Health News Roundup: Venezuela receives second batch of 2.5 million vaccines via COVAX; Italian police arrest far-right party leaders after anti-vax riot and more

New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, reported 477 new coronavirus cases and six deaths on Sunday, in an outbreak that has kept 5 million people in state capital Sydney in a lockdown for 100 days. Venezuela receives second batch of 2.5 million vaccines via COVAX Venezuela on Sunday received a second batch of 2.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines via the COVAX mechanism, while the government said it hoped to reach immunity for 70% of Venezuelans by the end of the month.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

'Blood, sweat, no beers': Sydney set to ease COVID-19 curbs

Sydney was set to reopen after months in lockdown, officials said on Sunday, with businesses readying themselves to welcome fully vaccinated residents from Monday. New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, reported 477 new coronavirus cases and six deaths on Sunday, in an outbreak that has kept 5 million people in state capital Sydney in a lockdown for 100 days.

Venezuela receives second batch of 2.5 million vaccines via COVAX

Venezuela on Sunday received a second batch of 2.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines via the COVAX mechanism, while the government said it hoped to reach immunity for 70% of Venezuelans by the end of the month. Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Unicef representatives, as well as the Venezuelan government, were present at Maiquetia international airport outside Caracas to receive the doses.

Italian police arrest far-right party leaders after anti-vax riot

Italian police said on Sunday they had arrested 12 people including the leaders of the extreme right-wing party Forza Nuova, after clashes in Rome a day earlier over a government drive to make the COVID-19 "Green Pass" mandatory for all workers. Thousands of people https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/italian-police-use-water-cannon-push-back-anti-vax-protesters-rome-2021-10-09 took to the streets of the Italian capital on Saturday to oppose the move. Some tried to break past police in riot gear guarding access to Prime Minister Mario Draghi's office, while a separate group broke into the headquarters of Italy's main CGIL trade union and turned its offices upside down.

U.S. administers nearly 402 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, CDC says

The United States has administered 401,819,240 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Saturday morning and distributed 487,277,035 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those figures are up from the 400,669,422 vaccine doses the CDC said had been administered by Friday out of 485,713,525 doses delivered.

In hospital with COVID, conservative Texan running for governor condemns vaccine mandates

Conservative firebrand and Texas Republican gubernatorial candidate Allen West was receiving care for COVID-19 in a hospital on Sunday, he said on Twitter, noting that his experience with the illness had strengthened his opposition to vaccine mandates. West, 60, served as chairman of the Republican Party of Texas for less than a year before stepping down in June https://www.reuters.com/world/us/conservative-firebrand-west-resigns-texas-republican-leader-2021-06-04. He has opposed vaccine mandates and is not vaccinated against COVID-19, according to his Twitter page.

Canada's overworked healthcare sector brace for staff shortages as vaccine mandates loom

Canada's health and long-term care industries are bracing for staff shortages and layoffs, as deadlines for vaccine mandates loom across the country, with unions pushing federal and provincial governments to soften hard-line stances.

For hospitals and nursing homes, a shortage of workers would strain the already overburdened workforce dealing with nearly two years of the pandemic. The uncertainty sparked by vaccine mandates underscores the challenges on the road to recovery.

Russian rocket engine facility suspends tests to save oxygen for COVID patients

Russia will suspend test-firing rocket engines at one of its design bureaus in the city of Voronezh until the end of the month to conserve oxygen supplies for COVID-19 patients, a top space official said on Sunday. Russia, which is grappling with a surge of COVID-19 cases, on Saturday registered the most coronavirus-related deaths it has recorded in a single day since the pandemic began.

Three detained in Egypt after coronavirus vaccines found dumped

Egypt's public prosecution said on Sunday it had ordered the arrest of three people after thousands of unused COVID-19 vaccines were found dumped along a water channel. It said the vaccines had been allocated to the health directorate in the city of Minya, about 220 km (137 miles) south of Cairo, where 18,400 vaccine packages with a value of more than 5 million Egyptian pounds ($319,000) were found to be missing.

Italy reports 27 coronavirus deaths on Sunday, 2,278 new cases

Italy reported 27 coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday, down from 46 the previous day, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 2,278 from 2,748. Italy has registered 131,301 deaths linked to COVID-19 since the outbreak in February last year. It has the second highest toll in Europe behind Britain and the ninth highest in the world. The country has reported 4.7 million cases to date.

UK records 34,574 new cases of COVID-19 and 38 new deaths

Britain on Sunday recorded 34,574 new cases of COVID-19 and 38 new deaths within 28 days of a positive test for coronavirus. The government data compared with 34,950 new cases and 133 deaths reported on Saturday.

(With inputs from agencies.)