COVID-19 - The African Mirror

Mar

18

2022

WTO chief welcomes COVID shot patent plan, drugmakers balk

COVID-19

LUDWIG BURGER and PHILIP BLENKINSOP THE World Trade Organization (WTO) praised a provisional deal to waive patent rights for COVID-19 vaccines after more than a year of deadlock, though drugmakers said the move risked undermining the industry's ability to respond to future health crises. The United States, the European Union, India and South Africa agreed on Tuesday on key elements for a waiver. It now needs the backing of the 164 members of the WTO, which takes decisions based on consensus, so rejection by just one country could still block an accord. "This is a major step forward," WTO Director-General…

Mar

17

2022

By The African Mirror

The coronavirus in Nigeria has its own family history: keeping track is vital

COVID-19

NIGERIA recorded its first case of SARS-CoV-2 on 27 February 2020, and within five months at least one case had been reported in all states across the country. Author OLUBUSUYI MOSES ADEWUMI, Virologist , University of Ibadan By 11 March 2020, SARS-CoV-2 had infected over 100,000 people in at least 100 countries. The World Health Organisation consequently declared it a pandemic. Building on the success of Nigeria’s response to Ebola, the Nigerian government immediately activated a national Incident Control Centre. This was to enable routine surveillance, diagnosis, and prompt reporting of COVID-19 cases. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control swiftly…

Mar

16

2022

By The African Mirror

Masks, PCR tests no longer needed in Namibia as COVID cases fall

COVID-19

THE wearing of masks in public in Namibia and negative PCR tests for vaccinated visitors are no longer required, President Hage Geingob said on Tuesday, as active COVID-19 cases fall to just a couple of hundred. Infections peaked at more than 30,000 per month in June 2021 but the southern African country has averaged 14 cases per day during the last seven days, with the total active cases at 222. "Wearing of masks in public places is no longer mandatory," Geingob said in a televised briefing. People in closed spaces such as on public transport or in indoor public meetings…

Mar

15

2022

By The African Mirror

Wins, missteps and lessons: African experts reflect on two years of COVID response

COVID-19

ON 11 March 2020, just months after the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus was first identified in China, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a public health emergency of international concern. Over the next two years, COVID-19 would go on to infect nearly half a billion people, killing over 6 million around the world. Governments introduced strict lockdowns with stay-at-home orders that shut down the global economy. Now, most of the world is opening up. The Conversation Africa spoke to public health experts based in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa to get their take on the biggest lessons so far. The…

Mar

12

2022

By The African Mirror

Kenya lifts remaining COVID restrictions

COVID-19

KENYA lifted its remaining COVID-19 restrictions, including a ban on large indoor gatherings such as religious services and a requirement to present a negative COVID-19 test for arriving air passengers. Though Kenyans should continue heeding public health measures such as handwashing and social distancing, face masks are no longer mandatory in public and all quarantine measures for confirmed COVID-19 cases are halted with immediate effect, Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe told a news conference. For the past month the East African country's COVID-19 test positivity rate has remained below 1%, he added, attributing this to the rising number of Kenyans opting…

Mar

11

2022

By The African Mirror

Africa CDC has MOU with Pfizer for supplies of COVID-19 pill

COVID-19

AFRICA'S top public health agency has agreed on a memorandum of understanding with Pfizer to bring supplies of the pharmaceutical firm's Paxlovid antiviral COVID-19 pills to the continent, its director said on Thursday. Data from a mid-to-late stage study in November showed Paxlovid was nearly 90% effective in preventing hospitalisations and deaths compared to placebo, in adults at high risk of severe illness. John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), also said it was still talking to Merck about obtaining supplies of its molnupiravir COVID pill and a call was scheduled for this week about that.…

Mar

10

2022

By The African Mirror

SA’s Aspen signs deal to package and sell J&J COVID vaccine

COVID-19

SOUTH AFRICAN drugmaker Aspen Pharmacare concluded an agreement with Johnson & Johnson to package, sell and distribute the American group's COVID-19 vaccines under its own brand in Africa. In November Aspen entered into talks with J&J for a licensing deal that would give it freedom to sell and distribute the vaccine under its own brand. The agreement also allows Aspen to "discuss the expansion of the agreement to include any new versions of the drug substance, such as those developed for new variants or a different formulation for administration as a booster", Aspen said in a statement. J&J had contracted Aspen…

Mar

08

2022

By The African Mirror

COVID shutdowns exposed flaws in Uganda’s transport system: how to fix them

COVID-19

Uganda has lifted the last remaining COVID-19 restrictions on economic activity. This allowed boda-bodas (motorcycle taxis) to fully operate again beyond their 6pm curfew. The past two years saw restrictions on boda-bodas as well as other forms of transportation, such as 14-seater minibuses, which make the bulk of the city’s paratransit operators. They provide the primary form of public transportation, as in many other African cities. The minbuses and boda-bodas operate with minimal government oversight and regulation. Author ASTRID R.N. HAAS, Fellow, Infrastructure Institute, School of Cities, University of Toronto COVID-19 lockdown regulations, during this period, have oscillated between full…

Mar

05

2022

By The African Mirror

S.Africa risks destroying 100,000 vaccine doses by end-March due to slow uptake

COVID-19

ABOUT 100,000 doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine are at risk of being destroyed by the end of this month due to slow uptake by citizens, South African health authorities said. South Africa has recorded the most coronavirus infections and deaths on the African continent, however, inoculations have slowed and the country has ample vaccine stocks of about 25 million doses. "There is a risk that just over 100,000 or so doses which will expire by end of March ... may have to be discarded. It will be a sad day if significant volumes of doses can end up being discarded. We…

Mar

04

2022

By The African Mirror

New COVID data: South Africa has arrived at the recovery stage of the pandemic

COVID-19

A recently published South African study set out to determine sero-positivity against SARS-CoV-2 before the fourth wave of COVID-19, in which the omicron variant was dominant. Sero-positivity measures the presence of antibodies against the virus; it indicates past infection. The study focused on Gauteng, the country’s economic hub. Ozayr Patel asked Shabir Madhi to unpack the results and explain why the findings suggest that South Africa has reached a turning point in the pandemic. Author SHABIR A. MADHI, Dean Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at University of the Witwatersrand; and Director of the SAMRC Vaccines and Infectious…