Health News Roundup: UK minister: no decision yet on COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children; U.S. administers 374.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines -CDC and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

UK minister: no decision yet on COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children

British vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi on Sunday said a decision had not yet been taken on whether healthy children aged 12- to 15-years-old should be vaccinated against COVID-19, following reports that a rollout could begin in the coming days.

Britain's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on Friday declined to recommend vaccinations for children in that group, taking a precautionary approach due to a rare risk of heart inflammation, but adding the issue was finely balanced.

U.S. administers 374.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines -CDC

The United States had administered 374,488,924 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Saturday morning and distributed 450,175,825 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those figures are up from the 373,516,809 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Friday, out of 447,619,715 doses delivered.

New Zealand reports 20 local COVID-19 cases

New Zealand reported 20 local COVID-19 cases on Sunday, the same as in the previous day and all in Auckland, the epicenter of an outbreak of the highly transmissible Delta variant, health authorities said. This brings to 801 the number of cases of the community outbreak, the vast majority of them in Auckland. Of those, 38 people are in hospital, and six are in intensive care.

Each COVID-19 surge poses a risk for healthcare workers: PTSD

Nurse Chris Prott's knees jump, his heart races, his mouth goes dry and his mind floods with dark memories when he talks about working in the Milwaukee VA Medical Center's intensive care unit (ICU) during pandemic surges. Prott shares a struggle common to many of the military veterans for whom he has cared for years: symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Australia reports 1,684 new COVID-19 cases but planning a merry Christmas

Australia reported 1,684 new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday as authorities race ahead with vaccinations in a bid to end lockdowns on the populous southeast coast in the hope of making Christmas as close to normal as possible. More than 15 million people in Victoria state, neighboring New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory have been under stay-at-home orders as officials struggle to quell Australia's worst wave of coronavirus infections, driven by the Delta variant.

India reports 42,766 coronavirus cases

India reported 42,766 new coronavirus infections overnight, the federal health ministry said on Sunday, taking its tally to 32.9 million cases. The death toll rose by 308 to 440,533, data from the ministry showed.

Brazil health regulator suspends use of 12 million Sinovac vaccine shots

Brazil's federal health regulator Anvisa on Saturday suspended the use of over 12 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd that were produced in an unauthorized plant, it said in a statement. Anvisa said it was alerted on Friday by Sao Paulo's Butantan Institute, a biomedical center that has partnered with Sinovac to locally fill and finish the vaccines, that 25 batches, or 12.1 million doses, sent to Brazil had been made in the plant.

Drug companies say enough U.S. states join $26 billion opioid settlement to proceed

Three large U.S. drug distributors and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson will proceed with a proposed $26 billion settlement resolving claims that they fueled the opioid epidemic after "enough" states joined in, the companies said on Saturday. The companies had until Saturday to decide whether enough states back the $21 billion proposed settlement with McKesson Corp, AmerisourceBergen Corp and Cardinal Health Inc and a $5 billion agreement with J&J.

Russia's coronavirus cases surpass 7 million mark

Russia's coronavirus cases tally hit 7 million on Sunday, with the country reporting 18,645 new infections in the past 24 hours and 793 more deaths. The latest figures took the total number of cases to 7,012,599, with the overall death toll at 187,200.

Japan to issue digital COVID-19 vaccination certificates in December -Nikkei

Japan will issue online COVID-19 vaccination certificates from December, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Sunday. The government plans to issue the certificates - which will be intended for overseas travel rather than domestic use - via a QR scan code through a smartphone app from around mid-December, the Nikkei said, without citing sources.