Health News Roundup: IMF calls for $15 billion this year to manage long-term risks of COVID; Greece offers second COVID booster for people over 60 and more

The paper, prepared with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the Global Fund, and charitable group Wellcome, said a new, more comprehensive approach was needed immediately to strengthen global health systems and limit the already staggering $13.8 trillion cost of the pandemic. Greece offers second COVID booster for people over 60 Greece will offer a second COVID-19 booster dose for people aged 60 and above, at least four months after the previous shot, Greek health officials said on Tuesday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Global groups propose pandemic plan costing $10 billion a year

It will take $15 billion in grants this year and another $10 billion annually after that to establish and maintain an adequate toolkit to respond to COVID-19 and address future pandemic threats, according to four organizations focused on global health and the economy. The estimate is laid out in "A Global Strategy to Manage the Long-term Risks of COVID-19," a working paper published on Tuesday by the International Monetary Fund, in partnership with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the Global Fund and Wellcome Trust.

FDA pulls authorization for GSK-Vir's COVID therapy as BA.2 cases rise

The U.S. health regulator said on Tuesday GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology's antibody therapy was no longer authorized as a COVID-19 treatment, with data suggesting it was unlikely to be effective against the dominant Omicron sub-variant in the country. The agency pulled its authorization for the therapy, sotrovimab, in much of the U.S. northeast last month.

Oklahoma House passes near-total abortion ban with threat of prison for providers

Oklahoma lawmakers on Tuesday passed a bill that would make it illegal to perform an abortion in the state except in medical emergencies, penalizing those who do with up to $100,000 in fines and 10 years in prison. The Republican-controlled state House of Representatives brought the bill to a vote this week, after it was passed last year by the Midwestern state's Senate. It now heads to the desk of Republican Governor Kevin Stitt for signing.

Biden launches U.S. plan to help Americans struggling with long COVID

President Joe Biden on Tuesday tasked the U.S. health department with developing a national action plan to tackle the looming health crisis of long COVID, a complex, multi-symptom condition that leaves many of its sufferers unable to work. Long COVID, which arises months after a COVID-19 infection, affects nearly 7% of all U.S. adults and 2.3% of the overall population and has cost an estimated $386 billion in lost wages, savings and medical bills, according to an analysis by the Solve Long Covid Initiative, a non-profit research and advocacy group.

COVAX, African Union decline to buy more doses of Moderna's COVID shots

COVAX, the global project to share COVID-19 vaccines, and the African Union have declined options to buy additional doses of Moderna's shot, as developing nations struggle to allocate supplies. The global alliance did not exercise the option for 166 million doses of the shot for the third quarter of 2022, as well for 166 million doses in the fourth quarter, which expired on April 1, a Moderna spokesperson said.

Obama and Biden reunite at White House to tout Obamacare, new provision

Former President Barack Obama returned to the White House on Tuesday for the first time since leaving office in 2017 to tout the benefits of his signature healthcare law and bolster his friend and former governing partner, President Joe Biden. Obama arrived in the East Room to robust cheers from the assembled crowd of Congress members and administration staffers, and remarked on the changes that had been made in the White House since he was last there - notably the arrival of a cat.

Canada panel makes initial recommendations on second COVID booster shot

An official Canadian panel has provided initial recommendations on the use of a second COVID-19 vaccine booster dose for some Canadians as infections rise in many parts of the country, Health Canada said on Tuesday. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommended Canadian jurisdictions to prepare for the deployment of a second vaccine booster dose program over the coming weeks prioritizing people 80 years old and over and residents of long-term care.

IMF calls for $15 billion this year to manage long-term risks of COVID

Countries around the world should provide $15 billion in grants this year and $10 billion a year thereafter to manage the long-term risks of COVID-19, the International Monetary Fund said in a new staff paper released on Tuesday. The paper, prepared with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the Global Fund, and charitable group Wellcome, said a new, more comprehensive approach was needed immediately to strengthen global health systems and limit the already staggering $13.8 trillion cost of the pandemic.

Greece offers second COVID booster for people over 60

Greece will offer a second COVID-19 booster dose for people aged 60 and above, at least four months after the previous shot, Greek health officials said on Tuesday. "The relative platform will open on April 7th ," Marios Themistocleous, Greek health ministry's secretary general in charge of vaccinations told a televised briefing.

U.S. Senate Republicans border push, Democratic worries complicate path for COVID aid

The prospects of a $10 billion U.S. COVID-19 relief package were complicated on Tuesday by Senate Republicans' demand to link the bill to a vote on border restrictions and concerns by some House Democrats that the proposal did not provide international aid. The competing demands come as top Democrats were aiming to pass the bill, which is less than half the $22 billion President Joe Biden had sought, before a two-week recess starts late this week.