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Dec
03
2020
By The African Mirror
EXPLAINER-When and how will COVID-19 vaccines become available?

EXPLAINER-When and how will COVID-19 vaccines become available?

COVID-19
JULIE STEENHUYSEN nad CARL O’DONNELL  BRITAIN has become the first Western country to approve a COVID-19 vaccine, jumping ahead of the United States and Europe after its regulator cleared a shot developed by Pfizer and BioNTech for emergency use in record time. Pfizer, with partner BioNTech SE, and rival Moderna have released trial data showing their COVID-19 vaccines to be about 95% effective at preventing the illness, while AstraZeneca last month said its vaccine was on average about 70% effective. The companies have said distribution could begin almost immediately after any approval, with governments around the world to decide who…
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Dec
02
2020
By The African Mirror
Here is how the world reacted to Britain’s announcement that its COVID-19 vaccine rollout will begin next week

Here is how the world reacted to Britain’s announcement that its COVID-19 vaccine rollout will begin next week

COVID-19
BRITAIN has become the first country in the world to approve the COVID-19 vaccine developed by U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech and said it will be rolled out from early next week. Here are some reactions to the news: JOHN TREGONING, A READER IN RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS AT IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON: "This is great news and remarkable progress given the first cases were less than a year ago. It shows what progress can be made through science and innovation. The MHRA, the UK drug regulator, will have gone through all the safety data from the trials before approving…
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Dec
02
2020
By The African Mirror
COVID-19 vaccine trials in Africa: what’s promising, and what’s problematic

COVID-19 vaccine trials in Africa: what’s promising, and what’s problematic

COVID-19
SCIENTISTS are working around the clock to develop and test vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. Experts agree that widespread use of safe and effective vaccines will rapidly contain the COVID-19 pandemic, preventing transmission and disease. BENJAMIN KAGINA, Senior Research Officer, Vaccines For Africa Initiative, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town A key step in the process of any vaccine development is clinical testing, which involves assigning a vaccine or a placebo to human subjects, then evaluating the health effects over a period of time. This testing helps to demonstrate safety in diverse human populations living…
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Dec
02
2020
By The African Mirror
COVID R&D Alliance launches trial of Amgen, UCB, Takeda drugs

COVID R&D Alliance launches trial of Amgen, UCB, Takeda drugs

COVID-19
DEENA BEASLEY AMGEN Inc, UCB SA and Takeda Pharmaceuticals Inc has launched a global trial to identify whether any of three different drugs can reduce the severity of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients by moderating the immune system's response to the disease. The drugmakers are part of the COVID Research & Development Alliance, a group of more than 20 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies cooperating to speed development of therapies for the disease that has killed more than 1.4 million people worldwide. The study initially will test whether Amgen's psoriasis drug Otezla, Takeda's experimental anti-inflammatory lanadelumab, and UCB's experimental immune system-inhibitor zilucoplan…
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Dec
02
2020
By The African Mirror
Eswatini’s Prime Minister moved to South African hospital for coronavirus treatment

Eswatini’s Prime Minister moved to South African hospital for coronavirus treatment

COVID-19
ESWATINI Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini, who tested positive for COVID-19 two weeks ago, has been transferred to a hospital in neighbouring South Africa for further treatment, the tiny absolute monarchy's government has announced. The country's Deputy Prime Minister, Themba Masuku, said in a statement Dlamini was moved to "guide and fast track his recovery". The southern African nation of around 1.2 million people has so far recorded 6,419 positive cases of the highly infectious respiratory disease, with 122 confirmed deaths, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). - Thomson Reuters Foundation.    
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Dec
01
2020
By The African Mirror
Novavax sees start of U.S. COVID-19 vaccine trial in coming weeks after second delay

Novavax sees start of U.S. COVID-19 vaccine trial in coming weeks after second delay

COVID-19
VACCINE maker Novavax Inc has pushed back the start of a U.S.-based, late-stage trial for its experimental COVID-19 vaccine and now expects it to begin in the coming weeks instead of November, the company has announced. It is the second time that Novavax, which already has a late-stage UK trial underway, has rescheduled the Phase 3 trial after first flagging an October start, hampered by issues in scaling up its manufacturing. Shares of the U.S.-based company, which lags behind larger rivals Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc in their COVID-19 vaccine development timelines, fell 6% on the latest delay. Novavax plans…
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Dec
01
2020
By The African Mirror
WHO worried COVID “amnesia” will lead to another pandemic

WHO worried COVID “amnesia” will lead to another pandemic

COVID-19
THE world risked future pandemics if it suffered "amnesia" and did not learn from the current coronavirus crisis, a World Health Organization's top emergency expert has warned. "I have seen the amnesia that seems to descend upon the world after a traumatic event, and that's understandable," Mike Ryan told a briefing in Geneva. "But if we do this again like we did after SARS, like we did after H5N1, like we did after H1N1 pandemic, if we continue to ignore the realities of what emerging and dangerous pathogens can do to our civilization, then we are likely to experience the…
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Dec
01
2020
By The African Mirror
Q&A: Where are we in the COVID-19 vaccine race?

Q&A: Where are we in the COVID-19 vaccine race?

COVID-19
LARGE global trials of several COVID-19 vaccine candidates involving tens of thousands of participants are well underway with some having gathered sufficient data to seek emergency use authorisation. The following is what we know about the race to deliver vaccines to help end the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed more than 1.45 million lives worldwide: Who is furthest along? U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE released a full late-stage trial data analysis on Nov. 18 that showed their shot was 95% effective at stopping COVID-19, the highest efficacy rate so far. U.S. pharmaceutical company Moderna released its…
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Nov
30
2020
By The African Mirror
Battles won – and lost – against AIDS hold valuable lessons for managing COVID-19

Battles won – and lost – against AIDS hold valuable lessons for managing COVID-19

COVID-19
WORLD AIDS Day this year finds us still deep amid another pandemic – COVID-19. LINDA-GAIL BEKKER, Professor of medicine and deputy director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town The highly infectious novel coronavirus has swept across the world, devastating health systems and laying waste to economies as governments introduced drastic measures to contain the spread. Not since the HIV/AIDS pandemic of the 1990s have countries faced such a common health threat. This explains why UNAIDS has selected the theme “Global Solidarity, Shared Responsibility” for this year’s World…
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