Reuters Health News Summary

India's Modi gifts Bangladesh 1.2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine India gave 1.2 million free doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to Bangladesh on Saturday, its foreign minister said, as Dhaka urged New Delhi to maintain a regular supply of shots to battle the pandemic.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Britain nearing vaccine deal with European Union: The Times

Britain is close to striking a vaccine deal with the European Union as soon as this weekend that will remove the threat of the bloc cutting off supplies, The Times reported on Saturday. Under the agreement the EU will remove its threat to ban the export of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to Britain, it added. U.S. administers 140 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC

The United States has administered 140,180,735 doses of COVID-19 vaccines and distributed 180,644,125 doses as of Saturday morning, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The tally is for Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech, and Johnson & Johnson's vaccines as of 6:00 a.m. ET (1000 GMT) on Saturday, the agency said. France sees further rise in coronavirus patients in intensive care

The number of patients with cornavirus in intensive care units in France rose on Saturday to the highest this year, health ministry data showed, as the government faced calls for a strict lockdown to curb a third wave of infections. France had 4,791 ICU patients being treated for COVID-19, up from 4,766 on Friday, the data showed. Germany must suppress virus now or risk losing control, Merkel aide says

Germany must bring down coronavirus infections in the next few weeks or risk new virus mutations that are resistant to vaccines, and should impose night-time curfews in regions with high caseloads, said a top aide to Chancellor Angela Merkel. "We are in the most dangerous phase of the pandemic," Merkel's chief of staff Helge Braun told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. "The next few weeks will determine whether we can foreseeably get the pandemic under control." Brazil Covid-19 death toll exceeds 3,000 for second day in a row: health ministry

Brazil recorded 85,948 additional confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours and 3,438 deaths from COVID-19, the Health Ministry said on Saturday, the second day in a row fatalities have exceeded 3,000. Brazil has registered nearly 12.5 million cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 310,550, according to ministry data. COVAX expects full vaccine supplies from India's Serum in May, says UNICEF

A World Health Organization (WHO)-backed programme to supply coronavirus vaccines to poorer countries expects that the Serum Institute of India (SII) will resume full deliveries of the AstraZeneca shot to it in May, UNICEF said on Saturday. "Deliveries of SII/AZ vaccine are expected to begin fully again by May, with catch-up deliveries to reach every participant's full allocation up to May, accelerating thereafter," a UNICEF spokeswoman told Reuters in an email. Australia's Queensland state coronavirus cluster grows to three

Australia's Queensland state reported one new coronavirus case on Sunday linked to the highly contagious B117 UK mutant strain, but officials said a wider lockdown was not yet needed yet. The newly diagnosed man is a close contact of the first case in an emerging cluster, a landscaper who tested positive on Thursday, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said at a news conference. A third person tested positive on Saturday. Hong Kong says initial investigation of BioNTech vaccines shows no 'obvious systemic factors'

Hong Kong's government said an initial investigation by Germany's BioNTech and Fosun Industrial into its coronavirus vaccine did not show any "obvious systemic factors" during packaging after use of the vaccine was suspended in the city and neighbouring Macau this week. Authorities on Wednesday halted the use of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by BioNTech citing defective packaging, triggering confusion in inoculation centres across the city. Japan to issue digital vaccine passport: Nikkei

Japan is set to issue digital health certificates to citizens who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, joining China, the EU and other countries that have adopted similar measures aimed at opening up overseas travel, the Nikkei reported https://s.nikkei.com/3stfAX6 on Saturday. In line with international standards, the certificate can be managed on a mobile app, allowing the carrier to present the proof of vaccination when boarding a plane or checking in to a hotel, the report said. India's Modi gifts Bangladesh 1.2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine

India gave 1.2 million free doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to Bangladesh on Saturday, its foreign minister said, as Dhaka urged New Delhi to maintain a regular supply of shots to battle the pandemic. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the offering at the end of a two-day tour of Bangladesh to celebrate its 50th independence anniversary. The trip also marked Modi's first foreign travel since the outbreak of the pandemic.

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