO's inhaled COVID vaccine candidate triggers immune response-early trial

An inhaled version of CanSino Biologics' (CanSinoBIO) COVID-19 vaccine triggered immune responses without serious side effects, an early-stage clinical trial showed. The two-dose candidate requires lower dosages than the injected version and could help CanSinoBIO boost its production capacity, the company's chief executive said in April.

AstraZeneca finds small clot risk after 1st COVID shot, less after 2nd

AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine carries a small extra risk of rare blood clots with low platelets after the first dose and no extra risk after the second, a study led and funded by the drugmaker showed on Wednesday, after worries over side-effects. The study, published in the Lancet medical journal, found that the estimated rate of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) after the first dose was 8.1 per million in those inoculated, AstraZeneca said https://www.astrazeneca.com/content/astraz/media-centre/press-releases/2021/vaxzevria-showed-no-increased-incidence-of-thrombosis-with-thrombocytopenia-after-second-dose.html.

UK wants world vaccinated by middle of 2022, Raab says

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab warned that the world would not be vaccinated until 2024 under current rates and urged other countries to join Britain in donating shots to poorer nations to bring that date forward to the middle of next year. Raab told Reuters he hoped other countries would step up to the plate after Britain started distributing the first tranche of the 100 million shots it plans to give away.

EU signs deal with GSK for supply of potential COVID drug

The European Union has signed a contract with GlaxoSmithKline for the supply of up to 220,000 treatments of its investigational monoclonal antibody therapy sotrovimab against COVID-19, it said on Wednesday. The drug, which is developed together with U.S. firm Vir Biotechnology, can be used for the treatment of high-risk coronavirus patients with mild symptoms who do not require supplemental oxygen, according to the Commission.

Majority in India's big states with COVID-19 antibodies - survey

More than 70% of people in eight of India's large states are estimated to have COVID-19 antibodies, a government survey showed on Wednesday, suggesting that a second surge in infections affected many more people than the reported figures. The survey, which tested a sample of the population for the presence of COVID-19 antibodies, was conducted in June and July and showed that two-thirds of India's 1.3 billion people were likely to have been exposed to the virus.

Zimbabwe approves J&J COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use

Zimbabwe has authorised the emergency use of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, the first Western-made shot to be approved by the southern African nation, its medicines regulator said on Wednesday. Like many African countries, Zimbabwe is in the grips of a third wave of infections, with nearly half of its 101,711 cumulative cases and 3,280 deaths recorded this month alone, according to official data.

Tanzania leader launches COVID-19 vaccination drive, orders more jabs

Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan received her COVID-19 vaccine in public on Wednesday, in the most decisive signal yet of a break from the policies of her late predecessor who repeatedly dismissed the threat of the pandemic. Hassan took office after the death in March of former President John Magufuli, who had warned citizens against COVID-19 vaccines and recommended at-home remedies such as steam inhalation.