Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. U.S. prepares for first COVID-19 shots as another vaccine candidate emerges

U.S. officials prepared to begin inoculating Americans against the novel coronavirus by mid-December as another global drug company on Monday announced promising trial results toward a vaccine, providing hope as the pace of infections accelerated. The head of the U.S. campaign to rapidly deploy a vaccine said on Sunday that U.S. healthcare workers and other high-risk people could start getting shots within a day or two of regulatory consent next month.

U.S. posts sharpest weekly rise in COVID-19 deaths since August The United States recorded its biggest weekly rise in COVID-19 deaths since August, increasing 32% from the previous week to average about 1,500 people per day, according to a Reuters analysis of state and county reports. New cases rose 13% in the week ended Nov. 22, or an average of more than 168,000 per day

AstraZeneca says COVID-19 'vaccine for the world' can be 90% effective AstraZeneca said on Monday its COVID-19 vaccine was 70% effective in pivotal trials and could be up to 90% effective, giving the world's fight against the global pandemic a third new weapon that can be cheaper to make, easier to distribute and faster to scale-up than rivals. The British drugmaker said it will have as many as 200 million doses by the end of 2020, around four times as many as U.S. competitor Pfizer Inc. Seven hundred million doses could be ready globally as soon as the end of the first quarter of 2021.

England to use testing to shorten quarantine for incoming passengers England will introduce a new system on Dec. 15 allowing passengers arriving from high-risk countries to take a COVID-19 test after five days of quarantine and to be released from any further self-isolation if they test negative. Airlines and other companies in the travel and tourism industries had been calling for such a scheme for months, having suffered devastating consequences from a 14-day quarantine rule that has deterred people from travelling.

U.S. to begin distributing Regeneron's COVID-19 antibody therapy Tuesday The U.S. government will start distributing Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc's newly authorized COVID-19 antibody combination on Tuesday, beginning with over 30,000 treatment courses, a health official said on Monday. U.S. officials on a call with reporters said doses will be allocated based on which states have the highest numbers of confirmed cases and hospitalizations, both of which are currently soaring nationwide.

Australia opens up more borders in domestic travel boost, eyes vaccine Australia will lift more internal border restrictions in a boost for tourism as new coronavirus infections slow to a trickle, while first vaccines could be available in March, a government minister said on Tuesday. Queensland state, a popular holiday destination, will allow visitors next week from the country's two most populous states, New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria, after closing its borders in August.

Decades of work, and half a dose of fortune, drove Oxford vaccine success It took Oxford University's brightest minds decades of work to give them the expertise to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. In the end, it was a momentary error - and a dose of good fortune - that carried them over the line. The Oxford vaccinologists were exhilarated on Monday when drugmaker AstraZeneca, with whom they developed the shot, announced that it could be around 90% effective, citing data from late-stage trials.

Mexico's confirmed coronavirus death toll rises above 101,900 Mexico's health ministry on Monday reported 7,483 additional cases of the novel coronavirus and 250 more deaths in the country, bringing the official number of cases to 1,049,358 and the death toll to 101,926. Health officials have said the real number of infections is likely significantly higher.

Japan to suspend domestic travel campaign in two cities, minister says The Japanese government is preparing to pause its domestic travel campaign in two cities following sharp rises in COVID-19 cases, the minister handling the government's coronavirus response said on Tuesday. Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said he hoped a final decision on the temporary exclusion of western Osaka city as well as Sapporo in northern Japan could be made later in the day.

AstraZeneca vaccine can be up to 90% effective; COVID-19 reinfection unlikely for at least six months The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine shows up to 90% efficacy