Health News Roundup: U.S. FDA authorizes AstraZeneca's COVID-19 antibody drug; Johnson imposes COVID-19 'Plan B' in England to contain Omicron and more

The German and U.S. companies said two doses of their vaccine resulted in significantly lower neutralising antibodies but could still be protective against severe disease. Factbox: Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus British Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed tougher COVID-19 restrictions in England on Wednesday, ordering people to work from home, wear masks in public places and use vaccine passes to slow the spread of the Omicron variant.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

U.S. administers 475.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC

The United States has administered 475,728,399 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Wednesday morning and distributed 586,471,075 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those figures are up from the 473,243,228 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Tuesday out of 582,057,445 doses delivered.

U.S. FDA authorizes AstraZeneca's COVID-19 antibody drug

The U.S. drugs regulator said on Wednesday it had authorized AstraZeneca's antibody cocktail to prevent COVID-19 infections in individuals who have weak immune systems or a history of severe side effects from coronavirus vaccines. While vaccines rely on an intact immune system to develop targeted antibodies and infection-fighting cells, AstraZeneca's therapy Evusheld contains lab-made antibodies designed to linger in the body for months to contain the virus in case of an infection.

Early BioNTech, Pfizer data suggests boosters may protect against Omicron infection

BioNTech and Pfizer said on Wednesday a three-shot course of their COVID-19 vaccine was able to neutralise the new Omicron variant in a laboratory test, an early signal that booster shots could be key to protection against infection from the newly identified variant. The German and U.S. companies said two doses of their vaccine resulted in significantly lower neutralising antibodies but could still be protective against severe disease.

Factbox: Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed tougher COVID-19 restrictions in England on Wednesday, ordering people to work from home, wear masks in public places and use vaccine passes to slow the spread of the Omicron variant. EUROPE

Johnson imposes COVID-19 'Plan B' in England to contain Omicron

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed tougher COVID-19 restrictions in England on Wednesday, ordering people to work from home, wear masks in public places and use vaccine passes to slow the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant. Undermined by accusations that his staff partied at Downing Street during a Christmas lockdown last year, Johnson said Omicron was spreading rapidly and he had no choice but to move to "Plan B" while a vaccine booster programme rolls out.

Analysis: Omicron is a wake-up call for COVID-19 vaccine developers

Arrival of the highly-mutated Omicron variant is a wake-up call to develop vaccines less susceptible to the rapid changes of the coronavirus, leading virologists and immunologists told Reuters. Most first-generation COVID-19 vaccines target the spike protein on the outer surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus used to infect human cells. Omicron has prompted alarm among scientists because it has far more mutations than earlier variants, including more than 30 on its spike.

Act now to curb Omicron's spread, WHO's Tedros tells world

Governments need to reassess national responses to COVID-19 and speed up vaccination programmes to tackle Omicron, though it is it too early to say how well existing shots will protect against the new variant, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. The variant's global spread suggests it could have a major impact on the COVID-19 pandemic, and the time to contain it is now before more Omicron patients are hospitalised, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

Paris region activates emergency plan in hospitals over strained COVID-19 situation

France's Ile-de-France region on Wednesday said that all hospitals are activating an emergency plan due to the strained COVID-19 situation. The plan includes stepping up the number of ICU beds and, if necessary, reschedule treatments to free up capacities.

South Africa reports nearly 20,000 COVID-19 cases, an Omicron-wave record

South Africa reported nearly 20,000 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, a record since the Omicron variant was detected, and 36 new COVID-related deaths. It was not immediately clear how many of the infections were caused by Omicron, given only a fraction of samples are sequenced, but experts believe it is driving South Africa's fourth wave of infections.

Omicron reported in 57 countries, hospitalisations set to rise, WHO says

The Omicron variant has been reported in 57 nations and the number of patients needing hospitalisation is likely to rise as it spreads, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. The WHO, in its weekly epidemiological report, said more data was needed to assess the severity of disease caused by the Omicron variant and whether its mutations might reduce protection from vaccine-derived immunity.

(With inputs from agencies.)