Health News Roundup: Regulators could OK Pfizer boosters for older Americans this week; Protest erupts in Melbourne after virus worries shut down construction sites and more

The law leaves enforcement of the ban to citizens, rewarding them at least $10,000 if they successfully sue anyone who helped provide such an abortion and paying their court costs. Pfizer/BioNTech say data show COVID-19 vaccine safe and protective in kids Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE said on Monday their COVID-19 vaccine induced a robust immune response in 5 to 11 year olds, and they plan to ask for regulatory authorization as soon as possible to use the shot in children in that age range in the United States, Europe and elsewhere.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Regulators could OK Pfizer boosters for older Americans this week

U.S. regulators could authorize a booster shot of the Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE COVID-19 vaccine for older and some high-risk Americans early this week in time for the government to roll them out by Friday. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to give the nod to the third shots for at least this group before advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are due to meet on Wednesday. The CDC panel will discuss more precise recommendations for how to administer the shots.

Protest erupts in Melbourne after virus worries shut down construction sites

Hundreds demonstrated in locked-down Melbourne on Tuesday after authorities shut down construction sites in the city for two weeks saying the frequent movement of workers was spreading the coronavirus into regional areas. The decision to halt building activities comes after an anti-vaccine mandate protest in the city turned violent on Monday. The Victorian Government requires all construction workers to have at least one vaccine dose by end of this week.

Vax van seeks to avert super-spreader event at U.N. summit

In a new take on vaccine diplomacy, a free mobile COVID-19 testing and vaccination station is welcoming world leaders and delegates at this week's U.N. General Assembly, seeking to avoid a super-spreader event. After a virtual meeting last year, about a third of the 193 U.N. states are planning to again send videos, but presidents, prime ministers, and foreign ministers for the remainder are due to travel to the United States.

U.S. administers 386.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC

The United States has administered 386,237,881 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Monday morning, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those figures are up from the 385,586,012 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Sept. 19.

Factbox-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

The United States will reopen in November to air travelers from 33 countries including China, India, Brazil and most of Europe who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the White House said on Monday, easing tough pandemic-related restrictions that started early last year. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

COVID creates shortages of an array of U.S. medical supplies

Shortages of masks and gloves that marked the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic have spread to a host of other items needed at medical facilities in the United States, from exam tables and heart defibrillators to crutches and IV poles. It can now take up to five months to get some types of exam tables, for instance, compared to three to six weeks before the pandemic, according to CME Corp, a distributor of medical equipment that handles over 2 million products.

U.S. FDA approves first biosimilar rival to Roche's blockbuster eye drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved South Korean drugmaker Samsung Bioepis Co Ltd and Biogen Inc's biosimilar rival to Roche Holding AG's blockbuster eye drug, Lucentis. Biosimilars are cheaper versions of biological drugs made from living organisms.

Lawsuits against doctor to test constitutionality of Texas abortion law

A San Antonio physician who announced he gave an abortion to a woman in defiance of a new Texas law was sued in Texas state court on Monday by two plaintiffs from other states who want to test the law's constitutionality. Alan Braid said in an opinion piece published in The Washington Post on Saturday that he had broken a new Texas law that banned abortions beyond the point where rhythmic contracting of fetal cardiac tissue could be detected. The law leaves enforcement of the ban to citizens, rewarding them at least $10,000 if they successfully sue anyone who helped provide such an abortion and paying their court costs.

Pfizer/BioNTech say data show COVID-19 vaccine safe and protective in kids

Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE said on Monday their COVID-19 vaccine induced a robust immune response in 5 to 11-year-olds, and they plan to ask for regulatory authorization as soon as possible to use the shot in children in that age range in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. The companies said their two-dose vaccine generated an immune response in the 5-to-11-year-olds in Phase II/III clinical trial that matched what was previously observed in 16-to-25-year-olds. The safety profile was also generally comparable to the older age group, they added.

Biden calls on U.S. Supreme Court to protect abortion rights

President Joe Biden's administration urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday not to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide in an upcoming case concerning a restrictive Mississippi law. The administration brief backs Jackson Women's Health Organization, the only abortion clinic in Mississippi, in its fight over the state's attempt to ban the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy.