Health News Roundup: WHO official leading Wuhan COVID probe says cold-chain transmission possible; What you need to know about the coronavirus right now and more

Exclusive: Sinovac's Ukrainian partner seeks to delay COVID-19 vaccine shipments - letter Ukraine's plan to roll out a Chinese-made coronavirus vaccine from next month faces possible delay because of regulatory hold-ups, according to a letter written by the importer, in a further risk to the country's slow-moving vaccination programme.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Fossil fuel pollution causes one in five premature deaths globally: study

Pollution from fossil fuels causes one in five premature deaths globally, suggesting the health impacts of burning coal, oil and natural gas may be far higher than previously thought, according to a study published on Tuesday. Parts of China, India, Europe and the northeastern United States are among the hardest-hit areas, suffering a disproportionately high share of 8.7 million annual deaths attributed to fossil fuels, the study published in the journal Environmental Research found.

Hungary to start vaccinations with Russian COVID-19 shot

Hungary will start vaccinating people suffering no chronic diseases with Russia's Sputnik COVID-19 vaccine soon, the surgeon general said on Tuesday, becoming the first European Union country to use it. Cecilia Muller said the first 2,800 doses of Sputnik would be given to those who have registered for inoculations, and that as Hungary was striving for "maximum safety" those who have a chronic disease will not get the shot.

Exclusive: Sinovac's Ukrainian partner seeks to delay COVID-19 vaccine shipments - letter

Ukraine's plan to roll out a Chinese-made coronavirus vaccine from next month faces possible delay because of regulatory hold-ups, according to a letter written by the importer, in a further risk to the country's slow-moving vaccination programme. In the Feb. 3 letter, seen by Reuters, the importer, a partner of vaccine developer Sinovac Biotech, asked Ukrainian authorities to be allowed to delay the first shipments of its COVID-19 vaccines to April.

WHO welcomes U.S. move to join effort to boost COVID vaccines, testing, treatments

The World Health Organization's head on Tuesday welcomed the United States' move to join a WHO-backed programme to accelerate tools to fight COVID-19, as U.S. President Joseph Biden reverses the Trump Administration's course. The programme, formally called Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, is raising money to develop vaccines, diagnostics and treatments to tackle the pandemic, but still faces a roughly $27 billion funding gap, WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: Global health officials back AstraZeneca vaccine Does the world need new COVID vaccines? 'Jury is out', Oxford's Pollard says

It is not yet clear whether the world needs a new set of vaccines to fight different variants of the novel coronavirus but scientists are working on new ones so there is no reason for alarm, the head of the Oxford Vaccine Group said on Tuesday. South Africa has paused a planned rollout of AstraZeneca's vaccines after data showed it gave minimal protection against mild infection among young people from the dominant variant there, stoking fears of a much longer battle with the pathogen.

WHO official leading Wuhan COVID probe says cold-chain transmission possible

The head of the World Health Organization-led team in the central Chinese city of Wuhan probing the origins of COVID-19 said on Tuesday that cold chain transmission of the virus is a possibility and warrants further investigation. 'Cold chain' refers to the transport and trade of frozen food. China has pushed the idea that the virus can be transmitted by frozen food and has repeatedly announced findings of coronavirus traces on imported food packaging.

COVID-19 vaccine chasers hunt, wait and hope in Los Angeles

Jose Luis Espinoza had been chasing a COVID-19 vaccine for more than three weeks. He hadn't hugged his 98-year-old father in a long time, and was hoping a vaccine would change that. Last week, he struck gold in Santa Fe Springs.

More than 97% of recent COVID deaths in Israel were people who weren't vaccinated, PM says

More than 97% of COVID-19 deaths in Israel over the past month were people who had not been vaccinated, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday, as his government tries to increase turnout for the Pfizer Inc shots. Around 38% of Israel's 9 million population have received at least one vaccine dose, the Health Ministry says. But government goals of achieving 50% coverage and reopening the economy next month have been challenged as the daily vaccination pace ebbs.

Wealthy German high-tech hub doubles as anti-vaxxer base

Christoph Hueck illustrates the challenge Germany faces in rolling out a mass vaccination campaign to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. A scientist living in a wealthy, high-tech region, he does not plan to have any of the shots on offer. "I will not get vaccinated," Hueck, a molecular geneticist who authored a string of immunology papers before changing careers, told Reuters with a smile.