COVID-19 - The African Mirror

Jan

11

2021

What you need to know about COVID-19 now

COVID-19

A World Health Organization (WHO) team of international experts tasked with investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic will arrive in China this week, its national health authority said. The team was initially aiming to arrive in early January for the investigation but their arrival was delayed due to lack of authorisation from Beijing. The National Health Commission, which announced the date on Monday, did not give details on the team's itinerary. Paralysed by snowstorm, Spain sends out vaccine, food The Spanish government will send convoys carrying the COVID-19 vaccine and food supplies on Monday to areas cut off by…

Jan

11

2021

By The African Mirror

Algeria registers Sputnik vaccine for use

COVID-19

ALGERIA has registered Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine for use, becoming the first African country to do so, according to the Russian Direct Investment Fund. Russia said last month it had signed a contract with Algeria to supply it with the vaccine.

Jan

10

2021

By The African Mirror

WHO tells rich countries: stop cutting the vaccines queue

COVID-19

EMMA FARGE and MATTHIAS BLAMONT THE head of the World Health Organization has urged rich countries to stop striking bilateral deals with COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers. "Rich countries have the majority of the supply," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in strongly-worded comments on vaccine nationalism at a Geneva news briefing. "No country is exceptional and should cut the queue and vaccinate all their population while some remain with no supply of the vaccine," he added. He asked countries and manufacturers to stop making bilateral deals and called on those who have ordered excess doses to immediately hand them over to…

Jan

10

2021

By The African Mirror

South African coronavirus variant detected in reinfection case in Brazil

COVID-19

RICARDO BRITO BRAZILIAN researchers have identified the concerning new coronavirus variant first discovered in South Africa in a woman who contracted COVID-19 for the second time, and said it was the first such case reported in the world. There have been other cases of reinfection in Brazil and the South African variant had previously been detected, but reinfection with this mutation of the virus is believed to be a first, researchers said. The case involved a 45-year-old woman from the northeastern state of Bahia, researchers from the D'Or Research and Teaching Institute (IDOR) said, after carrying out a genetic sequencing…

Jan

09

2021

By The African Mirror

South Africa testing vaccines on variant

COVID-19

ALEXANDER WINNING SOUTH African scientists are testing whether vaccines will be less effective against a COVID-19 variant first detected locally and hope for initial results within two weeks, a professor at the national communicable disease institute said. The variant, known as 501Y.V2, was identified by South African genomics experts late last year and is thought to be more contagious than older variants. Professor Penny Moore told Reuters the National Institute of Communicable Diseases had received samples from several local vaccine trials, including Oxford University and AstraZeneca's shot, and would try to find out whether antibody responses are reduced against 501Y.V2.…

Jan

09

2021

By The African Mirror

Vaccine appears effective against new variants

COVID-19

MICHAEL ERMAN PFIZER Inc and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine appears able to protect against a key mutation in the highly transmissible new variants of the coronavirus discovered in Britain and South Africa, according to a laboratory study conducted by the U.S. drugmaker. The study by Pfizer and scientists from the University of Texas Medical Branch, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, indicated the vaccine was effective in neutralizing variants with the so-called N501Y mutation, situated on a portion of the virus that it uses to enter and infect cells. All of the vaccines already approved or in development use this outer…

Jan

09

2021

By The African Mirror

WHO chief says ‘clear problem’ poorer nations not getting COVID-19 vaccines yet

COVID-19

THE head of the World Health Organization says there is a "clear problem" that low and middle income countries are not yet receiving supplies of COVID-19 vaccines. "Rich countries have the majority of the supply," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news briefing in Geneva, adding that he urged countries and manufacturers to stop making bilateral deals at the expense of the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility.

Jan

14

2021

By The African Mirror

Mozambique wants vaccine for 20% of population

COVID-19

MOZAMBIQUE has applied to access COVID-19 vaccines through the global vaccine distribution scheme co-led by the World Health Organization, giving it the option to buy doses for at least 20% of its population, President Filipe Nyusi has announced. As a low-income country, Mozambique qualifies for subsidised vaccines under the COVAX facility, which aims to make available 2 billion doses of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2021. "We have applied to the COVAX programme and we expect to get the vaccine to vaccinate 20% of vulnerable people", Nyusi said in an address to the nation. Health minister…

Jan

14

2021

By The African Mirror

Sudan lifts ban on travel

COVID-19

SUDAN has lifted a ban on travellers coming from Britain, the Netherlands and South Africa as of Wednesday until April 11, the country's civil aviation authority said in a statement. The country imposed the ban on December 23 due to the discovery of a new variant of the coronavirus in the three countries. Instead of the ban, travellers from the three countries have to quarantine for 14 days after arriving in Sudan, and must report any disease symptoms to health officials, the authority said. All travellers coming from abroad must have a certificate showing a negative test for COVID-19 issued…

Jan

14

2021

By The African Mirror

J&J COVID-19 vaccine on track for rollout

COVID-19

JULIE STEENHYSEN JOHNSON&JOHNSON is on track to roll out its single-shot coronavirus vaccine in March, and plans to have clear data on how effective it is by the end of this month or early February, the U.S. healthcare company's chief science officer said. Dr. Paul Stoffels in an interview also said J&J expects to meet its stated target of delivering one billion doses of its vaccine by the end of this year as the company ramps up production. The New York Times has reported that J&J was experiencing manufacturing delays that would reduce the number of doses initially available. Stoffels…