COVID-19 - The African Mirror

Mar

10

2021

COVID-19 hits migrants hard

COVID-19

ANASTASIA MOLONEY FROM Australia to Egypt, migrants and refugees have been especially hard hit by job losses and economic pain during the coronavirus pandemic, with many struggling to access healthcare and state aid, a survey showed on Tuesday. The survey, published in a report by the Red Cross Red Crescent (RCRC) Global Migration Lab, included 3,250 interviews with migrants in eight countries - Australia, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Sudan, Sweden and Britain. Migrant workers are over-represented in hard-hit sectors such as food production and hospitality, meaning they have been disproportionately affected by layoffs and wage losses linked to COVID-19, the…

Mar

10

2021

By The African Mirror

Botswana, Kenya receive vaccines

COVID-19

VICE President Slumber Tsogwane this afternoon received 30 000 of Covishield vaccines from India on behalf of the people of Botswana. [origincode_photo_gallery_wp id="8"] https://twitter.com/WHOKenya/status/1369299917324292097?s=20

Mar

09

2021

By The African Mirror

Syria’s President and his wife test positive for COVID-19

COVID-19

SYRIA’S President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma have tested positive for COVID-19 after showing minor symptoms, according to his office. FILE PHOTO: Asma al-Assad, wife of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, reacts during the graduation ceremony of professors from Damascus University, who will work at the Syrian Organisation for Persons with Disabilities, in Damascus, Syria December 3, 2018. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki/File Photo The Syrian leader and his spouse, who announced her recovery from breast cancer in 2019, were in good health and would keep working in isolation at home, the statement said. Syria has seen a sharp rise in infections since…

Mar

09

2021

By The African Mirror

Latest on the spread of COVID-19

COVID-19

MILLIONS of English children and teenagers headed back to school on Monday for the first time in two months, while New York City high school students are expected to return to the classroom on March 22. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS * Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals for a case tracker and summary of news. EUROPE * Greece plans to lift restrictions in the retail sector and open schools before the end of March and begin to re-open the tourism sector in May ahead of the vital summer season. * The European Union's executive criticised Belgium for extending its blanket ban on…

Mar

09

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Expect post vaccinations side effect’

COVID-19

THE benefit-risk balance of the COVID-19 vaccines remains favourable after reviewing reports of influenza-like illness in healthcare workers who got vaccinated, a World Health Organisation has concluded. The Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety concluded that the symptoms of an influenza-like illness may be expected as immune responses following vaccinations in general and the reports of COVID-19 vaccines are consistent with the expected side-effects of vaccines, the WHO said.

Mar

08

2021

By The African Mirror

Follow my vaccine lead – Buhari

COVID-19

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has had his first COVID-19 vaccine shot, part of a bid to boost public confidence as Nigeria attempts to inoculate 80 million people this year. Vaccinating Nigeria's 200 million people, and those in other developing countries, is seen as key to stemming the spread of the coronavirus, but getting doses across the vast nation, with its pot-holed roads and lawless areas, is a huge challenge. Not all Nigeria's states have functioning airports, rail networks are limited, and authorities also have to overcome public distrust around the vaccines. "As a demonstration of leadership and faith in the safety…

Mar

07

2021

By The African Mirror

Mozambique’s vaccination plans

COVID-19

MOZAMBIQUE expects to inoculate 16 million high-risk people against the coronavirus by 2022, according to a top government health official. Mozambique will begin COVID-19 vaccinations next tomorrow after receiving a donation of 200,000 doses from the China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) last week. The government initially aims to inoculate about 60,000 health workers in the country of about 30 million. Mozambique’s Deputy National Director of Public Health, Benigna Matsinhe "We will do everything so that the entire eligible population is vaccinated by 2022," said Deputy National Director of Health, Benigna Matsinhe, who acknowledged it will take time given Mozambique's financial…

Mar

07

2021

By The African Mirror

Now is not time to relax, warns WHO

COVID-19

THE arrival of COVID-19 vaccines should not tempt countries to relax efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic, top World Health Organization officials has warned, citing particular concern about the situation in Brazil. "We think we're through this. We're not," Mike Ryan, WHO's top emergency expert, told an online briefing. "Countries are going to lurch into third and fourth surges if we're not careful."

Mar

07

2021

By The African Mirror

COVID-19 disproportionately affects women

COVID-19

GABRIELA BACZYNSKA WOMEN in European Union countries have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic because they make up the vast majority of workers in health and other frontline jobs, according to an EU report. The pandemic has also brought a rise in domestic violence against women, the EU's annual report on gender equality said. "The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected women's lives," it read. "There is already ample evidence that the hard-won achievements of past years have been 'rolled back'...progress on women's rights is hard won but easily lost." Health risks to women had increased as had their workload…

Mar

07

2021

By The African Mirror

South Africa reviews Pfizer vaccine

COVID-19

WENDELL ROELF SOUTH Africa's medicines regulator is at an advanced stage of reviewing an emergency use application for Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine. "Pfizer has engaged with SAHPRA via two regulatory pathways, that is registered for full commercial market access and Section 21 authorisation. The Section 21 application is in advanced stages of review," Yuven Gounden, spokesman for the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA), told Reuters. A Section 21 application, normally valid for six months, is an instrument for emergency use access of a health product that is unregistered. AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine was granted Section 21 approval by SAHPRA in…