Health News Roundup: U.S. administers 355.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC; Australia's New South Wales reports 415 new COVID-19 cases, near-record high and more

Concerned about growing infections in rural areas as recent sewage tests detected the virus in several regional towns, officials on Saturday tightened restrictions https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australias-victoria-reports-21-new-local-covid-19-cases-2021-08-13 and ordered a snap seven-day lockdown across the state. Egypt gets new AstraZeneca vaccine batch via COVAX Egypt received a new batch of about 1.7 million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses through the global COVAX initiative, the health ministry said late on Friday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

U.S. administers 355.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC

The United States has administered 355,768,825 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Saturday morning and distributed 415,915,655 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those figures are up from the 354,777,950 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Aug. 13 out of 414,376,925 doses delivered.

Australia's New South Wales reports 415 new COVID-19 cases, near-record high

New South Wales reported 415 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, down from the previous day's record 466, as Australia's most populous state entered a snap lockdown to control the spread of the Delta variant in regional towns. Concerned about growing infections in rural areas as recent sewage tests detected the virus in several regional towns, officials on Saturday tightened restrictions https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australias-victoria-reports-21-new-local-covid-19-cases-2021-08-13 and ordered a snap seven-day lockdown across the state.

Egypt gets new AstraZeneca vaccine batch via COVAX

Egypt received a new batch of about 1.7 million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses through the global COVAX initiative, the health ministry said late on Friday. The new shipment, the third of its kind, brings the total number of AstraZeneca shots received by Egypt via COVAX to about 4.3 million doses.

Australia purchases Pfizer vaccines from Poland as COVID-19 infections spike

Australia has purchased about 1 million doses of Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine from Poland to add to its inoculation efforts in Sydney and its home state, which on Saturday entered a snap lockdown https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australias-victoria-reports-21-new-local-covid-19-cases-2021-08-13 amid record new infections. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday the extra vaccines would start arriving immediately and over half will be directed to 20- to 39-year-olds in New South Wales, as the state reported its second-largest increase in locally transmitted infections.

Russia releases worst pandemic death numbers to date

Russia's daily COVID-19 deaths hit a new record of 819 on Saturday, a day after Moscow's health department reported the highest number of monthly deaths in the city since the start of the pandemic. Russia's daily coronavirus deaths are on the rise after infections peaked in July. Authorities blame the infectious Delta variant and a slow vaccination rate.

Britain records 29,520 new COVID-19 infections, 93 deaths

Britain recorded 29,520 new COVID-19 infections on Saturday and 93 deaths within 28 days of a positive test for the virus, according to government data. That compares with 32,700 new cases and 100 deaths on Friday.

All 16-, 17-year-olds in England to be offered first COVID vaccine dose by Aug. 23

All 16- and 17-year-olds in England will be offered their first COVID-19 vaccine dose by Aug. 23, according to a target set by British Health Secretary Sajid Javid. Javid said on Sunday that offering young people the vaccine by that date will allow the teenagers in that age bracket the two weeks necessary to build maximum immunity before returning to school in September.

Children hospitalized with COVID-19 in U.S. hits record number

The number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 in the United States hit a record high of just over 1,900 on Saturday, as hospitals across the South were stretched to capacity fighting outbreaks caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant. The Delta variant, which is rapidly spreading among mostly the unvaccinated portion of the U.S. population, has caused hospitalizations to a spike in recent weeks, driving up the number of pediatric hospitalizations to 1,902 on Saturday, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Biden administration plans for vaccine boosters, perhaps by fall - NYT

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden is developing a plan to start offering coronavirus booster shots to some Americans as early as this fall, the New York Times reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the effort. The first boosters are likely to go to nursing home residents and health care workers, followed by other older people who were near the front of the line when vaccinations began late last year, the newspaper reported.

Ivory Coast detects first Ebola case in 25 years

Ivory Coast has declared a first case of the Ebola hemorrhagic virus in 25 years, the health minister and the World Health Organization (WHO) said separately on Saturday. Health Minister Pierre Dimba said on national television that it was an isolated case of an 18-year-old girl who traveled from neighboring Guinea.