Health News Roundup: Biden says COVID booster shots will be free and accessible; Vaccinated pregnant women pass protective antibodies to babies and more

Vaccinated pregnant women pass antibodies to babies Factbox-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus Booster shots to bolster immunity against the coronavirus would be free and accessible, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday, a day after federal health agencies backed a booster rollout, and he pledged to get his own shot as soon as possible.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

U.S. administers 388.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC

The United States has administered 388,567,109 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Friday morning and distributed 470,630,875 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those figures are up from the 387,821,704 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Sept. 23 out of 469,561,625 doses delivered.

Biden says COVID booster shots will be free and accessible

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday that booster shots to protect against the coronavirus will be free and easily accessible, noting that he himself would get the vaccine as soon as possible. Delivering remarks at the White House, he also said 60 million Americans were now eligible for booster shots, 20 million of them today.

White House wants millions of government contractors vaccinated by Dec. 8

The White House said on Friday that millions of federal contractors must be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Dec. 8 and that the administration will add clauses to future government contracts mandating inoculations. President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Sept. 9 requiring federal contractors to mandate vaccinations, but many U.S. companies with federal contracts have awaited formal guidance from the White House before moving forward.

Explainer - Who can get a COVID-19 vaccine booster in the United States?

The United States is rolling out booster shots https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-cdc-advisers-recommend-covid-19-vaccine-boosters-65-older-high-risk-2021-09-23 of the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE COVID-19 vaccine for some Americans who received their second jab at least six months ago. The following explains the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) decision on who can and should get shots now. WHICH OLDER AMERICANS SHOULD GET A SHOT AND WHY?

Vaccinated pregnant women pass protective antibodies to babies

The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that have yet to be certified by peer review. Vaccinated pregnant women pass antibodies to babies

Factbox-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

Booster shots to bolster immunity against the coronavirus would be free and accessible, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday, a day after federal health agencies backed a booster rollout, and he pledged to get his own shot as soon as possible. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

South Korea to set new record COVID count with 2,924 cases as of 9pm Friday - Yonhap

South Korea is expected to set another record high coronavirus daily count with 2,924 cases as of 9 p.m. on Friday, Yonhap news agency reported. The count already exceeds the country's current record for daily COVID-19 cases at 2,434 as of the previous midnight.

U.S. CDC backs COVID-19 boosters for high-risk adults, workers, older Americans

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday backed a booster shot of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for Americans aged 65 and older, adults with underlying medical conditions and adults in high-risk working and institutional settings. The decision by CDC Director Rochelle Walensky is aligned with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's authorization of the shot earlier this week and follows an August announcement of a broad booster rollout from her and other top U.S. health officials.

U.S. House passes abortion rights bill, outlook poor in Senate

The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation on Friday to protect abortion services against growing Republican-backed state restrictions, including a Texas law that imposes a near-total ban on abortion, but the bill is unlikely to pass the Senate. The Democratic-controlled House voted 218-211 largely along party lines to pass the legislation called the Women's Health Protection Act. Just one Democrat, Representative Henry Cuellar of Texas, voted against the proposal.

'The View' hosts test positive for COVID, scuttling VP Harris's first in-studio interview

Two co-hosts of morning show "The View" tested positive for COVID-19 just before Vice President Kamala Harris was scheduled to appear in a live interview on Friday, forcing her to appear remotely. Harris had been due to make her first planned in-studio appearance as vice president. But just before she was set to appear with the morning show's four women co-hosts, to discuss everything from abortion to immigration, Ana Navarro and Sunny Hostin were asked to leave.