COVID-19 - The African Mirror

Feb

02

2021

Nigeria expects 41 million vaccine doses from AU

COVID-19

ALEXIS AKWAGYIRAM NIGERIA expects to receive 41 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from the African Union, the head of the country's primary healthcare agency said on Monday, while the health minister said vaccines from Russia and India were being considered. Authorities in Africa's most populous country, which has 200 million people, plan to inoculate 40% of the population this year and another 30% in 2022. The African Union initially secured 270 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from manufacturers for member states. Last week it was announced that the bloc would receive another 400 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Faisal Shuaib, who…

Feb

02

2021

By The African Mirror

Rural South African nurses fear being forgotten in vaccine roll-out

COVID-19

SOUTH African nurses called on the government on Monday to ensure overstretched workers in rural clinics and hospitals get access to COVID-19 vaccines as the hard-hit country received its first batch of doses. Rural nurses have reported shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks during the pandemic and - with few detailed announcements about inoculation plans for remote areas - many fear they could be last in line. “Healthcare workers’ hands are full as we speak, we are very concerned about overstretching them to breaking point,” said Sibongiseni Delihlazo, spokesman for the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA),…

Feb

02

2021

By The African Mirror

Tunisia, Palestinians among 1st COVAX recipients

COVID-19

AIDAN LEWIS THE Palestinian territories and Tunisia will benefit from a first wave of coronavirus vaccines from the COVAX scheme, but poorer states in the Middle East face a big gap in early vaccine provision, a World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Monday. The Palestinian territories are expected to receive 37,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech starting in mid-February through COVAX, while Tunisia is due to receive 93,600 doses, said Rick Brennan, emergency director for the WHO's Eastern Mediterranean region. Two doses of the vaccine are recommended per person. The WHO set up COVAX…

Feb

01

2021

By The African Mirror

Algeria, Russia discusses vaccine production

COVID-19

Algeria has held discussions with Russia about the possibility of producing Moscow's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine. Talks to manufacture the vaccine in Algeria took place during a meeting between Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad and Russian ambassador Igor Beliaev, the prime minister's office said. "The two parties agreed to initiate contacts between the competent services of the two countries with the aim of establishing a bilateral cooperation...," it said in a statement. Algeria started its vaccination campaign on Saturday, a day after receiving 50,000 doses of Sputnik V. A shipment of the AstraZeneca vaccine is due to arrive on Monday. Algeria…

Feb

01

2021

By The African Mirror

Ghana aims to get 17.6 mln doses of COVID-19 vaccine by June

COVID-19

GHANA plans to procure 17.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of June with the first doses arriving in March, President Nana Akufo-Addo said on Sunday. Like other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Ghana is battling a second wave of the novel coronavirus. Its daily infection rate is rising and is close to record levels, data compiled by Reuters shows. So far it has recorded over 63,000 cases and 416 deaths. "Our aim is to vaccinate the entire population, with an initial target of twenty million people," Akufo-Addo said in a speech to the West African nation of around…

Feb

01

2021

By The African Mirror

Zimbabwe has $100 million to buy vaccines

COVID-19

ZIMBABWE has set aside $100 million to acquire COVID-19 vaccines but the government is still waiting for its scientists to recommend which type to buy, a state-owned newspaper has reported. President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government, which is grappling with an economic crisis and acute shortages of foreign exchange, has been criticised for being too slow to announce its vaccination plans. George Guvamatanga, the ministry of finance secretary, told the Sunday Mail that the government would use funds from a 2020 budget surplus and reallocate some of this year's budget to buy the vaccines. Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said in November that…

Feb

05

2021

By The African Mirror

Sixteen African nations show interest in AU vaccine plan

COVID-19

GEORGE OBULUTSA and OMAR MOHAMMED SIXTEEN African countries have shown interest in securing COVID-19 vaccines under an African Union (AU) plan, and allocations could be announced in the next three weeks, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said yesterday. While many rich nations have already begun mass vaccination drives, only a few African countries have started vaccination, and the 55-member African Union hopes to see 60% of the continent's 1.3 billion people immunised in the next three years. The AU has so far secured around 670 million doses for its member states. Africa CDC…

Feb

05

2021

By The African Mirror

Zimbabwe to get 200,000 COVID-19 doses from China

COVID-19

ZIMBABWE will receive 200,000 free doses of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said yesterday, after China and Russia offered shots against the coronavirus to the impoverished southern African nation. Mnangagwa, in a nationally televised address, also said there were plans to vaccinate at least 60% of the population using government and private sector funding. The coronavirus pandemic has increased rapidly in Zimbabwe over the past few weeks, with about 70% of its known 33,964 infections and more than two thirds of the 1,269 deaths recorded since the beginning of January. The Sinopharm vaccine is approved in China for…

Feb

05

2021

By The African Mirror

World faces around 4,000 COVID-19 variants as researchers explore mixed vaccine shots

COVID-19

GUY FAULCONBRIDGE and ALISTAIR SMOUT THE world faces around 4,000 variants of the virus that causes COVID-19, prompting a race to improve vaccines, Britain said on Thursday, as researchers began to explore mixing doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca shots. Thousands of variants have been documented as the virus mutates, including the so-called British, South African and Brazilian variants which appear to spread more swiftly than others. British Vaccine Deployment Minister Nadhim Zahawi said it was very unlikely that the current vaccines would not work against the new variants. "Its very unlikely that the current vaccine won't be effective on…

Feb

10

2021

By The African Mirror

India backs AstraZeneca shot despite South Africa halt

COVID-19

KRISHNA N DAS and ANURON KUMAR MITRA INDIA has no concerns over the efficacy of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine despite South Africa putting it on hold, and ordered 10 million more doses of the shot for its own huge immunisation campaign. South Africa delayed use of the vaccine after researchers found it offered minimal protection against mild-to-moderate COVID-19 disease caused by the country's dominant coronavirus variant. India, with the highest number of infections after the United States, has yet to detect the South African variant and will continue to use the vaccine in an inoculation drive that has covered 6.3…