Health News Roundup: Vietnam approves Abdala vaccine as president visits Cuba; Biden to convene virtual virus summit on fringe of UN and more

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States will be asking participants to commit to "a higher level of ambition" on making vaccines available on a more equitable basis and getting shots in arms, among other steps recommended to address the pandemic. Factbox-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus A panel of expert outside advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted against approving COVID-19 booster shots for Americans but may vote on a narrower approval for older adults later on Friday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Vietnam approves Abdala vaccine as president visits Cuba

Vietnam has approved Cuba's Abdala vaccine for use against the new coronavirus, the government said on Saturday, as the Southeast Asian country is battling its worst outbreak. Abdala becomes the eighth COVID-19 vaccine approved for use in Vietnam, which has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the region, with only 6.3% of its 98 million people have received at least two shots.

Explainer-The case for, and against, COVID-19 vaccine boosters

The U.S. government aims to begin offering COVID-19 vaccine booster shots widely next week to Americans age 16 and up. A panel of outside advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted against such broad coverage on Friday but backed a shot for people 65 and older, which the agency may or may not follow. President Joe Biden's administration faces criticism within the scientific community over whether the additional shots are needed for the general population.

Biden to convene virtual virus summit on fringe of UN

U.S. President Joe Biden will convene a virtual COVID-19 summit on Wednesday on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly aimed at boosting vaccinations worldwide with the goal of ending the pandemic by the end of 2022. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States will be asking participants to commit to "a higher level of ambition" on making vaccines available on a more equitable basis and getting shots in arms, among other steps recommended to address the pandemic.

Factbox-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

A panel of expert outside advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted against approving COVID-19 booster shots for Americans but may vote on a narrower approval for older adults later on Friday. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

Work-related deaths kill nearly 2 million people a year: UN agencies

Nearly 2 million people die from work-related causes each year, including from illnesses associated with long working hours and air pollution, an estimate from U.N. agencies showed on Friday. The study by the World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization, the first assessment of its kind, found that work-related diseases and injuries were responsible for the deaths of 1.9 million people in 2016.

U.S. FDA advisers recommend COVID-19 boosters for 65 and older after rejecting broad approval

Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted on Friday to recommend COVID-19 vaccine booster shots for Americans 65 and older and those at high risk of severe illness, after overwhelmingly rejecting a call for broader approval. The panel also recommended that the FDA include healthcare workers and others at high risk of occupational exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19, such as teachers.

Some U.S. hospitals forced to ration care amid staffing shortages, COVID-19 surge

Surges in coronavirus cases in several U.S. states this week, along with staffing and equipment shortages, are exacting a mounting toll on hospitals and their workers even as the number of new admissions nationwide ebbs, leading to warnings at some facilities that care would be rationed. Montana, Alaska, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Kentucky experienced the biggest rises in new COVID-19 hospitalizations during the week ending Sept. 10 compared with the previous week, with Montana's new hospitalizations rising by 26%, according to the latest report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sept. 14.

COVID-19 victims remembered on Washington's National Mall with 650,000 white flags

An exhibition of white flags representing Americans who have died of COVID-19 opened on Friday, covering more than 20 acres of the National Mall in Washington. Last year, artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg created an outdoor installation in Washington comprised of more than 267,000 white flags - one for every person in the United States who had died from COVID-19.

Biden adds measles to list of diseases that could require quarantine

President Joe Biden on Friday signed an executive order adding measles to a list of communicable diseases that could require quarantine after several Afghan refugees were diagnosed with the highly contagious disease after arriving in the United States. The action makes measles one of the diseases for which federal health authorities have the authority to issue quarantine orders requiring people who have been diagnosed with measles or exposed to it to self-isolate to protect public health, a White House official said in a statement.

Australia reports 1,882 COVID-19 cases as police quell protests

Australia recorded 1,882 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, as thousands of police officers in Sydney and Melbourne were deployed to quell planned anti-lockdown protests, setting up checkpoints and barricades. Several hundred people managed to gather in downtown Melbourne and local media reported some early arrests and clashes with the police, as 2,000 officers made the area virtually a no-go zone. Public transport and ride shares into the city were suspended.

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