Health News Roundup: Quad-supported vaccine roll-out to begin in first half; U.S. COVID vaccine for children under 5 delayed by at least 2 months and more

The FDA authorized bebtelovimab for emergency use in patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 who are at high risk of progression to severe disease, including hospitalization or death. EU investigates reports of menstrual disorders after mRNA COVID shots The European Medicines Agency's safety committee said on Friday it was reviewing reports of heavy menstrual bleeding and absence of menstruation from women who had received COVID vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Quad-supported vaccine roll-out to begin in first half

The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines that are part of the Quad group of countries' pledge to donate shots across the world, manufactured by India's Biological E, will roll out in the first half of 2022, the grouping said in a statement on Friday. Last year, Australia, Japan, India and the United States, the grouping known as the Quad, promised to supply more than a billion COVID-19 vaccines worldwide by the end of 2022.

U.S. COVID vaccine for children under 5 delayed by at least 2 months

A U.S. decision on Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine for infants and children 6 months through 4 years of age has been postponed for at least two months after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it needed more data. The FDA had planned to decide on the vaccine based on early trial data as soon as next week with the government planning to roll it out on Feb. 21. It had asked Pfizer to speed up its application as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus caused a surge of infections, including among children.

Exclusive-EU, Gates Foundation to support African medicines agency -source

The European Union and the Gates Foundation are set to announce financial support for nascent efforts to set up an African medicines regulator to boost the continent's drugs and vaccine production, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. The treaty establishing the African Medicines Agency (AMA) came into force in November but the agency currently exists only on paper. So far just over half of the 55 African Union (AU) member states have ratified the treaty setting up the AMA.

New Zealand, Australia vaccination mandates protests gain in numbers

Days-long rallies against COVID-19 vaccination mandates picked up in numbers in New Zealand and Australia on Saturday, with protesters blocking roads and disrupting the life of the countries' capitals. Several thousand protesters gathered at Canberra's major showgrounds, forcing the cancellation of a popular charity book fair, with organisers saying they opted to put their patrons' safety first.

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

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized Eli Lilly and Co's COVID-19 antibody drug for people aged 12 and older at risk of severe illness, adding a tool that has been found to work against the highly contagious Omicron variant. The FDA authorized bebtelovimab for emergency use in patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 who are at high risk of progression to severe disease, including hospitalization or death.

EU investigates reports of menstrual disorders after mRNA COVID shots

The European Medicines Agency's safety committee said on Friday it was reviewing reports of heavy menstrual bleeding and absence of menstruation from women who had received COVID vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. The assessment was in view of reports of menstrual disorders after receiving either of the two vaccines, both based on messenger RNA technology, and it was not yet clear whether there was a causal link, the agency said.

China says not granting passport renewals for non-essential travel

China's National Immigration Administration said it will not be renewing passports for non-essential travel while the international COVID-19 epidemic situation is still severe and cross border travel poses "great security risks". The administration said in a statement on social media it will "normally issue passports" for individuals who need to travel abroad for study, employment, or business.

WHO chief scientist: pandemic has not ended as more variants expected

The World Health Organization's chief scientist, Soumya Swaminathan, said on Friday that the world was not yet at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic as there would be more coronavirus variants. "We have seen the virus evolve, mutate ... so we know there will be more variants, more variants of concern, so we are not at the end of the pandemic," Swaminathan told reporters in South Africa, where she was visiting vaccine manufacturing facilities with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Olympics-Beijing Games organiser reports 8 new COVID-19 cases on Feb 11

The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Organizing Committee said on Saturday that a total of eight new COVID-19 cases were detected among games-related personnel on Feb. 11. All of the cases were among those already in the "closed loop" bubble that separates all event personnel from the public, five of whom were classified as either an athlete or team official, the notice said.

China approves use of Pfizer's COVID drug Paxlovid

China's medical products regulator said on Saturday it has given conditional approval for Pfizer's COVID-19 drug Paxlovid, making it the first oral pill specifically developed to treat the disease cleared in the country. The National Medical Products Administration said Paxlovid is approved to treat adults who have mild to moderate COVID-19 and high risk of progressing to a severe condition. Further study on the drug needed to be conducted and submitted to the authority, it said.