Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Chile OKs Covid Shots For 6 And Older; UK Says No For 12- To 15-Year-Olds
AP: Chile Authorizes Sinovac Vaccine For Kids Of 6 And Older
Chilean health authorities approved on Monday the use of the Sinovac vaccine against the coronavirus for 6-year-old children and older, the first Latin America’s country to take that step. Heriberto García, director of Chile’s Public Health Institute, said the institution approved the new measure by five votes in favor and one against. (9/6)
Fox News: COVID-19 Vaccines: British Health Officials Refuse To Approve Shots For Healthy Children Ages 12-15
British health officials have refused to approve COVID-19 vaccinations for healthy children aged 12-15 years old. Ministers have asked the officials to review the guidance in light of possible issues that might arise as the school term gets under way. The current guidance would allow for teens with underlying conditions or vulnerable parents to get the shot. The decision on healthy children was based on concern over an extremely rare side effect of the Pfizer vaccine that causes heart inflammation, the BBC reported. (Aitken, 9/4)
Axios: AstraZeneca To Give EU 200M COVID Vaccine Doses, Ending Legal Dispute
AstraZeneca agreed to deliver 200 million more doses of its coronavirus vaccine to the European Union by the end of the first quarter of 2022, the company announced Friday. The deal ends a monthslong legal dispute between AstraZeneca and the EU over vaccine supplies and will bring the total number of doses delivered by the company to the EU to 340 million. (Knutson, 9/3)
The Washington Post: Brazil Suspends Use Of Millions Of Doses Of China’s Sinovac Coronavirus Vaccine
Brazil’s health regulator suspended the use of just over 12.1 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine manufactured by China’s Sinovac after learning that vials containing the shots were filled at an unauthorized production base. The suspension is for 90 days as an investigation is carried out, said Anvisa, the regulator, which announced the decision in a statement Saturday. The Butantan Institute, a Sao Paulo biomedical center that has partnered with Sinovac to fill the vaccine for local usage, notified Anvisa about the irregularity the prior day, the agency said. (Jeong, 9/6)
Axios: New Zealand To Lift COVID Lockdown Outside Auckland
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Monday an end to the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown outside of Auckland, saying "we've done so well to get this outbreak under control." "We are within sight of elimination, but we cannot drop the ball," Ardern said at a briefing confirming the rest of NZ will move to level 2 of the country's four-tier pandemic response measures at 11:59pm Tuesday. (Falconer, 9/6)
The Washington Post: Trudeau Met With Gravel, Anti-Vaccination Protesters At Campaign Stop
Hours after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed that he “won’t back down” in the face of the “anti-vaxxer mobs,” protesters — many of them opposed to coronavirus vaccinations and public health measures — threw gravel at him at a campaign stop on Monday evening. The incident occurred while Trudeau was boarding his campaign bus after an event at a brewery in London, Ontario, a city some 120 miles southwest of Toronto. Videos posted to social media of the episode show protesters throwing gravel in the direction of the prime minister and some of the reporters traveling with him. Trudeau turned toward the direction was coming from and boarded the bus. (Coletta and Pietsch, 9/6)
In other global news —
Bloomberg: U.K. Plans To Extend Storage Limit For Eggs, Sperm And Embryos
Storage limits for sperm, eggs and embryos in the U.K. are to be increased to a maximum of 55 years to give people greater choice over when to start a family. Under the proposals announced by Health Secretary Sajid Javid on Monday, prospective parents would be given the option to keep or dispose of frozen reproductive cells or embryos at 10-year intervals. The existing storage limit is 10 years. “The current storage arrangements can be severely restrictive for those making the important decision about when to start a family, and this new legislation will help turn off the ticking clock in the back of people’s minds,” Javid said in a statement. (Atkinson, 9/6)
AP: Pelé Says Apparent Colon Tumor Removed But Feels Well
Pelé has had an apparent tumor on the right side of his colon removed in an operation. Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo said on Monday the 80-year-old soccer great is in an intensive care unit and will be transferred to a regular room on Tuesday. The operation was a “great victory,” Pelé said on his social media channels on Monday. (Savarese, 9/7)
CBS News: Former Soccer Player Jean-Pierre Adams Dies After 39 Years In A Coma Following Botched Knee Surgery
Jean-Pierre Adams, the former France and Paris Saint-Germain defender who spent 39 years in a coma, has died. He was 73. ... Adams, cared for by his wife, Bernadette, had been lying in a coma at his home in the southern French city of Nimes since 1982. He was injured in a match and required knee surgery. During the operation at Lyon Hospital, an anaesthetic error saw him fall into a coma. (9/6)
