Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Moderna CEO expects emergency use nod for COVID-19 vaccine shortly after FDA's December 17 meet

Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccine could be approved for emergency use within 24 to 72 hours after the U.S. health regulator's advisory committee meeting, Chief Executive Officer Stéphane Bancel said on Wednesday. The Food and Drug Administration is scheduled to hold the meeting on Dec. 17 to discuss the company's request for emergency use authorization for its vaccine.

UK approves Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in world first

Britain approved Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, jumping ahead of the rest of the world in the race to begin the most crucial mass inoculation programme in history. Prime Minister Boris Johnson touted the green light from Britain's medicine authority as a global win and a ray of hope for the end of the pandemic, though he recognised the logistical challenges of vaccinating an entire country of 67 million.

South Korea students sit college exam behind plastic barriers and in hospitals due to COVID-19

Nearly half a million South Korean students nervously began a hyper-competitive university entrance exam on Thursday, with COVID-19 students taking the exam in hospital and others separated by transparent barriers. South Korea is battling a third wave of coronavirus infections, forcing authorities to take strict steps to ensure all students could safely take the test, deemed a life-defining event for high school seniors to win a degree that could help land a better job in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

U.S. health agency shortens quarantine guidance following coronavirus exposure

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday said a shorter quarantine period of seven days with a negative COVID-19 test and 10 days without a test would work for individuals showing no symptoms after virus exposure, providing alternatives to the current 14-day standard.

The CDC said it still recommends a 14-day quarantine period for those exposed to COVID-19 as the best way to reduce its spread, calling the shorter options alternatives it hopes will increase compliance.

AstraZeneca U.S. COVID-19 vaccine trial results likely in late-January, says health official

AstraZeneca Plc will likely get results of its U.S. COVID-19 vaccine trial in late-January and could potentially file for an emergency authorization, the chief adviser for the U.S. government's Operation Warp Speed program said on Wednesday. The British drugmaker and Oxford University have already published interim efficacy results from their UK trial in November, but the results have raised questions among scientists.

Australia sees no changes to COVID-19 vaccine rollout plans after UK approval

Australia expects no changes to the timeline for its COVID-19 vaccine rollout plans, Health Minister Greg Hunt said, after Britain approved Pfizer Inc's vaccine on Wednesday, the first country to do so. Britain said it would start inoculating high-risk people from early next week with the vaccine, developed by Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE.

As U.S. races toward COVID-19 vaccine, Britain takes the lead

Britain leapt ahead of the United States in approving Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, intensifying scrutiny on U.S. regulators as they consider whether to grant emergency use in the country that leads the world in coronavirus infections. A day after top U.S. health officials announced plans to begin vaccinating Americans as early as mid-December, British regulators granted emergency use approval to the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc along with Germany's BioNTech SE.

Some New York City teachers question timing of reopening schools as COVID-19 cases soar

Jamie Ewing longs for the day when he can return to teaching his fourth-grade class face-to-face, safely and permanently - but he is not confident that will be the case next week when he is due to go back to his school in the South Bronx.

Ewing's school is among hundreds of pre-kindergarten and elementary schools in New York City that Mayor Bill de Blasio said can return to the classroom for in-person learning on Monday after an abrupt shutdown of all city schools two weeks ago due to a rise in COVID-19 cases.

Medical journal editorial refutes WHO finding on Gilead's remdesivir for COVID-19

An editorial in the influential New England Journal of Medicine cites problems with a World Health Organization (WHO) study that found Gilead Sciences Inc's antiviral remdesivir failed to improve COVID-19 survival, and said it does not refute trials that demonstrated benefits of the drug in treating the illness. The editorial, by David Harrington at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, infectious disease specialist Dr. Lindsey Baden and Brown University biostatistician Joseph Hogan, was published on Wednesday along with the WHO study.

China orders inspections to prevent COVID spread via cold chain

China is carrying out sweeping inspections on food importers, supermarkets, e-commerce platforms and restaurants to prevent the spread of coronavirus through imported cold chain products, the country's market regulator said on Wednesday. "The current epidemic prevention and control situation is still complex and austere, and the risk of the disease entering through imported cold chain links is continuously rising as the exchange of international personnel and goods increases," State Administration for Market Regulation said in a statement on its website.