Health News Roundup: Germany to require rapid COVID-19 test for travellers from China; Explainer-What do we know about the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant? and more

Under an agreement reached during a visit to Beijing by Chancellor Olaf Scholz in November, Germans aged 12 and older may receive their first dose or a booster of the BioNTech vaccine at a designated international hospital in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Guangzhou or Chengdu. Africa CDC says Uganda's Ebola outbreak is coming under control Africa's top public health body said on Thursday that the Ebola outbreak in Uganda was coming under control, as it had been 39 days since the last confirmed case of the virus had been reported in the country.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Germany to require rapid COVID-19 test for travellers from China

Germany is changing its entry rules for travellers from China and will in future require at least a rapid coronavirus test to enter the country, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said on Thursday. There will also be random checks upon entry for any coronavirus variants as well as expanded monitoring of wastewater, he said in a statement.

Explainer-What do we know about the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant?

The Omicron subvariant, XBB.1.5, is causing concern among scientists after its rapid spread in the United States in December. Here is what we know so far:

U.S. new drug price exceeds $200,000 median in 2022

After setting record-high U.S. prices in the first half of 2022, drugmakers continued to launch medicines at high prices in the second half, a Reuters analysis has found, highlighting their power despite new legislation to lower costs for older prescription products. The median annual price of the 17 novel drugs the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved since July 2022 is $193,900, down from $257,000 in the first half of 2022, Reuters found. For full year 2022, the median was $222,003.

Hong Kong to allow import of hamsters after year-long COVID ban

Hong Kong's government will lift a ban on the import of hamsters in mid-January, almost a year after more than 2,000 of the rodents were culled due to a cluster of COVID-19 cases traced to a pet shop in the financial hub at the start of 2022. Based on its latest risk assessment, the city's Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) said on Thursday the restrictions on the commercial importation of hamsters could be lifted.

WHO says China releases COVID hospital data after reporting gap

The World Health Organization received data from China on new COVID-19 hospitalizations after a reporting gap, with figures on Thursday showing a nearly 50% increase in the week to Jan. 1. The U.N. health agency received no data from China in the weeks after Beijing lifted its zero-COVID policy in early December, prompting some health experts to question whether it might be hiding information on the extent of its outbreak.

China defends its COVID response after WHO, Biden concerns

China defended on Thursday the handling of its raging COVID-19 outbreak after U.S. President Joe Biden voiced concern and the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Beijing was under-reporting virus deaths. The WHO's emergencies director, Mike Ryan, said on Wednesday that Chinese officials were under-representing data on several fronts, some of the U.N. agency's most critical remarks to date.

German expats in China receive first foreign COVID vaccines

Germans living in China began receiving the BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, the first such rollout of a foreign coronavirus vaccine in a country that has not otherwise approved the use of non-Chinese vaccines even as infections soar. Under an agreement reached during a visit to Beijing by Chancellor Olaf Scholz in November, Germans aged 12 and older may receive their first dose or a booster of the BioNTech vaccine at a designated international hospital in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Guangzhou or Chengdu.

Africa CDC says Uganda's Ebola outbreak is coming under control

Africa's top public health body said on Thursday that the Ebola outbreak in Uganda was coming under control, as it had been 39 days since the last confirmed case of the virus had been reported in the country. Officials first confirmed the outbreak in September and said it was the Sudan strain of the disease, for which there is no proven vaccine.

Countries mandate COVID tests for China travellers

Authorities around the world are imposing or considering curbs on travellers from China as COVID-19 cases there surged following its relaxation of "zero-COVID" rules. China has rejected criticism of its COVID data. PLACES IMPOSING CURBS

Afghan hospital wards fill with children suffering from pneumonia

In a bitterly cold bedroom at the start of winter in Kabul, 22-year Maryam sat with her baby son bundled up in a red jumper as he coughed days after being discharged for the third time from a hospital ward for suspected pneumonia. Every time 10-month old Rahmat's parents bring him home from the crowded, but warmer hospital, they say he gets sick again. The parents said they spend whatever they can from their shrinking income to trying to heat the room, which drops below freezing at night.