Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
Singapore to drop most indoor mask requirements next week
Singapore will do away with requirements to wear masks indoors starting Aug. 29, as the country sees its COVID-19 situation stabilise further, the health minister said on Wednesday. For the first time in more than two years, people in the Southeast Asian city-state will no longer be required to wear masks indoors except on public transport and in high-risk settings like healthcare facilities.
Japan to waive pre-departure COVID tests for vaccinated travellers
Japan will waive pre-departure COVID-19 tests for vaccinated travellers to the country, but daily caps on entrants will remain in place, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Wednesday. Japan has maintained some of the strictest pandemic border measures among major economies, requiring travellers to present a negative coronavirus test taken within 72 hours of departure.
Young adults with disabilities find community on social media
Frustrated by what they felt were misperceptions of people with disabilities, Logan Kelble began posting dance videos on TikTok and bold, colorful fashion and makeup looks on Instagram – often with their feeding tube on full display. Kelble, a 22-year-old living in West Virginia who uses they/them pronouns, said sharing glimpses of their life with a feeding tube and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), a rare disorder that affects connective tissue and causes chronic pain for Kelble, has been a way to show the world that people with illnesses or disabilities are not defined by their conditions.
Ebola vaccinations in east Congo to start on Thursday after new case
An Ebola vaccination campaign will start in the Congolose city of Beni on Thursday after a new case of the virus was confirmed this week, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. More than 200 vaccine doses have been arrived in Beni, in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo, it said.
German health minister expects renewed coronavirus wave in autumn
German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said on Wednesday he expects a wave of COVID-19 infections this autumn but ruled out further lockdowns or school closures. He made the comments after a cabinet meeting during which the government approved stricter mask rules on trains and planes from October.
Vietnam suspends African swine fever vaccine after pig deaths
Vietnam has temporarily suspended the use of its first home-grown African swine fever vaccine after dozens of pigs inoculated with the shots died this month, state media reported on Wednesday. The pigs were among around 600 pigs at several farms in the central province of Phu Yen having been injected with the NAVET-ASFVAC vaccine developed by Navetco, a company owned by the agriculture ministry, reported Nhan Dan newspaper.
Whole Foods is sued over ‘No Antibiotics, Ever’ beef claim
Whole Foods Market was sued on Tuesday by three consumers and an animal welfare nonprofit, in a lawsuit accusing the Amazon.com Inc unit of falsely marketing beef with the slogan “No Antibiotics, Ever.” The proposed class action said recent independent laboratory testing found that Whole Foods’ beef contained antibiotic and other pharmaceutical residue, meaning that cattle had been treated with antibiotics or other pharmaceuticals.
Switzerland plans to procure 40,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine
Switzerland plans to procure 40,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine as well as 500 units of an antiviral drug, the government said on Wednesday. The army simultaneously aims to procure 60,000 vaccine doses and 500 drug doses as part of readiness measures, as the vaccine can also be used in the event of an outbreak of other smallpox viruses, it said.
Texas judge blocks Biden administration emergency abortion guidance
A federal judge in Texas late on Tuesday blocked President Joe Biden’s administration from enforcing new guidance in the Republican-led state requiring hospitals to provide emergency abortions to women regardless of state bans on the procedure. U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix in Lubbock agreed with Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) guidance was unauthorized and went beyond the text of a related federal law.
Bavarian Nordic vows to boost monkeypox vaccine supply to combat shortfall
Bavarian Nordic, the maker of the only approved monkeypox vaccine, said on Wednesday it was exploring the viability of using technically expired doses to help bridge a growing gap between demand and supply due to the current outbreak. In an interview with Reuters, Chief Executive Paul Chaplin said global demand for the vaccine is “exceeding our ability to deliver”.
(With inputs from agencies.)
