India Sets Dubious COVID Record; FDA Tells All on Emergent Plant; Wildfire Rashes?

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India recorded 314,385 new COVID-19 cases in a single day, topping the previous global record of 297,430 cases, held by the U.S. from a day in January. (Reuters)

Oxygen is starting to run scarce in India, and at least two dozen COVID-19 patients on ventilators at one hospital in the western part of the country died after a refilling tanker suffered a leak and interrupted the supply. (Reuters)

Meanwhile, France is imposing tougher entry restrictions to passengers traveling from India and Australia is reducing flights from the nation in an effort slow the spread of new variants. (AP, Reuters)

As of Thursday at 8:00 a.m. ET, the unofficial U.S. COVID-19 toll reached 31,862,987 cases and 569,404 deaths, up 69,272 and 929, respectively, from this time a day ago.

The FDA touted its vaccine manufacturing oversight while dishing on peeling paint, poorly trained workers, and product cross-contamination at the Emergent facility in Baltimore where millions of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine doses went to waste.

Those aside, the CDC estimated that just one of every 850 distributed COVID-19 vaccine doses was "unused, spoiled, expired, or wasted" -- nearly 183,000 in all. (CNN)

According to CDC's latest numbers, 51.5% of U.S. adults have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, with 33.8% being fully vaccinated.

But new vaccinations this past week slowed by 11%, the largest single-week drop since February storms stalled rollouts across the country. (Washington Post)

Confirmed: AstraZeneca still plans to seek FDA authorization in the U.S. for its COVID-19 vaccine. (FiercePharma)

What do you do when COVID breaks your sense of smell? Olfactory rehab. (ABC News)

A phase II/III trial will test a polyclonal antibody therapy (SAB-185) for outpatients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19, the NIH announced.

Jobless Americans are struggling to access free health insurance subsidized under the COVID relief bill. (CNBC)

After a year lost to the pandemic, schools can play a part in helping kids recover. (NPR)

In other news:

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    Ian Ingram is Managing Editor at MedPage Today and helps cover oncology for the site.