COVID-19 - The African Mirror

Feb

03

2021

‘Oxygen, oxygen, oxygen’: Nigeria battles shortages amid COVID-19 surge

COVID-19

LIBBY GEORGE and ALEXIS AKWAGYIRAM THE Lagos businesswoman recalled the "horrendous" week she spent in the COVID-19 wing of a city public hospital, where the sense of crisis was lifted only briefly by whoops of joy when a patient secured one of the few available tanks of oxygen. "There was a shortage," the 47-year-old, who did not wish to be named in order to protect the staff who struggled to treat her, told Reuters. "It was discussed all around. It felt like that was the main issue – oxygen, oxygen, oxygen," she said, convalescing in a private hospital to which…

Sep

02

2021

By The African Mirror

Investors follow as COVID-19 pandemic pushes the pace of Africa’s vaccine development for other ailments

COVID-19

CONRAD ONYANGO, BIRD AFRICA’S pandemic-induced bid to increase its share of vaccines manufactured in the continent has begun attracting foreign investors. Already, German and Chinese investors have expressed interest in boosting local production capacity both in terms of funding projects and skills transfer in preparation for a vaccine "revolution". Germany-based BioNTech last week affirmed its June plans of bringing its manufacturing to Africa following a meeting with Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, Senegal’s President Macky Sall and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission. The COVID-19 vaccine maker said it has begun evaluating the possibilities of setting up malaria…

Feb

03

2021

By The African Mirror

Cricket-Australia’s tour of South Africa postponed due to COVID

COVID-19

AUSTRALIA’S cricket tour of South Africa has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cricket Australia has announced in a statement. Australian players were scheduled to fly out this month for a three-test series in March, but the touring side's cricket board said it had no choice but to postpone the trip due to the South African epidemic. "It has become clear that travelling from Australia to South Africa at this current time poses an unacceptable level of health and safety risk to our players, support staff and the community," CA's interim Chief Executive Nick Hockley said in a statement.…

Sep

02

2021

By The African Mirror

WHO boss’ caution on boosters

COVID-19

THE World Health Organisation recommends against using spare doses of COVID-19 vaccine to give booster shots to countries' fully-vaccinated populations since the priority is to ensure the global population is vaccinated, the agency's head said. Speaking in Berlin at the opening of a new epidemic intelligence hub, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged countries with spare vaccines available to donate any deliveries they received in the near term to COVAX or other initiatives aimed at sharing doses with poorer countries. "For now, we do not want to see widespread use of boosters for healthy people who are fully vaccinated," he said.…

Feb

03

2021

By The African Mirror

Zimbabwe to have access to Chinese vaccine

COVID-19

ZIMBABWE will have access to a Chinese COVID-19 vaccine soon, China's ambassador in Harare said yesterday, as Beijing ramps up its availability to developing nations. Last week, Zimbabwe health officials said Russia and China had approached it about supplying coronavirus vaccines. Guo Shaochun, Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe COVID infections have escalated in Zimbabwe this year, with about 60% of its 33,548 cases and more than two-thirds of its 1,234 deaths recorded since New Year's Day. Only a handful of African nations have begun giving doses as the continent scrambles to obtain supplies for its 1.3 billion people - at a…

Feb

03

2021

By The African Mirror

Uganda orders 18 million doses of vaccine

COVID-19

UGANDA has ordered 18 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and up to 40% of the shipments are expected to arrive in the country by the end of March, the government has announced. Uganda has so far reported 39,651 COVID-19 cases and 325 deaths - a much lower toll than in most countries due to what experts attribute to years of experience battling other viral outbreaks such as HIV AIDS and Ebola. Its economy, however, is reeling from the impact of the measures put in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The vaccine shots will…

Sep

01

2021

By The African Mirror

Egypt ramps up local vaccine production with eye on exports

COVID-19

EGYPT is ramping up production of the Sinovac coronavirus vaccine as it aims to become a hub for vaccine exports to Africa and protect its own population of more than 100 million from a fourth wave of infections. The government is preparing new facilities that it says could produce several million vaccine doses daily and is also in talks with an unspecified European vaccine producer. "We are currently in discussions with other companies because it is important to us that we diversify our sources, and hopefully soon we will announce our partnership with a European company," said Dr Heba Wali,…

Sep

01

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigeria prioritising four COVID-19 vaccines

COVID-19

NIGERIA is prioritising the AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, the official heading Nigeria's COVID-19 vaccination campaign has said, when asked whether the Sinopharm shot would be used in the country. Dr Faisal Shuaib, head of Nigeria's primary healthcare agency, said the Sinopharm vaccine had been approved by the national medicines regulator "for emergency use", but rolling it out was not a priority. "We don't want a situation where we may have 10, 20 vaccines that have been globally recognised or listed for emergency use, and then you want to take all 20 vaccines to Nigeria, it doesn't…

Sep

01

2021

By The African Mirror

‘New variant does not seem to be spreading’

COVID-19

A new coronavirus variant that was first detected in South Africa in May does not appear to be spreading, the World Health Organisation has said, adding it was monitoring the variant as the virus evolves. "It does not appear to be increasing in circulation," WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris told a U.N. briefing, adding the variant labelled C.1.2. was not currently classified as a "variant of concern" by the U.N. health agency.

Feb

02

2021

By The African Mirror

How S.A will get over 42-million vaccine doses

COVID-19

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER HOURS after South Africa received its first COVID-19 vaccine doses, the country’s president Cyril Ramaphosa revealed plans for the country to receive over 42- million doses. In a special address to the nation, Ramaphosa unveiled the different sources for a vaccine that is key to the country’s fight against COVID-19, which has infected over 1.3-million South Africans and killed over 40 000. He said in addition to the one million Covishield does received yesterday, South Africa expects: 500,000 doses from the Serum Institute of India to arrive later in February. 12 million doses in total from the…