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 India battles rash of "black fungus" cases
India has ordered tighter surveillance of a rare fungal disease
hitting COVID-19 patients, officials said on Thursday, piling
pressure on hospitals struggling with the world's highest number of
daily infections of the novel coronavirus.
Mucormycosis, or "black fungus" usually infects people whose immune
system has been compromised, causing blackening or discolouration
over the nose, blurred or double vision, chest pain, breathing
difficulties and coughing blood.
Doctors believe that the use of steroids to treat severe COVID-19
could be causing the rash of cases because those drugs reduce
immunity and push up sugar levels.
U.S. weighs changes to travel restrictions
The Biden administration has been weighing changes to sweeping
travel restrictions that bar much of the world's population from
entering the United States, but has reached no decisions, government
and industry officials told Reuters.
European Union countries agreed on Wednesday to ease travel
restrictions on non-EU visitors ahead of the summer tourist season,
a move that could open the bloc's door to all Britons and to
vaccinated Americans.
Ambassadors from the 27 EU countries approved a European Commission
proposal from May 3 to loosen the criteria to determine "safe"
countries and to let in fully vaccinated tourists from elsewhere.
Pfizer vaccine can be stored in refrigerator for a month
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized
storage of Pfizer and German partner BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine at
temperatures of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius for up to one month, up from
a previous maximum limit of five days.
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 "This change should make this
vaccine more widely available to the American
public by facilitating the ability of vaccine
providers, such as community doctors' offices,
to receive, store and administer the vaccine,"
said Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center
for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
Australian doctors warn on vaccine hesitancy
Australia's top medical body on Thursday warned
the country's residents were "sitting ducks" for
COVID-19, as business leaders call for the
international border to be reopened faster
despite a sluggish national vaccination drive.
The Australian Medical Association said it was worried many
Australians were delaying getting vaccinated because of the
country's success in stamping out the virus, and urged authorities
to roll out a more effective advertising campaign.
Australia closed its international borders in March 2020 to mostly
non-citizens and permanent residents, helping keep COVID-19 cases
relatively low. It has recorded just under 30,000 cases and 910
deaths.
UK begins 'booster' shot trial
Britain launched a nationwide study on Wednesday to explore whether
giving a third dose "booster" shot of coronavirus vaccines would be
safe and effective in extending immune protection.
The trial, which aims to recruit nearly 3,000 participants, will
look at seven different COVID-19 shots, some of which are already
approved by regulators and in wide use and others that are still in
development.
British officials have been planning for the possibility of a
booster vaccination campaign before the winter after initially
targeting immunisation with a two-dose schedule for the whole adult
population by the summer.
(Compiled by Linda Noakes; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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