Health News Roundup: Vietnam approves Abdala vaccine as president visits Cuba; Explainer-The case for, and against, COVID-19 vaccine boosters and more

10 compared with the previous week, with Montana's new hospitalizations rising by 26%, according to the latest report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sept.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Vietnam approves Abdala vaccine as president visits Cuba

Vietnam has approved Cuba's Abdala vaccine for use against the new coronavirus, the government said on Saturday, as the Southeast Asian country is battling its worst outbreak. Abdala becomes the eighth COVID-19 vaccine approved for use in Vietnam, which has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the region, with only 6.3% of its 98 million people have received at least two shots.

Explainer-The case for, and against, COVID-19 vaccine boosters

The U.S. government aims to begin offering COVID-19 vaccine booster shots widely next week to Americans age 16 and up. A panel of outside advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted against such broad coverage on Friday but backed a shot for people 65 and older, which the agency may or may not follow. President Joe Biden's administration faces criticism within the scientific community over whether the additional shots are needed for the general population.

U.S. FDA advisers recommend COVID-19 boosters for 65 and older after rejecting broad approval

Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted on Friday to recommend COVID-19 vaccine booster shots for Americans 65 and older and those at high risk of severe illness, after overwhelmingly rejecting a call for broader approval. The panel also recommended that the FDA include healthcare workers and others at high risk of occupational exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19, such as teachers.

Some U.S. hospitals forced to ration care amid staffing shortages, COVID-19 surge

Surges in coronavirus cases in several U.S. states this week, along with staffing and equipment shortages, are exacting a mounting toll on hospitals and their workers even as the number of new admissions nationwide ebbs, leading to warnings at some facilities that care would be rationed. Montana, Alaska, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Kentucky experienced the biggest rises in new COVID-19 hospitalizations during the week ending Sept. 10 compared with the previous week, with Montana's new hospitalizations rising by 26%, according to the latest report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sept. 14.

Singapore primary schools to shift online as COVID-19 cases rise

Singapore's primary schools will shift to home-based learning for 10 days ahead of a key national examination, the education ministry said on Saturday, as the country reported 935 new COVID-19 cases the previous day, the highest since April last year. Primary 1 to 5 students will move to home-based learning from Sept. 27 to Oct. 6.

U.S. administers about 384.9 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines -CDC

The United States has administered 384,911,290 doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of Saturday morning and distributed 466,569,635 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those figures are up from 383,994,877 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Sept. 17 out of 464,315,725 doses delivered.

Abu Dhabi cancels COVID-19 entry testing for UAE travelers

Abu Dhabi will cancel COVID-19 testing requirements to enter the emirate for travelers from the UAE starting on Sunday, the United Arab Emirates state news agency WAM said on Saturday. The UAE's capital had restricted entry into the emirate to those with a negative PCR test. Earlier this month, Abu Dhabi removed the need to quarantine for all vaccinated travelers arriving from international destinations.

Australian police clash with anti-lockdown protesters, arrest nearly 270

Australia's police arrested 235 people in Melbourne and 32 in Sydney on Saturday at unsanctioned anti-lockdown rallies and several police officers were injured in clashes with protesters. Victoria police said six officers required hospitalization. Several officers were knocked to the ground and trampled, the police said and television footage showed.

COVID-hit Chinese city tells residents to stay home as holiday starts

A city in southeast China hit by COVID-19 told residents on Saturday to stay home and closed various venues, as infections spread in the country's latest hotspot during a key holiday travel season. The government of Xiamen, in a series of notices, told residents not to leave home unnecessarily, closed parks, scenic spots and sports venues, and halted mass activities including tours, fairs and performances.

Italy reports 51 coronavirus deaths on Saturday, 4,578 new cases

Italy reported 51 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday against 66 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose marginally to 4,578 from 4,552. Italy has registered 130,284 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the ninth-highest in the world. The country has reported 4.63 million cases to date.

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