EU to decide on Moderna's COVID-19 shot for younger kids in two months The European Union's drug regulator expects to decide in about two months on whether to allow the use of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine in children aged six to 11 years, it said on Wednesday, after the U.S. drugmaker sought approval. Reuters Reuters

...

BERLIN, Nov 10 (Reuters) - People aged under 30 in Germany should only receive the Biontech/Pfizer (PFE.N)COVID-19 vaccine as it causes fewer heart inflammations in younger people than the Moderna (MRNA.O)shot, an advisory committee said on Wednesday.

The committee, known as STIKO, recommended that pregnant women also be inoculated only with the Biontech/Pfizer vaccine, regardless of their age.

Blinken: US to give J&J vaccine in conflict zones Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday announced an effort to distribute Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccines to populations living in conflict zones. Laura Kelly TheHill

...

Blinken said the U.S. has helped broker a deal between Johnson & Johnson and COVAX, the global initiative for distributing the COVID-19 vaccine, to deliver the one-shot J&J vaccine to people living in conflict zones and other humanitarian settings.  ...

LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization reported Wednesday that coronavirus deaths rose by 10% in Europe in the past week, making it the only world region where both COVID-19 cases and deaths are steadily increasing. It was the sixth consecutive week that the virus has risen across the continent.

In its weekly report on the pandemic, the U.N. health agency said there were about 3.1 million new cases globally, about a 1% increase from the previous week. Nearly two-thirds of the coronavirus infections - 1.9 million - were in Europe, where cases rose by 7%.

The countries with the highest numbers of new cases worldwide were the United States, Russia, Britain, Turkey and Germany. The number of weekly COVID-19 deaths fell by about 4% worldwide and declined in every region except Europe. ...

Biden plan to make unvaccinated workers pay for Covid testing could backfire The prospect of hitting businesses with new testing costs as many struggle to staff back up could harden opposition to Biden’s plan, and hamper the president’s latest push to end the pandemic. POLITICO

President Joe Biden wants unvaccinated workers to pay for office Covid-19 testing. But their employers could still end up footing much of the bill.

U.S. government to buy $1 billion more worth of Merck's COVID-19 pill The U.S. government will buy another $1 billion worth of the COVID-19 pill made by Merck & Co Inc and partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, the companies said on Tuesday. Reuters Reuters

...

The government in June agreed to buy 1.7 million courses of molnupiravir for $1.2 billion and is now exercising options to buy 1.4 million more.

Covid-19 drove deaths up 16% in OECD countries and hit mental health, too, report finds The Covid-19 pandemic drove deaths up by 16% among the 38 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, hitting overall life expectancy in 24 out of 30 members, the organization said Tuesday. Maggie Fox, CNN CNN

....