Health News Roundup: Singapore to drop most indoor mask requirements next week; Pfizer-BioNTech COVID shot 73.2% effective in kids under 5 - new data and more

Its application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is based on pre-clinical data for the so-called bivalent dose that contains the dominant BA.4/BA.5 variants along with the original coronavirus strain. COVAX offers Mexico 10 million COVID shots for kids after president protests delays The United Nations-backed COVAX vaccine program has offered Mexico 10 million doses of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 shots for children after the country's president vowed to complain to the U.N. over delays, a senior Mexican official said on Tuesday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Singapore to drop most indoor mask requirements next week

Singapore will do away with requirements to wear masks indoors starting Aug. 29, as the country sees its COVID-19 situation stabilise further, the health minister said on Wednesday. For the first time in more than two years, people in the Southeast Asian city-state will no longer be required to wear masks indoors except on public transport and in high-risk settings like healthcare facilities.

Pfizer-BioNTech COVID shot 73.2% effective in kids under 5 - new data

Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine was 73.2% effective in children aged between 6 months and 4 years, the company's data showed on Tuesday, two months after the U.S. rollout of the shots began for that age group. Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine was authorized for children under 5 years of age in June, based on data that showed the vaccine generated a similar immune response to those seen in older age groups.

U.S. to extend baby formula waivers for poor families through year-end

The Biden administration will extend through year-end waivers that make it easier for low-income families to access baby formula through a government program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plans to announce on Tuesday. Earlier this year, the USDA started covering the difference in costs for states to offer a broader range of infant formula products for low-income families, after the closure of Abbott Laboratories' Michigan plant exacerbated a national shortage of the vital product.

Japan PM Kishida to brief about new measures for handling COVID - Kyodo

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will hold a briefing on Wednesday on new measures to handle COVID-19, the Kyodo news agency reported. Kishida is expected to announce the easing of border measures, including a waiver of pre-departure COVID tests for vaccinated inbound passengers and an increase in the number of daily arrivals.

Moderna seeks FDA nod for booster shot aimed at Omicron BA.4, BA.5

Moderna Inc on Tuesday sought U.S. authorization for its COVID-19 booster shot tailored against the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of Omicron and said if cleared it would be ready to deliver the doses in September. Its application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is based on pre-clinical data for the so-called bivalent dose that contains the dominant BA.4/BA.5 variants along with the original coronavirus strain.

COVAX offers Mexico 10 million COVID shots for kids after president protests delays

The United Nations-backed COVAX vaccine program has offered Mexico 10 million doses of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 shots for children after the country's president vowed to complain to the U.N. over delays, a senior Mexican official said on Tuesday. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador this week said Mexico was owed $75 million after it received less than half the 52 million vaccine doses it was allocated under the COVAX program, which aims to distribute shots equitably worldwide.

Whole Foods is sued over 'No Antibiotics, Ever' beef claim

Whole Foods Market was sued on Tuesday by three consumers and animal welfare nonprofit, in a lawsuit accusing the Amazon.com Inc unit of falsely marketing beef with the slogan "No Antibiotics, Ever." The proposed class action said recent independent laboratory testing found that Whole Foods' beef contained antibiotics and another pharmaceutical residue, meaning that cattle had been treated with antibiotics or other pharmaceuticals.

Exclusive: AstraZeneca may not stay in vaccines, but CEO has no COVID regrets

AstraZeneca may not stay in the vaccine business in the long run, its CEO told Reuters on Tuesday, showing how quickly fortunes have changed for the drugmaker that produced one of the first COVID-19 shots but has since lost out to rivals. Production delays, probes by regulators following rare cases of severe side effects, and concerns about its relatively short shelf life compared with other shots have stymied the adoption of the company's COVID-19 vaccine. Now, in the third year of the pandemic amid a global vaccine supply glut, its use has diminished in much of the developed world as countries have inoculated large numbers of people and prefer Pfizer and Moderna's mRNA vaccines as boosters.

British scientists behind key COVID trial launch study to test monkeypox treatment

The British scientists behind one of the major therapeutic COVID-19 trials have turned their focus to treatments for monkeypox, a viral disease that has been labeled a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO). The team from Oxford University behind the so-called RECOVERY trial - which honed in on four effective COVID treatments - on Tuesday unveiled a new trial, dubbed PLATINUM, to confirm whether SIGA Technologies' tecovirimat is an effective treatment for monkeypox.

Mexico, Cuba report rare deaths of two patients with monkeypox

Mexico and Cuba have reported the deaths of two people who had tested positive for monkeypox, although neither country attributed the fatalities to the viral disease. The reports follow monkeypox-related deaths reported in Brazil and Ecuador in the past month, but fatalities remain extremely rare in the current outbreak.