Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Scientists ask: Without trial data, how can we trust Russia’s COVID vaccine?

An announcement by Russia on Tuesday that it will approve a COVID-19 vaccine after less than two months of human testing prompted alarm among global health experts, who said that with no full trial data, the vaccine is hard to trust. Intent on being first in the global race to develop a vaccine against the pandemic disease, Russia has yet to conduct large-scale trials of the shot that would produce data to show whether it works – something immunologists and infectious disease experts say could be a “reckless” step. Dialysis patients at U.S. nursing home had higher rate of COVID-19: CDC

Nursing home residents on kidney dialysis had roughly three times the rate of COVID-19 compared to those not receiving treatment, U.S. health researchers found in a study of a Maryland facility. The study is based on data during an active coronavirus outbreak in April, when the nursing home reported its first positive COVID-19 case. At the time, around half the nursing homes in the state had active outbreaks. J&J eyes one billion doses of potential COVID-19 shot in 2021, weighs challenge trials

Johnson & Johnson could produce 1 billion doses of its potential COVID-19 vaccine next year if it proves successful and would consider injecting healthy volunteers with the novel coronavirus if there are not enough patients for final trials, a company executive said. J&J kicked off in July early-stage human safety trials for its potential COVID-19 vaccine after releasing details of a study in monkeys that showed its best-performing candidate offered strong protection in a single dose. Half of daily 100,000 COVID-19 cases in Americas are in U.S.: WHO director

More than 100,000 cases of C0VID-19 are being reported daily in the Americas, half of them in the United States, and there are worrisome spikes in countries that had outbreaks controlled, such as Argentina and Colombia, World Health Organization regional director Carissa Etienne said on Tuesday. “Our region remains under COVID’s grip,” Etienne said in a virtual briefing from Washington with other Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) directors. U.S. CDC reports 5,064,171 coronavirus cases

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday reported 5,064,171 cases of the novel coronavirus, an increase of 40,522 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 565 to 162,407. The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by the new coronavirus, as of 4 p.m. ET on Aug. 10 versus its previous report a day earlier. (https://bit.ly/2UkMHx9) Facebook removed seven million posts in second quarter for false coronavirus information

Facebook Inc said on Tuesday it removed 7 million posts in the second quarter for sharing false information about the novel coronavirus, including content that promoted fake preventative measures and exaggerated cures. It released the data as part of its sixth Community Standards Enforcement Report, which it introduced in 2018 along with more stringent decorum rules in response to a backlash over its lax approach to policing content on its platforms. Moderna says uncertain about coronavirus vaccine patent exclusivity

Moderna Inc said there was a possibility it was not the first company to make breakthroughs claimed in its patent applications, including those for its experimental coronavirus vaccine, according to a recent regulatory filing. The statement by the U.S. drug developer was made in a quarterly filing on Aug. 6 under mandatory disclosures of risks to its business. UK reports highest daily total COVID cases since June 21 at 1,148

The United Kingdom reported 1,148 confirmed new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, the highest daily total since June 21. The cumulative total of UK cases stood at 312,789, government data showed. Putin hails new Sputnik moment as Russia is first to approve a COVID-19 vaccine

President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia had become the first country to grant regulatory approval to a COVID-19 vaccine after less than two months of human testing, a move Moscow likened to its success in the Cold War-era space race. The vaccine, which will be called “Sputnik V” in homage to the world’s first satellite launched by the Soviet Union, has however not yet completed its final trials. Lebanon registers record number of daily COVID-19 cases

Lebanon on Tuesday announced a record daily number of over 300 COVID-19 infections and seven deaths from the virus as the country grapples with the aftermath of the Beirut port explosion that rocked the capital and overwhelmed hospitals. The country’s tally now stands at 7,121 COVID-19 cases and 87 deaths since February, according to health ministry data. Even before the blast there had been a recent surge in infections.