COVID-19 - The African Mirror

Jun

04

2021

Biden says U.S. to send 25 million COVID-19 vaccines around the world

COVID-19

JEFF MASON and CARL O’DONNELL US President Joe Biden has laid out how his country would share some 25 million of a planned 80 million COVID-19 vaccine doses with the rest of the world. The United States will donate nearly 19 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine supply through the COVAX international vaccine sharing program, he said in a statement. Through COVAX, some 6 million doses would go to Latin America and the Caribbean, about 7 million doses to South and Southeast Asia and roughly 5 million for Africa. The remaining doses, amounting to just over 6 million, would go…

May

29

2021

By The African Mirror

Macron pledges help for Africa

COVID-19

PRESIDENT Emmanuel Macron has announced that France would invest in boosting the production of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa, to help close a gap in the availability of the shots between African and Western nations. Speaking at a joint news conference with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Pretoria, Macron said Africa made up around 20% of the world's need for vaccines but only 1% of vaccine production. "How do we boost the production of vaccines on the African continent?" he said. "On this, we will this afternoon have an investment strategy to help these industrials produce more, and quite quickly."…

Jun

04

2021

By The African Mirror

Moderna to supply vaccines to Botswana

COVID-19

MODERNA Inc has entered a supply agreement with the Botswana government for its COVID-19 vaccine. The Botswana Medicines Regulatory Authority (BMRA) has issued an emergency use authorization for the vaccine, Moderna said. The latest agreement is separate from the 500 million vaccine doses, which Moderna has agreed to supply to the GAVI-led COVAX vaccine sharing scheme, the company said.

Jun

03

2021

By The African Mirror

Summit secures $2.4 bln for COVID shots for poor countries

COVID-19

STEPHANIE NEBEHAY and JOHN MILLER DOZENS of countries have pledged nearly $2.4 billion to the COVAX vaccine-sharing plan to widen the availability of COVID-19 shots to people in poorer nations who have so far come up short. The announcements, ranging from $2,500 from island nation Mauritius to millions of dollars and doses from larger, wealthier countries, came during a video summit hosted by Japan and the GAVI Vaccine Alliance, which leads the COVAX facility alongside the World Health Organization. "We have taken a big step towards 'one world protected'," said Jose Manuel Barroso, GAVI vaccine alliance chairman. The fresh funds…

May

29

2021

By The African Mirror

Algerian medics fear new infections

COVID-19

LAMINE CHIKHI ALGERIAN medics fear next week's reopening of national borders will trigger a new surge in COVID-19 cases despite health measures, as people living abroad rush home to see family. The borders have been mostly closed since the global pandemic struck in early 2020, marooning thousands of Algerians working overseas and separating families with dual nationality but helping to protect against a more serious infection rate. "I am afraid of a likely increase in cases after the opening. Risks are high because of the variants," said Wafa, a doctor working at a private clinic in Algiers who asked not…

May

28

2021

By The African Mirror

COVID-19 widens learning gap for girls

COVID-19

JAMILA AKWELEY OKERTCHIRI Seventeen-year-old Muniratu Adams, a form two student of the Jeyiri D/A Junior High School at Funsi in the Wa East District of the Upper West Region of Ghana, is fortunate to have returned to school this January after the long COVID-19 shutdown. Ghana’s education sector was one of the hardest affected by the pandemic and for many girls, particularly those in rural areas, the consequences of school closures means many will never return to their schooling. “It was difficult for me to come back to school,” she tells IPS. “When I was home, I did not think…

Jun

03

2021

By The African Mirror

Egypt aims to vaccinate 40% of population

COVID-19

EGYPT aims to vaccinate 40% of its population against coronavirus by the end of 2021, the prime minister said in a televised address yesterday. By the end of Wednesday, 2.5 million people will have been vaccinated from a total of 6 million people who signed up on the government's registration platform, Mostafa Madbouly said. The first batch of locally-made vaccines will be ready in July, he added.

Jun

02

2021

By The African Mirror

WHO approves Sinovac COVID shot in second Chinese milestone

COVID-19

STEPHANIE NEBEHAY THE World Health Organization (WHO) has approved a COVID-19 vaccine made by Sinovac Biotech for emergency use listing, paving the way for a second Chinese shot to be used in poor countries. A WHO emergency listing is a signal to national regulators of a product's safety and efficacy and will allow the Sinovac shot to be included in COVAX, the global programme providing vaccines mainly for poor countries, which faces major supply problems due to curbs on Indian exports. The WHO's independent panel of experts said in a statement it recommended Sinovac's vaccine for adults over 18. There…

May

28

2021

By The African Mirror

Tracking the pandemic, vaccine rollouts

COVID-19

THE coronavirus pandemic continues to test humanitarian responses, while the world faces questions about how to ensure equal access to vaccines. Many countries are rolling out coronavirus vaccination plans, but it’s unclear when – and in some cases, how – these vaccines will reach people caught in crisis zones. The COVID-19 pandemic is driving record-breaking humanitarian needs: Global aid response plans total more than $35 billion this year. Below you’ll find data exploring coronavirus trends and vaccine issues in key crisis areas, a table showing the worldwide picture, and a global map with select stories. Data on this page is updated once a…

May

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Pushed out of school, into domestic work

COVID-19

JORDAN MAYENIKINI EVERY Sunday, Rachel is allowed a few hours off work to go to church - her only moment of respite in a week she spends cooking, sweeping and washing clothes and dishes for a family of seven in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital. But when the 16-year-old's employer failed to pay her salary, she sacrificed one morning's prayers to learn about her rights at a training organised by Together For the Rule of Law, a local charity that supports domestic workers. "I have learned ... that it is not good for us minors to work," Rachel,…