Health News Roundup: Brazil's top court rules that companies can require employee vaccination; U.S. FDA may approve COVID-19 booster without outside advisory panel opinion -CNN and more

"In the past week, we’re averaging nearly 300,000 first shots" per day for people aged 12 and over, Psaki said, up from less than 250,000 first shots per day in mid-July, before Biden first discussed vaccine requirements. How Johnson & Johnson became the sprawling healthcare giant it is today Johnson & Johnson plans to spin off its consumer health division that sells Listerine and Baby Powder to focus on pharmaceuticals and medical devices in the biggest shake-up in the U.S. company's 135-year history.


Reuters | Updated: 13-11-2021 11:19 IST | Created: 13-11-2021 10:31 IST
Health News Roundup: Brazil's top court rules that companies can require employee vaccination; U.S. FDA may approve COVID-19 booster without outside advisory panel opinion -CNN and more
Representative image Image Credit: ANI

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Brazil's top court rules that companies can require employee vaccination

Brazil's Supreme Court on Friday suspended a government order that prevented companies from requiring employees to provide proof that they have been vaccinating against COVID-19 and stopped dismissals of those not immunized. Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, a vaccine skeptic, has criticized vaccine passports required in other countries. Brazil has suffered the second-deadliest coronavirus pandemic outside of the United States.

U.S. FDA may approve COVID-19 booster without outside advisory panel opinion -CNN

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is unlikely to ask its outside vaccine advisers to weigh in on whether the agency should authorize Pfizer COVID-19 boosters for all adults, CNN reported on Friday, citing a source. The source told CNN "it's unlikely there is going to be a meeting" of the outside advisers and "there has been no discussion of a meeting" to discuss Pfizer's application.

One in three Americans aged 65 and above has got COVID-19 booster shot: CDC

One in three Americans aged 65 and above has received a COVID-19 booster shot, data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed on Friday. The country had administered 437,352,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Friday morning and distributed 551,000,705 doses.

Europe becomes COVID-19's epicentre again, some countries look at fresh curbs

Europe has become the epicentre of the pandemic again, prompting some governments to consider re-imposing unpopular lockdowns in the run-up to Christmas and stirring debate over whether vaccines alone are enough to tame COVID-19. Europe https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/covid-cases-break-records-across-europe-winter-takes-hold-2021-11-04 accounts for more than half of the average 7-day infections globally and about half of latest deaths, according to a Reuters tally, the highest levels since April last year when the virus was at its initial peak in Italy.

Biden vaccine rules are boosting first-time COVID-19 shots - White House

U.S. President Joe Biden's vaccine requirements are prompting more Americans to get COVID-19 shots, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday. "In the past week, we’re averaging nearly 300,000 first shots" per day for people aged 12 and over, Psaki said, up from less than 250,000 first shots per day in mid-July, before Biden first discussed vaccine requirements.

How Johnson & Johnson became the sprawling healthcare giant it is today

Johnson & Johnson plans to spin off its consumer health division that sells Listerine and Baby Powder to focus on pharmaceuticals and medical devices in the biggest shake-up in the U.S. company's 135-year history. Here is how J&J got to where it is today.

Philips ventilator recall troubles deepen as FDA finds new issues

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked Philips to conduct more tests on the foam used in its recalled ventilators, after the agency found several new issues at the Dutch company's manufacturing facility. The medical equipment company recalled some breathing devices and ventilators in June because of a silicone-based foam part that might degrade and become toxic, potentially causing cancer.

Biden will nominate industry-friendly Califf to lead U.S. FDA

President Joe Biden on Friday said he would nominate Robert Califf for a second stint as commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and urged the Senate to swiftly confirm him. Califf, 70, a well-regarded cardiologist and researcher closely linked with the pharmaceutical industry, served as FDA commissioner from February 2016 until the end of then-President Barack Obama's second term in January 2017.

Some states expand booster availability beyond federal recommendations

Hard hit by rising cases and hospitalizations, officials in Colorado and California this week have directed healthcare providers to make COVID-19 vaccine boosters available to all adults, overriding more restrictive guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "I think it is kind of remarkable," said Dr. Jesse Goodman, an infectious disease expert at Georgetown University in Washington and a former chief scientist at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

J&J to spin off consumer products and focus on pharmaceuticals

Johnson & Johnson plans to spin off its consumer health division that sells Listerine and Baby Powder to focus on pharmaceuticals and medical devices in the biggest shake-up in the U.S. company's 135-year history. The move by the world's largest health products company follows similar announcements by conglomerates Toshiba General Electric, as well as J&J rivals, and underscores how big, diversified corporations are under pressure to simplify their structures to increase focus.

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

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