Health News Roundup: Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 15,685; Brazil welcomes U.S. call for talks on vaccine patents and more


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 08-05-2021 10:49 IST | Created: 08-05-2021 10:32 IST
Health News Roundup: Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 15,685; Brazil welcomes U.S. call for talks on vaccine patents and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 15,685 - RKI

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 15,685 to 3,507,673, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Saturday. The reported death toll rose by 238 to 84,648, the tally showed.

Brazil welcomes U.S. call for talks on vaccine patents

Brazil's government said on Friday it welcomed a call from the United States for multilateral talks on vaccine patents, and would engage constructively to find a way to increase the availability and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

In a joint statement released by Brazil's foreign, health and economy ministries, the government said it will cooperate with all governments and private-sector parties under the auspices of the World Trade Organization to achieve these goals.

Brazil eyes new Pfizer deal next week for 100 million more COVID-19 shots

Brazil expects to sign a new deal next week with Pfizer Inc for 100 million more COVID-19 vaccine doses, a Health Ministry official said on Friday, which would double the U.S. drugmaker's delivery to the Latin American country this year. Rodrigo Cruz, executive secretary at the ministry, told journalists the contract has been agreed and just needs to be signed. Earlier this week, Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga said 35 million of these shots are due to be delivered in October.

One out of three Americans fully vaccinated for COVID-19, CDC says

The United States has fully vaccinated 110,874,920 people for COVID-19 as of Friday morning, accounting for 33.4% of the population, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday. The country has administered 254,779,333 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country and distributed 327,124,625 doses.

CDC says U.S.-bound air travelers can use some self-administered COVID-19 tests

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday that U.S.-bound international air travelers can meet COVID-19 entry requirements using certain self-administered tests. In January, the CDC mandated that all airline passengers aged two and older -- including U.S. citizens -- be able to provide negative COVID tests within three days of coming to the United States or show proof of recovery from COVID-19.

India posts record daily rise in COVID-19 deaths as case numbers surge

India on Saturday reported a record one-day rise in COVID-19 deaths as cases surged by more than 400,000 for the third consecutive day. India's health ministry reported 4,187 fatalities over the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll to just under 240,000. Cases rose by 401,078, increasing the pandemic's total to 21.9 million.

Britain free of coronavirus by August, outgoing vaccine task force chief says - Telegraph

The new coronavirus will no longer be circulating in Britain by August, the government's departing vaccine taskforce chief Clive Dix told the Daily Telegraph on Friday. "Sometime in August, we will have no circulating virus in the UK", Dix said, adding that he believed the vaccine booster programme could be pushed back to early 2022.

Thailand reports 2,419 new coronavirus cases, 19 new deaths

Thailand on Saturday reported 2,419 new coronavirus cases and 19 new deaths, as the country deals with a third wave of infections. The new cases took the total number of infections to 81,274 and total fatalities to 382 since the pandemic started last year.

EU calls on U.S. and others to export their vaccines

The European Commission called on Friday on the United States and other major COVID-19 vaccine producers to export what they make as the European Union does, rather than talk about waiving intellectual property rights to the shots. Commission head Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference on the sidelines of a summit of EU leaders that discussions on the waiver would not produce a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine in the short- to medium-term.

AstraZeneca weighs seeking full, not emergency, U.S. approval for COVID-19 shot - WSJ

AstraZeneca Plc may skip asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency-use authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine and instead pursue the more time-intensive application for a full-fledged license to sell the shot, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Such a step would further delay any rollout of the British drugmaker's shots in the United States, according to the report https://on.wsj.com/3eWvrry, which cited people familiar with the matter.

(With inputs from agencies.)

Give Feedback