Health News Roundup: WHO seeks to take political heat out of virus origins debate; Canada to require COVID-19 vaccines for federal workers and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

WHO seeks to take political heat out of virus origins debate

The World Health Organization said on Friday it was setting up a new group to trace the origins of the coronavirus, seeking to end what it called "political point scoring" that had hampered investigations. The inability of the WHO to say where and how the virus began spreading has fuelled tensions among its members, particularly between China, where COVID-19 cases were first identified in Wuhan in late 2019, and the United States.

Mississippi hospital puts beds in parking garage to cope with COVID-19 surge

The crush of new COVID-19 infections in Mississippi has become so dire that the state has turned to efforts reminiscent of the earliest days of the U.S. pandemic, when a field hospital was set up in New York's Central Park and a medical ship was moored in the Hudson River. With an overload of coronavirus patients and a shortage of healthcare workers in the state, the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) opened up a 20-bed field hospital in its parking garage on Friday morning. It plans to open a mobile hospital tent early next week, staffed by a medical team sent by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Private Medicare plans must return overpayments, appeals court rules

A U.S. appeals court on Friday revived a rule requiring private insurers that administer federally funded Medicare plans to return potentially billions of dollars in overpayments they receive based on incorrect diagnoses. The unanimous ruling by a panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington was a setback for UnitedHealth Group Inc, which had successfully challenged the rule in a lower court.

Britain's drug regulator set to make 25% of its staff redundant -FT

Britain's drug regulator is set to make 25% of its staff redundant amid financial pressures, with up to 300 staff members being at risk of losing their jobs, the Financial Times reported on Friday. Senior personnel at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have expressed "deep concern" over the plans, the report added, citing a letter to the agency's board by senior staff.

U.S. workplace regulator says vaccinated workers should wear masks

The U.S. agency that regulates workplace safety issued guidance on Friday urging employers to require many fully vaccinated workers to wear masks to protect unvaccinated colleagues and customers, amid a surge in COVID-19 cases.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recommended that workers wear masks "in areas of substantial or high community transmission," such as manufacturing plants, meat processing facilities and retail establishments, unless they have medical conditions that make it difficult to wear a face covering.

CDC says authorization of COVID-19 vaccine boosters not applicable to J&J shot

The authorization of an extra COVID-19 vaccine dose for those with a compromised immune system does not apply to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at this time, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday. Data on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was insufficient at this time, the CDC said in slides presented at a meeting of its advisory panel.

Booster shot aids transplant patients; one in 10 UK patients caught COVID in hospital

Here is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that have yet to be certified by peer review. Third vaccine dose 'substantially' aids transplant patients

U.S. FDA declines to approve Sesen Bio's bladder cancer treatment, shares plunge

The U.S. drug regulator has declined to approve Sesen Bio Inc's lead therapy candidate for a type of bladder cancer, the company said on Friday, sending its shares down more than 80%. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration notified the drug developer that it cannot approve the marketing application for the drug, Vicineum, in its present form.

Canada to require COVID-19 vaccines for federal workers

Canada on Friday said it will soon require all federal public servants and many other workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, as it looks to boost its already world-leading inoculation rate amid a Delta variant-driven surge in new infections. The vaccine mandate, which will also include air, train and cruise ship travelers, comes just two days ahead of an expected election call by Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and could prove to be a wedge issue in the campaign, with Conservatives quick to suggest it was an overstep.

U.S. authorizes third shot of COVID-19 vaccines for the immunocompromised

U.S regulators authorized a third dose of COVID-19 vaccines by Pfizer Inc-BioNTech and Moderna Inc on Friday for people with compromised immune systems who are likely to have weaker protection from the two-dose regimens. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration amended https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-authorizes-additional-vaccine-dose-certain-immunocompromised its emergency use authorization for both vaccines on Thursday, paving the way for people who have had an organ transplant, or those with a similar level of weakened immune system, to get an extra dose of the same shot they have initially received.