Health News Roundup: Japan COVID cases hit 1 million as infections spread beyond Tokyo; U.S. nurses' COVID-19 grief pours out online: 'I just don't want to watch anyone else die' and more

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) had said in mid-July that more data was needed before it could make a recommendation on boosters, but the EU's biggest countries Germany and France are ploughing ahead with plans to roll out some anyway. Factbox-COVID-19 and the U.S. courts: challenges to vaccine requirements The resurgence of COVID-19 cases in the United States due to the Delta variant has prompted public and private employers and schools to mandate coronavirus vaccines, drawing legal challenges from civil libertarians and vaccine skeptics.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Japan COVID cases hit 1 million as infections spread beyond Tokyo

Japan reached the milestone of one million coronavirus cases on Friday, domestic media reported, as infections soared in Olympic host Tokyo and other urban areas as the country struggled to contain the Delta variant. New cases in Tokyo hit 4,515, the second-highest after Thursday's record 5,042, while the neighboring, populous prefecture of Kanagawa saw its cases soaring to more than 2,000, quadrupling in less than two weeks.

U.S. nurses' COVID-19 grief pours out online: 'I just don't want to watch anyone else die'

Nichole Atherton couldn't take it anymore. The intensive care nurse watched helplessly last year as COVID-19 sufferers died in her Mississippi hospital - slowly, painfully and alone. Then in July she was again confronted with a wave of deathly ill patients, even though almost all likely could have saved themselves by getting the coronavirus vaccine.

Delta spreads in Sydney as Australia widens COVID-19 restrictions

Australian officials warned Sydney residents on Friday to brace for a surge in COVID-19 cases after the country's largest city logged record infections for the second straight day despite a weeks-long lockdown to stamp out an outbreak of Delta variant. "Just based on the trend in the last few days and where things are going, I am expecting higher case numbers in the next few days and I just want everyone to be prepared for that," New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney, the state capital.

EU regulator advises updating J&J shot label with new disorders

Europe's drugs regulator on Friday advised that low platelets, dizziness and ear ringing be added as adverse reactions following vaccination with J&J's COVID-19 shot, and said it had not found a link between coronavirus vaccines and menstrual disorders so far.

EU: too early to say if COVID booster needed as Germany, France press ahead

There's not enough data to recommend using COVID-19 vaccine boosters, the European Union's drugs regulator said on Friday, after major EU states said they would roll out a third dose for the most vulnerable from September. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) had said in mid-July that more data was needed before it could make a recommendation on boosters, but the EU's biggest countries Germany and France are ploughing ahead with plans to roll out some anyway.

Factbox-COVID-19 and the U.S. courts: challenges to vaccine requirements

The resurgence of COVID-19 cases in the United States due to the Delta variant has prompted public and private employers and schools to mandate coronavirus vaccines, drawing legal challenges from civil libertarians and vaccine skeptics. Below is a selection of some key cases.

Seven die after outbreak of Colombian variant of COVID-19 at Belgian nursing home

Seven residents of a nursing home in Belgium have died after being infected with the Colombian variant of the coronavirus, despite being fully vaccinated, the virology team that conducted tests said on Friday. The variant of COVID-19 that originated in Colombia, or B.1.621, has been detected in recent weeks in the United States but cases in Europe have been rare.

Senegalese doctors, cemetery workers battle COVID-19 surge

At Dalal Jamm hospital in Dakar, only the whooshing sound of a ventilator and beeps from a monitor indicated that the pregnant COVID-19 patient in the intensive care bed was still alive. A few cubicles down, another woman was on oxygen after giving birth while sick with the coronavirus as a third wave threatened to overwhelm Senegal's hospitals and some of its cemeteries.

Early signs COVID-19 vaccines may not stop Delta transmission, England says

There are early signs that people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 may be able to transmit the Delta variant of the virus as easily as those who have not, scientists at Public Health England (PHE) said on Friday. The findings chime with those from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which last week raised concerns that vaccinated people infected with Delta could, unlike with other variants, readily transmit it.

United Airlines makes COVID-19 shots compulsory for U.S. employees

United Airlines Inc on Friday became the first U.S. airline to require all its domestic employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The airline said employees would need to show proof of vaccination, five weeks after the U.S. drug regulator fully approves any of the vaccines from Pfizer Inc, Moderna Inc or Johnson & Johnson - expected sometime in the fall - or by Oct. 25, whichever is earlier.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)