Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Americans defy pandemic, political leaders to travel for Thanksgiving

Americans defied pleas from state and local officials to stay home for the Thanksgiving holiday in the face of the surging coronavirus pandemic, triggering fresh warnings from health officials with the release of vaccines still weeks away. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden joined in the calls for safety, urging people to forgo big family gatherings, wear protective masks and maintain social distancing. Mexico's coronavirus death toll rises above 104,000

Mexico's health ministry on Thursday reported 8,107 additional cases of the novel coronavirus and 645 more deaths in the country, bringing the official number of infections to 1,078,594 and the death toll to 104,242. Health officials have said the real number of infections is likely significantly higher. South Korea braces for bed shortages as coronavirus cases near nine-month high

South Korea reported more than 500 new coronavirus cases for the second consecutive day on Friday, a level unseen in nearly nine months, as a third wave of infections spread nationwide, leaving authorities scrambling to provide more hospital beds. "The situation is extremely serious and acute, as all of the 17 metropolitan cities and provinces and especially all the 25 districts in Seoul are reporting new cases," Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun told a meeting on COVID-19 responses. Once Australia's COVID-19 hotspot, Victoria goes 28 days without an infection

Australia's second-largest state, Victoria, once the country's COVID-19 hotspot, said on Friday it has gone 28 days without detecting any new infections, a benchmark widely cited as eliminating the virus from the community. The state also has zero active cases after the last COVID-19 patient was discharged from hospital this week, a far cry from August when Victoria recorded more than 700 cases in one day and active infections totalled nearly 8,000. Ireland set to reopen restaurants, gastropubs from Dec. 7: reports

Ireland's cabinet will be asked on Friday to approve the reopening of restaurants and pubs that serve food from Dec. 7, a week after non-essential retailers will be allowed open their doors again, a number of local media outlets reported. Ireland became one of first European countries to reimpose tough COVID-19 constraints on Oct. 21 when the government shut all non-essential retail and limited pubs and restaurants to takeaway service under its highest level of COVID-19 curbs. Britain asks regulator to assess Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine

Britain on Friday asked its medicine regulator to assess Oxford University and AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine candidate for temporary supply, a step towards beginning a roll-out before the end of the year. AstraZeneca expects 4 million doses to be available in Britain by the end of next month, and health minister Hancock is targeting the roll-out to begin before Christmas. AstraZeneca CEO expects to run new global trial of COVID-19 vaccine: Bloomberg

AstraZeneca is likely to run an additional global trial to assess the efficacy of its COVID-19 vaccine using a lower dosage, its chief executive was quoted as saying on Thursday amid questions over the results of its late-stage study. Instead of adding the trial to an ongoing U.S. process, AstraZeneca might launch a fresh study to evaluate a lower dosage of its vaccine that performed better than a full dosage, Pascal Soriot told Bloomberg News. Brazil's Bolsonaro says he will not take coronavirus vaccine

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday evening that he will not take a coronavirus vaccine, the latest in a series of statements he has made expressing skepticism toward coronavirus vaccination programs. In statements broadcast live over multiple social media platforms, the right-wing leader added that Congress was unlikely to require Brazilians to take a vaccine. Analysis: Questions over AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine data risk delaying approval

Days after grabbing headlines with its COVID-19 "vaccine for the world", AstraZeneca is facing tricky questions about its success rate that some experts say could hinder its chances of getting speedy U.S. and EU regulatory approval. Several scientists have raised doubts about the robustness of results showing the shot was 90% effective in a sub-group of trial participants who, by error initially, received a half dose followed by a full dose. Trump says coronavirus vaccine deliveries to begin next week

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that delivery of the coronavirus vaccine would begin next week and the week after. Speaking to U.S. troops overseas via video link to mark the Thanksgiving holiday, Trump said the vaccine would initially be send to front-line workers, medical personnel and senior citizens.