Health News Roundup: EU books 150 million extra Moderna COVID vaccines for 2021; Gaza gets its first COVID-19 vaccine and more

EU books 150 million extra Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for 2021, option for more in 2022 The European Commission said on Wednesday it had struck a deal for an extra 150 million doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine this year, nearly doubling the number of shots secured from the U.S. biotech firm for 2021.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

EU books 150 million extra Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for 2021, option for more in 2022

The European Commission said on Wednesday it had struck a deal for an extra 150 million doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine this year, nearly doubling the number of shots secured from the U.S. biotech firm for 2021. Under the deal, which confirms what Reuters exclusively reported on Monday, the European Union also has the option to buy another 150 million doses next year.

Gaza gets its first COVID-19 vaccine shipment, officials say

Gaza received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines on Wednesday after Israel approved the transfer through its border with the Hamas Islamist-run territory, Israeli and Palestinian officials said. Gaza, where 2 million people live, has reported more than 53,000 coronavirus cases and 538 deaths.

EU wants vaccine contracts to include anti-variant clauses, EU chief

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday the EU wants its COVID-19 vaccine contracts to include flexibility for virus variants. This would allow the bloc to gain access to possible upgraded shots that may offer better protection against virus variants, as previously reported by Reuters.

Japan begins COVID-19 vaccination in 'first major step' to halt pandemic

Japan launched its COVID-19 inoculation drive on Wednesday, administering the Pfizer-BionTech vaccine to Tokyo hospital workers, as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga attempts to beat the odds and host the Olympics this summer. Workers at Tokyo Medical Center were among the first of some 40,000 medical professionals targeted to receive the initial shipments of the vaccine. They will be followed by 3.7 million more medical personnel, then 36 million people aged 65 and over.

India's COVID-19 'human barricade' to keep cases under control, say experts

With falling rates of COVID-19 infection in India and surveys suggesting nearly 300 million people may already have antibodies, some experts believe the worst of the disease has passed, despite a recent uptick in two hard-hit states. "There is a human barricade for the virus," said Bhramar Mukherjee, an epidemiologist at the University of Michigan, who with a team of researchers, has been modeling the trajectory of the outbreak in India.

GSK, Vir Biotech to expand COVID-19 research partnership for other diseases

British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Vir Biotechnology Inc will expand their existing partnership developing antibody therapies for COVID-19 to research therapies for other diseases, the companies said on Wednesday. The companies will research monoclonal antibody treatments for influenza and other respiratory illnesses as a part of the agreement, they said.

Exclusive: Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine supply to the EU 30% below plans, sources say

Pfizer has not yet delivered to the European Union about 10 million COVID-19 vaccine doses that were due in December, EU officials said, leaving it about one-third short of the supplies it had expected by now from the U.S. company. The delay is another blow to the EU, which has also been hit by delays in deliveries from Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca and U.S. company Moderna, and had also faced earlier delays on the Pfizer vaccine.

German vaccination programme accelerating, but variants raise stakes: minister

Germany is set to speed up its vaccination programme, but even with declining case numbers the rapid spread of more infectious variants of the coronavirus means nobody should drop their guard, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Wednesday. Spahn told a news conference that Germany would have received a total of 10 million vaccine doses by the end of next week. Some 4 million people, mostly carers and care home residents, have so far been vaccinated.

Indonesian firms sign up in droves to take part in proposed private vaccination scheme

Nearly 4,000 Indonesian firms, many of them textile companies, have signed up to take part in a proposed scheme that would allow the private sector to purchase COVID-19 vaccines procured by the government and inoculate their staff. Proponents argue the scheme would speed up vaccinations, kick-start key areas of the economy that have been hammered by the pandemic and lessen the government's burden as companies would bear the costs of distributing the vaccines and conducting vaccinations.

Britain says China must cooperate with WHO on COVID

Britain said on Wednesday that China must cooperate with the World Health Organization review into the origins of the virus which causes COVID-19 so that the world can understand who is responsible. The United States and Britain have expressed concern over the access given to a WHO mission to China - where the novel coronavirus emerged in late 2019.