Health News Roundup: Britain approves Novavax COVID shot for 12-17 year-olds; Moderna sues Pfizer/BioNTech for patent infringement over COVID vaccine and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Britain approves Novavax COVID shot for 12-17 year-olds

Britain's medicines regulator on Friday approved Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine for children aged between 12 and 17 years. The mRNA vaccines made by Moderna as well as the partnership between Pfizer-BioNTech are also cleared for use by this age group, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said.

Very few in the U.S. getting full monkeypox vaccine series - CDC chief

Very few people who have gotten monkeypox shots in the United States have received the second dose needed for full protection, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said on Friday. She told a White House briefing that nearly 97% of the shots administered were first doses, and although many people are eligible for a second dose, "very few" have been given so far.

Factbox-Vaccines delivered under COVAX sharing scheme for poorer countries

The COVAX facility, backed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), has delivered 1.63 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to 146 countries, GAVI data shows. In December, COVAX set a target of achieving 70% COVID-19 immunization coverage by mid-2022.

3M combat earplug lawsuits to proceed, judge rules, despite bankruptcy case

3M Co must face more than 230,000 lawsuits accusing it of selling defective earplugs to the U.S. military, after a U.S. judge on Friday ruled that the bankruptcy of a subsidiary did not stop lawsuits against the non-bankrupt parent company. Companies that file for bankruptcy typically receive an immediate reprieve from lawsuits, and 3M subsidiary Aearo Technologies LLC argued that extending those protections to 3M would buy Aearo time to address its debts and restructuring goals.

Energy costs alarm Britons needing at-home kidney care

Sitting next to her dialysis machine which pumps clean blood around her body for four hours every day, Dawn White says she fears Britain's spiralling energy costs means she will no longer be able to afford the price of her life-saving treatment.

"Without my machine five times a week, 20 hours, I will die," 59-year-old White told Reuters, while lying on a bed beside the dialysis machine in a purpose-built cabin in the garden of her home in southeast England.

Analysis-Novartis CEO may struggle to rally investors to Sandoz spin-off

Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan could struggle to woo investors to the listing of generics drugs business Sandoz, as weaker drug prices and jittery financial markets present one of his biggest challenges in the years-long overhaul of the Swiss drugmaker. Novartis said on Thursday it plans to spin off Sandoz on Swiss and U.S. stock exchanges next year, capping off a prolonged streamlining of the Basel-based drugmaker that began in 2014, preceding Narasimhan's appointment to CEO in 2018.

E.coli infections in four U.S. states rise to 84; majority Wendy's customers

The E.coli bacteria outbreak in four Midwest states from an unknown source has affected 47 more people, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday, with a majority of the total 84 reported to have sandwiches at Wendy's.

The agency said 52 people of the 62 it interviewed reported to have eaten sandwiches with romaine lettuce at a Wendy's restaurant in the week before they fell ill.

Moderna sues Pfizer/BioNTech for patent infringement over COVID vaccine

Moderna sued Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech on Friday for patent infringement in the development of the first COVID-19 vaccine approved in the United States, alleging they copied technology that Moderna developed years before the pandemic. The lawsuit, which seeks undetermined monetary damages, was filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. The suit also would be filed also in the Regional Court of Duesseldorf in Germany, Moderna said in a news release.

U.S. monkeypox cases may be peaking, experts say

Monkeypox cases in some large U.S. cities appear to be declining, matching trends seen in Europe, and experts are cautiously optimistic the outbreak may have peaked in places hit hardest hit by the virus. The World Health Organization earlier on Thursday said monkeypox cases reported globally declined 21% last week, after a month-long trend of rising infections, but noted that U.S. cases continued to rise.

Factbox: Monkeypox cases and deaths around the world

More than 90 countries where monkeypox is not endemic have reported outbreaks of the viral disease, which the World Health Organization has declared a global health emergency, as confirmed cases crossed 46,300 and non-endemic countries reported their first related deaths. Below are the non-endemic countries that have reported monkeypox-related deaths: