Health News Roundup: Nigeria to produce vaccines locally with Serum Institute of India; Hungarian doctors, opposition protest 'cruel' change in abortion rules and more

The Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology and the Journal of Biological Chemistry are investigating five papers authored by Temple scientists, the journals told Reuters. Israel to roll out adapted COVID booster this month, official says Israel will offer the updated COVID-19 booster shots from Pfizer (PFE.N)/BioNTech (22UAy.DE) designed to combat the Omicron BA.4/5 subvariants by the end of September, a senior health official said on Wednesday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Singapore grants interim approval for Moderna's bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccine

Singapore on Wednesday granted interim authorisation for a bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccine made by Moderna, the government said in a statement. The vaccine has been authorised for use as a booster shot in individuals aged 18 years and above who have received the primary series of COVID-19 vaccinations, the city-state's Health Sciences Authority said.

Nigeria to produce vaccines locally with Serum Institute of India

Nigeria will partner with Serum Institute of India to start local manufacturing of vaccines used in the country's immunisation programmes, health minister Osagie Ehanire said on Wednesday. Africa's most populous country imports all of its vaccines, including those used to prevent polio, measles and tuberculosis, but has been seeking foreign partners to produce them at home.

Hungarian doctors, opposition protest 'cruel' change in abortion rules

Hungarian doctors and some opposition parties protested on Wednesday against a pending change in abortion rules that will require pregnant women to prove they had seen a definitive sign of life from the foetus before requesting the procedure. Re-elected in April, nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban faces his toughest term in power since a 2010 landslide with the forint skirting all-time lows, energy costs surging and European Union funds in limbo amid a row over democratic standards.

End of COVID pandemic is 'in sight' -WHO chief

The world has never been in a better position to end the COVID-19 pandemic, the head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, his most optimistic outlook yet on the years-long health crisis which has killed over six million people. "We are not there yet. But the end is in sight," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters at a virtual press conference.

Explainer-How the U.S. drug pricing law affects Medicare and its members

U.S. President Joe Biden last month signed the $430 billion Inflation Reduction Act, authorizing the federal government to negotiate prices on some prescription drugs and cap costs for the government's Medicare health program. Here is how the law may affect some of the 63 million Americans aged 65 or over or with disabilities who receive Medicare health benefits:

Moderna open to supplying COVID vaccines to China, CEO says

Moderna Inc has held talks with the Chinese government about supplying COVID-19 vaccines, but no decision has yet been made, CEO Stephane Bancel told Reuters on Wednesday. As the rest of the world gradually lifts COVID restrictions, China continues to lock down enormous parts of society and conduct mass testing to eradicate the coronavirus. It has not approved any foreign COVID vaccines and relies on several domestically developed shots.

Take whatever COVID booster you can get, says head of EU drugs watchdog

People in Europe should take whatever COVID-19 booster is available to them in the coming months, Emer Cooke, Executive Director of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), said in a Reuters Next Newsmaker interview ahead of an expected autumn rise in infections. Apart from the original COVID vaccines, the EMA has endorsed a number of Omicron-adapted vaccines in recent weeks.

Exclusive-Medical journals broaden inquiry into potential heart research misconduct

Three medical journals recently launched independent investigations of possible data manipulation in heart studies led by Temple University researchers, Reuters has learned, adding new scrutiny to a misconduct inquiry by the university and the U.S. government. The Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology and the Journal of Biological Chemistry are investigating five papers authored by Temple scientists, the journals told Reuters.

Israel to roll out adapted COVID booster this month, official says

Israel will offer the updated COVID-19 booster shots from Pfizer (PFE.N)/BioNTech (22UAy.DE) designed to combat the Omicron BA.4/5 subvariants by the end of September, a senior health official said on Wednesday. Israel's coronavirus task force chief Salman Zarka urged those in risk groups to take the booster along with a flu shot, though anyone above the age of 12 and at least three months from a previous shot or COVID-19 illness would be eligible.

Pfizer starts late-stage trial of mRNA-based flu vaccine

Pfizer Inc said on Wednesday it had started a late-stage U.S. trial of an influenza vaccine involving 25,000 patients, among the first such studies for a messenger RNA flu shot. The company said that the first participants had been dosed with the vaccine, which is based on the same technology used in its widely-used COVID-19 shot developed in partnership with Germanay's BioNTech SE.

(With inputs from agencies.)