Health News Roundup: J&J files for authorization of COVID-19 vaccine booster; AstraZeneca seeks U.S. approval for drug cocktail to prevent COVID and more

But significantly boosting test output will take weeks to months, half a dozen industry executives told Reuters, making the tests harder to procure in the near term. J&J files for authorization of COVID-19 vaccine booster Johnson & Johnson said on Tuesday it had submitted data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization of a booster shot of its COVID-19 vaccine in people aged 18 and older.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Rapid COVID-19 tests increasingly scarce, pricey as demand from employers jumps

Surging demand for COVID-19 tests from U.S. employers has exacerbated a nationwide shortage of rapid tests in recent weeks and is driving up costs for state and local testing programs, according to industry executives and state officials.

Testmakers including Abbott Laboratories, Quidel Corp and LumiraDX Ltd are scaling up production to meet rising demand. But significantly boosting test output will take weeks to months, half a dozen industry executives told Reuters, making the tests harder to procure in the near term.

J&J files for authorization of COVID-19 vaccine booster

Johnson & Johnson said on Tuesday it had submitted data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization of a booster shot of its COVID-19 vaccine in people aged 18 and older. J&J said its submission includes data from a late-stage study that found a booster given 56 days after the primary dose provided 94% protection against symptomatic COVID-19 in the United States and 100% protection against severe disease, at least 14 days after the booster shot.

AstraZeneca seeks U.S. approval for drug cocktail to prevent COVID

AstraZeneca has requested emergency approval from U.S. regulators for its antibody cocktail, the first protective shot other than vaccines against COVID-19, another potential major step in the global fight to combat the virus. While vaccines rely on an intact immune system to develop targeted antibodies and infection-fighting cells, Astra's biotech compound known as AZD7442 contains lab-made antibodies designed to linger in the body for months to contain the virus in case of an infection.

UK hospitals could struggle even if COVID deaths lower this winter - epidemiologist

Hospitals may struggle to cope if there is a significant surge of COVID-19 in England this winter even if broad vaccination means that deaths do not approach the same levels as last year, one of Britain's top epidemiologists told Reuters. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is betting on vaccinating children and giving booster shots to vulnerable adults to avoid a winter COVID-19 lockdown this year. Johnson has locked down England's economy three times to avoid COVID overwhelming the National Health Service.

COVID-related school absences increase by two-thirds in England

School absences in England related to COVID-19 jumped by two-thirds in the last two weeks of September, according to government data which could raise concerns about further disruption to education despite a pledge to keep schools open. Around one in seven secondary school students were off for either coronavirus-related or other reasons, the Department for Education said, and the age group has the highest prevalence of infections in the country.

Britain's COVID-19 cases down by 2% over past week

Britain has reported 33,869 new cases of COVID-19, government data showed on Tuesday, meaning cases reported between Sept. 29 and Oct. 5 were down 2.3% compared with the previous seven days. A further 166 people were reported as having died within 28 days of a positive test for COVID-19, taking the seven-day total down by nearly 16% from the previous week.

Singapore reports highest single-day rise in COVID-19 cases

Singapore's health ministry reported 3,486 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, the highest since the beginning of the pandemic, while it recorded nine new deaths from the disease. A recent spike in infections after the relaxation of some restrictions has prompted Singapore to pause further reopening. It also tightened curbs from last week that limited social gatherings to two people and made work from home a default.

U.S. administers nearly 398 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC

The United States has administered 397,718,055 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Tuesday morning and distributed 479,356,915 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those figures are up from the 396,919,564 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Monday, out of 478,392,765 doses delivered.

Spain approves COVID booster shot for over 70s

Spain on Tuesday approved administering of third doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are based on the same messenger RNA technology, for people aged 70 or over, the health ministry said. Spain has fully vaccinated around 78% of its population, and authorised the booster shot from six months after people receive their second jab, the ministry said in a statement. The campaign to administer the boosters will begin at the end of October.

EMA to consider rolling review for Merck's molnupiravir in coming days

The European Medicines Agency will consider in the coming days whether to launch a rolling review of Merck's experimental COVID-19 pill, its head of vaccine strategy said on Tuesday An experimental antiviral pill developed by Merck & Co could halve the chances of dying or being hospitalized for those most at risk of contracting severe COVID-19, interim data showed last week.

(With inputs from agencies.)