The Latest: Mexico is 4th nation to OK the Pfizer vaccine – The Associated Press

MEXICO CITY Mexicos medical safety commission has approved the emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for the coronavirus.

Assistant Health Secretary Hugo Lpez-Gatell said Friday that Mexico is the fourth country to do so, behind Britain, Canada and Bahrain.

Mexico is set to receive 250,000 doses of the vaccine, enough for 125,000 people.

Lpez-Gatel has said that front-line health workers will get the shots first. Vaccinations are expected to begin as soon as next week.

Lpez-Gatel says the approval is of course a reason for hope, though the initial rounds of shots are not nearly enough for Mexicos health-care workforce.

___

THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

The White House is pressuring the FDA chief Stephen Hahn to grant an emergency use authorization for Pfizers coronavirus vaccine by the end of the day. The vaccine won approval Thursday from an FDA panel of outside advisers, and FDA signoff is the next step to get the shots to the public.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has reinstated indoor dining restrictions indefinitely in New York City in an effort to limit the increase in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. Starting Monday, only takeout orders and outdoor dining will be allowed in the city.

___

Follow APs coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

___

HERES WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

KALAMAZOO, Mich. The U.S. Justice Department is supporting Michigan faith-based schools in their court challenge to Gov. Gretchen Whitmers ban on in-person classes in high schools.

The departments Civil Rights Division filed an argument in favor of three Roman Catholic high schools and the Michigan Association of Non-Public Schools. A federal judge in Kalamazoo will hear arguments Monday.

The filing says schools and families have a constitutional right to practice their religion through in-person instruction. It cites a recent U.S. Supreme Court order that barred New York from enforcing certain restrictions on religious services in areas hit hard by the coronavirus.

Michigans health department argues the teaching restriction is necessary to control the spread of the coronavirus, especially after Thanksgiving gatherings.

___

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. The U.S. federal agency that provides health care to Native Americans says its expecting more than enough coronavirus vaccines to protect all the people working in the hospitals and clinics that it funds.

The Indian Health Service was treated much like a state for distribution purposes. It submitted a plan to vaccinate more than 2 million Native Americans and Alaska Natives.

The agency expects to receive 22,425 doses of the Pfizer vaccine next week and 46,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine by the end of the year. Those doses will cover the more than 44,000 people who work at hundreds of facilities that are receiving vaccine allocations through the Indian Health Service.

___

UNITED NATIONS -- Eight mainly Western nations are accusing North Korea of using the pandemic to crack down further on the human rights of its own people, pointing to reports of an uptick in executions related to the coronavirus and strict controls on movements around its capital.

The statement was issued Friday after the U.N. Security Council privately discussed North Koreas human rights situation. Germany and others had sought an open session but Russia, China and other council members objected.

Seven council members -- Germany, Belgium, Dominican Republic, Estonia, France, Britain and the United States -- joined by Japan criticized North Korea for rights abuses. They also said the North Korean governments decision to prioritize its weapons programs is inevitably worsening the impacts of the pandemic on the North Korean population.

___

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Arkansas health officials on Friday reported a one-day record of 55 deaths due to COVID-19 and 2,770 new confirmed or probable cases.

We have once again reached a grave milestone in this pandemic, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a statement.

While we may have hope ahead from promising vaccine news, we cannot grow weary over the next few weeks, he said.

In a statewide address Thursday night, Hutchinson said the state is seeing a surge in cases after Thanksgiving and suggested Arkansans travel less for the coming Christmas holiday and take rapid tests both before and after travel.

The state Department of Health reported a total of 2,875 deaths due to the illness caused by the virus and 181,624 total cases since the pandemic began.

The health department reported 1,059 people hospitalized with the virus.

___

WICHITA, Kan. A Wichita fitness studios owner and his business are suing Kansas for compensation for being forced to shut down and reopen with restrictions this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The lawsuit filed this week in Sedgwick County District Court by Ryan Floyd and Omega Bootcamps Inc. argues that the state used his and the business private property for the benefit of the general public when it and local officials imposed their restrictions. The lawsuit cites part of the states emergency management law that says people can pursue claims for compensation in court if their property is commandeered or otherwise used by state or local officials.

The Kansas attorney generals office declined comment, saying it was reviewing the lawsuit. Gov. Laura Kellys office did not immediately respond Friday to a request for comment.

____

RALEIGH, N.C. The chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court says non-essential, in-person court proceedings will be halted starting Monday for 30 days due to a surge in COVID-19 cases. Chief Justice Cheri Beasley said Friday the pause is necessary to protect the health and safety of court personnel and the public. Since the start of the pandemic, judicial branch officials and employees have reported 291 confirmed positive cases. In addition, more than half of North Carolinas county courthouses have been partially or completely closed due to COVID-19, and 11 of those closures occurred this week.

___

DENVER -- The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment on Friday released the locations of health facilities in urban and rural Colorado to receive the first shipment of 46,800 doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

Facilities in Denver, Aspen, Colorado Springs and Fort Collins were some of the chosen locations for the first Pfizer vaccines. Initially, 46 health care facilities will receive Pfizer vaccine doses; 151 facilities will get subsequent Moderna vaccine doses; and 40 of them will get both.

The locations were selected for their abilities to store Pfizer vaccines in -60C to -80C temperatures and a willingness to redistribute vaccines to other providers.

____

BISMARCK, N.D. North Dakotas death count per capita from the coronavirus has risen from 12th-highest in the country to fifth in just six weeks, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers.

The states death count has gone from 75 deaths per 100,000 people to 146 deaths during that time, according to The COVID Tracking Project.

The state Department of Health on Friday reported 27 new deaths, 12 of which were from November due to a reporting lag. The statewide death toll since the pandemic began now stands at 1,130.

State Health Department officials on Friday confirmed 513 new cases of the coronavirus.

North Dakota had for many weeks led the country in the number of virus outbreaks compared to population.

The state now ranks fourth, with 1,350 new cases per 100,000 people in North Dakota over the past two weeks. One in every 136 people in North Dakota tested positive in the past week., according to Johns Hopkins University researchers.

_____

NEW YORK Indoor dining restrictions will be reinstated in New York City on Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced. Only takeout orders and outdoor dining will be allowed.

Nearly 1,700 patients are hospitalized in the city with the coronavirus, triple the number a month ago.

The governments top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, spoke with Cuomo by livestream this week, noting he expects hospitalizations to keep increasing until mid-January.

Cuomos order came despite opposition from the restaurant industry, which warned of holiday season layoffs as the federal government hasnt passed additional COVID-19 relief.

Public health experts have repeatedly warned that indoor dining -- particularly in small, crowded restaurants where individuals are drinking and can take off masks when not eating -- poses a risk for airborne transmission. The CDC recently described such indoor dining as high risk.

_____

PHOENIX Arizona has reported nearly 7,000 coronavirus cases, the third-highest number since the start of the pandemic.

The state reported 6,983 confirmed cases and 91 deaths on Friday.

Virus-related hospitalizations stood at 3,492. Thats just short of the hospitalization peak during the states COVID-19 surge last summer. Hospital officials and public health experts have warned that hospital capacity could be reached this month.

Arizona has reported 394,512 total cases and 7,245 confirmed deaths.

___

RALEIGH, N.C. North Carolina reported more than 7,500 coronavirus cases, a single-day record.

More than 2,500 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, which represents a two-fold increase in the last 30 days.

The positivity rate has eclipsed 10% for nearly two weeks, reaching double digits for the first time since April.

Mandy Cohen, secretary of the states Department of Health and Human Services, attributed much of the uptick to people gathering over Thanksgiving.

Having more than 7,500 cases is staggering and alarming, Cohen says.

___

MILAN Italy registered 761 deaths on Friday, according to the Health Ministry.

Another 18,727 people tested positive, slightly more than a day earlier when fewer tests were carried out.

While the death toll remains high, restrictions have helped ease the level of contagion and the pressure on hospitals. About 1,500 fewer people were hospitalized with the virus and 26 fewer patients were in intensive care. There were 208 new arrivals in ICU.

Two key regions, epicenter Lombardy and neighboring Piedmont, will have restrictions eased this weekend. Theyll be allowed to dine indoors until 6 p.m. for the first time in weeks.

Italy has more than 63,000 confirmed deaths, fifth highest in the world, and 1.8 million confirmed cases.

___

BOSTON Doctors are reporting that a two-drug treatment is especially helpful for COVID-19 patients who need extra oxygen.

Adding the anti-inflammatory drug baricitinib to the antiviral medicine remdesivir helped these patients recover eight days sooner, in 10 days on average versus 18 for those given remdesivir alone, according to a study.

The medicines have been recommended since September, when early results from this U.S. government-sponsored study suggested the combination shortened recovery time for hospitalized patients by one day.

Full results published Friday by the New England Journal of Medicine show the benefit was even greater for those needing oxygen or other respiratory support short of a breathing machine. Serious side effects and new infections also were fewer in the combo treatment group.

The study involved more than 1,000 COVID-19 patients. All were given Gilead Sciences remdesivir, sold as Veklury, and half also received baricitinib, a drug Eli Lilly sells as Olumiant to treat rheumatoid arthritis, the less common form of arthritis that occurs when a mistaken or overreacting immune system attacks joints, causing inflammation. An overactive immune system also can lead to serious problems in some coronavirus patients.

___

OKLAHOMA CITY The Oklahoma health department has added paramedics, emergency medical technicians and CVS and Walgreen staff who will administer the COVID-19 vaccine to those who will receive the vaccine first.

The state Department of Health announced the revised plan in a news release and said health commissioner Dr. Lance Frye would discuss it on Friday.

Others to receive the vaccine first are health care workers and long-term care providers and residents. Frye says the state expects 166,000 initial doses of the Pfizer vaccine by the end of December.

A U.S. government advisory panel on Thursday endorsed widespread use of Pfizers vaccine, putting the country just one step away from launching a massive vaccination campaign against the outbreak that has killed more than 292,000 Americans.

___

HONOLULU A county on a Hawaii island believed to be the last one in the U.S. without any coronavirus cases has reported its first resident testing positive.

The Hawaii Department of Health on Thursday reported the case in Kalawao County on the island of Molokai. The health department says an adult resident tested positive after returning to the island on a local flight.

The person is in self-isolation and currently doesnt have virus symptoms. The health department says contact tracing was conducted and all other passengers on the flight are in self-quarantine.

___

MOSCOW Authorities in Moscow are expanding the COVID-19 vaccination program to include those in the retail and service sector.

Last weekend, Moscow opened 70 vaccination facilities to start delivering Russian-designed Sputnik V vaccines to thousands of doctors, teachers, and municipal workers.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin says a new shipment of the vaccine is due to arrive shortly, allowing the city officials to expand the immunization effort to those working in the retail and services sector starting next week.

Russias nearly 2.6 million confirmed cases is the fourth-largest caseload in the world behind the United States, India and Brazil. The government task force has recorded 45,893 virus-related deaths since the start of the outbreak.

Visit link:

The Latest: Mexico is 4th nation to OK the Pfizer vaccine - The Associated Press