Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Sanofi and GSK delay COVID-19 vaccine, marking setback for global fight

Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline said clinical trials of their COVID-19 vaccine showed an insufficient immune response in older people, delaying its launch to late next year and marking a setback in the global fight against the pandemic. The announcement on Friday, which highlighted the challenges of developing shots at record speed, hinders efforts to develop the multiple options that experts say the world needs to counter a disease that has killed over 1.5 million people.

U.S. FDA says working to authorize Pfizer vaccine fast

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday it was working rapidly to finalize and issue an emergency use authorization for Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine. A panel of outside advisers to the FDA on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to endorse emergency use of the vaccine, paving the way for the agency to authorize the shot for a country that has lost more than 285,000 lives to COVID-19.

More women than men in U.S. nervous about fast rollout of COVID vaccine, and that's a problem: Reuters/Ipsos poll

American women, who traditionally make most of the healthcare decisions in their families, are more wary than men of the new, rapidly developed COVID-19 vaccines, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, presenting a potential challenge to efforts to immunize the public. The Dec. 2-8 national opinion survey showed that 35% of women said they were "not very" or "not at all" interested in getting a vaccine, an increase of 9 points from a similar poll conducted in May when vaccines were still being developed.

EU drug regulator endorses changes to remdesivir marketing for COVID-19 use

Europe's medicines regulator on Friday recommended adopting changes to the terms of the conditional approval for Gilead's remdesivir as a COVID-19 treatment in Europe, to make clear the conditions under which it can be used. The new terms add that a patient could need "low- or high-flow oxygen or other non-invasive ventilation at start of treatment," the agency said.

Germany braces for tougher lockdown before Christmas

Germany will have to shut down more parts of society before Christmas to try and get the coronavirus pandemic under control, ministers said on Friday, as Europe's largest economy reported a record number of daily infections and deaths. The government of the southwestern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg said German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the premiers of the 16 federal states would meet on Sunday to discuss new measures to slow the spread of the virus.

Any vaccine adverse effects up to national agencies to review - WHO

Any adverse effects from COVID-19 vaccines are for national authorities to review, the World Health Organization said on Friday in response to questions about Britain warning people with a history of anaphylaxis to avoid the Pfizer-BioNTech shot. "But people should not be too anxious. Remember there are a number of vaccine candidates coming online at the same time," WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told a U.N. briefing in Geneva.

AstraZeneca hitches ride with Russia's Sputnik in vaccine race

AstraZeneca will start clinical trials to test a combination of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine with Russia's Sputnik V shot aimed at boosting the efficacy of the British drugmaker's vaccine, Russia's sovereign wealth fund said on Friday. Trials will start by the end of the year and Russia wants to jointly produce the new vaccine if it is proven to be effective, said the RDIF wealth fund, which has funded Sputnik V, named after the Soviet-era satellite that triggered the space race.

COVID-19 cases in England fall below 500,000, ONS estimate shows

The number of people in England with COVID-19 fell below 500,000 last week for the first time since mid-October, an official estimate showed on Friday. The Office for National Statistics reckoned 481,500 people in England had COVID-19 during the week from Nov. 29 to Dec. 5, down 8% on the previous week.

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: Sanofi and GSK delay vaccine

U.S. to approve of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in coming days -Azar

U.S. approval of Pfizer Inc's experimental COVID-19 vaccine should come within days, with the first Americans getting immunized as early as Monday or Tuesday, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said on Friday. Azar, speaking on ABC News's "Good Morning America" program, added that the FDA had informed the drugmaker it planned to move forward toward authorization. The federal government would also work with the company to get the vaccine shipped out, he added.