Health News Roundup: Vaccine makers should supply shots for trials to help spur sector -CEPI; Indonesia records its lowest rate of positive coronavirus tests and more

Officials have promised residents in Sydney, the epicenter of Australia's worst coronavirus flare-up, more freedom once vaccinations reach first 70%, then 80%, as a lockdown now into its eleventh week fails to quash the Delta variant. Philippines defers new COVID-19 plan, maintains capital curbs The Philippines capital region will remain under the second strictest coronavirus containment measures, a senior official said on Tuesday, despite a day earlier announcing a relaxation of curbs to spur business activity.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Vaccine makers should supply shots for trials to help spur sector -CEPI

COVID-19 vaccine makers ought to make their approved shots available for trials or risk hobbling the development of more vaccines, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) said on Tuesday. Major vaccine studies have so far examined COVID-19 infection rates comparing the prospective vaccine with a placebo. But such trials may no longer be considered ethical in countries where an effective vaccine is widely available.

Indonesia records its lowest rate of positive coronavirus tests

Indonesia's daily coronavirus positivity rate dropped below the World Health Organization's (WHO) benchmark standard of 5% this week for the first time, an indicator the country's devastating second wave could be easing. The positivity rate or the proportion of people tested who are positive, peaked at 33.4% in July when Indonesia became Asia's coronavirus epicenter, driven by the highly contagious Delta variant.

India 'prepares for the worst' ahead of possible COVID-19 third wave

As COVID-19 cases and deaths exploded in India in April and May, New Delhi's premier Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and several others ran so short of oxygen that many patients in the capital suffocated.

When Reuters visited the hospital on Friday, its last coronavirus patient was readying to leave after recovery - remarkable turnaround health experts attribute to growing levels of immunity from natural infection and vaccinations.

Avantor bolsters COVID vaccine manufacturing with $2.9 billion Masterflex deal

U.S. lab products provider Avantor Inc will buy Masterflex from privately held Antylia Scientific in a $2.9 billion all-cash deal to beef up its COVID-19 therapy and vaccine manufacturing operations. The purchase, announced on Tuesday, would enable Avantor to take advantage of strong demand for vaccines as the Delta variant drives a jump in U.S. infections and evidence emerges of waning antibody levels in vaccinated people.

Get COVID-19 vaccine or please quit, Zimbabwe tells government workers

Government workers in Zimbabwe who do not want to be vaccinated against COVID-19 should resign, its justice minister said on Tuesday. The southern African nation has so far vaccinated 2.7 million people, against a target of inoculating two-thirds of its 15 million population by the end of the year. President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government says it has paid for 12 million COVID-19 doses from China.

Singapore reports most coronavirus cases in more than 1 year

Singapore's health ministry recorded 328 new domestic coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the highest daily number of new infections in more than a year. The city-state has been reporting more than 100 domestic cases daily over the past two weeks in a rise that has come as the country removes most restrictions as part of its phased reopening.

Vaccination rates surge in Sydney's hard-hit suburbs as cases dip

COVID-19 daily infections in Sydney fell for a third straight day on Tuesday but still lingered near record levels as the outbreak spurred a spike in vaccination rates in the hard-hit western suburbs of Australia's largest city. Officials have promised residents in Sydney, the epicenter of Australia's worst coronavirus flare-up, more freedom once vaccinations reach first 70%, then 80%, as a lockdown now into its eleventh week fails to quash the Delta variant.

Philippines defers new COVID-19 plan, maintains capital curbs

The Philippines capital region will remain under the second strictest coronavirus containment measures, a senior official said on Tuesday, despite a day earlier announcing a relaxation of curbs to spur business activity. Imposition of the more relaxed "general community quarantine" in Metro Manila has been deferred, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said, without giving a reason.

Mixing CanSinoBIO, Sinovac COVID shots induces stronger response than Sinovac alone -study

A Chinese study supplementary-material looking at mixing COVID-19 vaccines showed that receiving a booster shot of the CanSino Biologics vaccine after one or two doses of Sinovac Biotech's vaccine yielded a much stronger antibody response than using the Sinovac shot as a booster. The study, among the first analyses in China combing different COVID-19 vaccines, comes as the country said it would use booster shots in specific groups amid concerns over vaccines' waning protection over time.

Hundreds of health centres at risk of closure in Afghanistan - WHO

Hundreds of medical facilities in Afghanistan are at risk of imminent closure because the Western donors who finance them are barred from dealing with the new Taliban government, a World Health Organization official said on Monday. Around 90% of 2,300 health facilities across the country might have to close as soon as this week, the UN health agency's regional emergency director, Rick Brennan, told Reuters in an interview.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)