Health News Roundup: Analysis-Falling demand for COVID boosters puts price hikes on the table; Chinese capital steps up COVID measures as cases quadruple and more

While all COVID-19 vaccines are currently provided free in the United States by the federal government, the U.S. public health emergency is expected to end in early 2023 and the private market will take over distribution of COVID vaccines and treatments. Indonesia finds medicines with ingredients linked to fatal child kidney injury Some medicinal syrups available in Indonesia contained ingredients linked to fatal acute kidney injury (AKI) in children, its health minister said on Thursday, as it investigates a spike in cases and 99 child deaths this year.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Analysis-Falling demand for COVID boosters puts price hikes on the table

With most Americans delaying or skipping new COVID-19 booster shots, analysts and investors are now predicting far fewer will be given each year, pushing the number of shots well below annual flu vaccinations. With fewer shots needed, vaccine makers including Pfizer Inc, partner BioNTech SE, rival Moderna Inc and Novavax Inc could have to hike prices as much as three times current levels if they hope to meet Wall Street revenue forecasts for the shots for 2023 and beyond, several analysts said. Last year, many on Wall Street were estimating the number of COVID-19 shots would be in line with the annual flu vaccine, which is the vaccine market leader with more than 160 million shots per year in the United States and 600 million shots globally.

Chinese capital steps up COVID measures as cases quadruple

China's capital, Beijing, has dialled up measures to stop COVID, strengthening public checks and locking down some residential compounds after a quadrupling of its case load in recent weeks, just as a key Communist Party congress entered full swing. The city of 21 million people on Thursday reported 18 new locally transmitted cases for the previous day, bringing the tally for the past 10 days to 197. That is four times more than the 49 infections detected in the previous 10-day period.

WHO: 'Concerned' about Ebola spread as latest eight cases not contacts of others infected

The eight most recent Ebola cases reported during the outbreak in Uganda have no known links with current patients, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, raising concerns over the spread of the deadly disease. In a briefing, the WHO said initial investigations into the cases by Uganda's Ministry of Health had shown they were not contacts of people already known to have Ebola.

UK sees steep fall in new clinical trials over past five years

The number of clinical trials started in Britain each year dropped by 41% between 2017 and 2021, posing a "clear and serious threat" to its reputation as a clinical research destination, an industry report said on Thursday. The UK government has been vocal about cementing its position as a global science superpower and capitalizing on clinical research conducted at the height of the pandemic that led to the discovery of multiple COVID interventions, from vaccines to drugs.

U.S. committee recommends COVID shot for CDC's free vaccine program

An expert committee on Wednesday recommended that COVID-19 shots become part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) vaccine program for children, which provides many types of free inoculations to millions of kids each year. While all COVID-19 vaccines are currently provided free in the United States by the federal government, the U.S. public health emergency is expected to end in early 2023 and the private market will take over the distribution of COVID vaccines and treatments.

Indonesia finds medicines with ingredients linked to fatal child kidney injury

Some medicinal syrups available in Indonesia contained ingredients linked to fatal acute kidney injury (AKI) in children, its health minister said on Thursday, as it investigates a spike in cases and 99 child deaths this year. Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin was also cited by media as saying some of those syrups were produced locally.

U.S. FDA authorizes Novavax's COVID vaccine as booster for adults

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized Novavax Inc's COVID-19 vaccine as a booster for adults, helping the company's shares reverse course and rise more than 3%. The authorization applies for people unable to get updated Omicron-tailored boosters, or those who would choose not to receive any other booster dose.

WHO says COVID-19 is still a global health emergency

The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that COVID-19 remains a global emergency, nearly three years after it was first declared as one. The WHO's emergency committee first made the declaration for COVID-19 on Jan 30, 2020. Such a determination can help accelerate research, funding and international public health measures to contain disease.

Ebola outbreak in Uganda still a manageable risk - Africa CDC

Africa's top public health body said on Thursday there was a risk that the Ebola outbreak in Uganda could spread but it was still manageable at this stage and emergency measures were not necessary. "The risk is there but it is a manageable risk," Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, Acting Director of Africa CDC, told reporters at an online briefing.

Swiss to destroy 9 million expired Moderna COVID-19 jabs

Switzerland will destroy 9 million doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine that have reached their expiry date, with another 5.1 million vaccine jabs set to meet the same fate by February, the government said on Wednesday. The wastage reflects the Swiss strategy of ordering more vaccines than it needed to ensure its population of around 8.7 million would get sufficient supplies even in the event of supply bottlenecks or quality issues.