COVID-19 - The African Mirror

Feb

17

2022

BioNTech to ship mRNA vaccine factory kits to Africa

COVID-19

LUDWIG BURGER GERMANY'S BioNTech has developed a vaccine factory-made from shipping containers that it plans to ship to Africa as assembly kits to ease what the World Health Organization has described as huge disparities in global COVID-19 vaccine access. The factory prototype will be instrumental in helping the biotech firm deliver on a pledge made last year to Rwanda, South Africa, Senegal and the African Union to secure mRNA vaccine production on the continent, where inoculation rates have fallen far behind other parts of the world. Work on the first mRNA manufacturing facility in the African Union is due to…

Feb

16

2022

By The African Mirror

EU, Gates Foundation to invest over 100 million euros to set up African drugs regulator

COVID-19

THE European Union and the Gates Foundation will invest over 100 million euros ($113.4 million) over the next five years to help set up an African medicines regulator to boost the continent's drugs and vaccine production, the EU Commission said. The announcement, which confirms a Reuters report last week, comes ahead of a summit on Thursday of EU and African Union leaders when the EU is expected to reiterate its commitment for a 150-billion-euro investment package in Africa. A treaty establishing the African Medicines Agency (AMA) came into force in November but the agency currently exists only on paper. So…

Feb

15

2022

By The African Mirror

COVID vaccines: African countries need to fix their distribution chains

COVID-19

SUB-SAHARAN Africa still has too few vaccines for too few people. Delivering more inoculations to the region deserves top priority. But there is another hurdle to overcome to successfully deploy vaccines: the region’s poor trade and logistics quality. Logistics are a network of services that support the physical movement of goods both within and across a country’s borders. Author JONATHAN MUNEMO, Professor of Economics, Salisbury University No journey is more critical in determining the fate of a pandemic than the distance a vaccine must travel from the production line to a person’s arm. In sub-Saharan Africa, the last mile of…

Feb

11

2022

By The African Mirror

COVID infection of three lions and a puma in private South African zoo points to need for wider surveillance

COVID-19

Authors ADRIANO MENDES, Post-Doctoral Research fellow, University of Pretoria AMY STRYDOM, Scientist, German Federal Institute of Risk Assessment KATJA KOEPPEL, Associate Professor Wildlife Health, University of Pretoria MARIETJIE VENTER, Head: Zoonotic, Arbo and Respiratory Virus Programme, Professor, Department Medical Virology, University of Pretoria SARS-CoV-2 is the cause of the disease we know as COVID-19. While this disease has wreaked havoc on every human population worldwide, what isn’t as well appreciated is that the virus can also infect a range of animals. The World Organisation for Animal Health) has reported outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 in cats, dogs, ferrets, minks, otters, lions, tigers,…

Feb

11

2022

By The African Mirror

“Africa COVID cases could be 7 times higher”

COVID-19

THE World Health Organization estimates that the number of COVID-19 infections in Africa could be seven times higher than official data suggests, while deaths from the virus could be two to three times higher, its regional head said on Thursday. "We're very much aware that our surveillance systems problems that we had on the continent, with access to testing supplies, for example, have led to an underestimation of the cases," Dr Matshidiso Moeti told a regular online media briefing.

Feb

10

2022

By The African Mirror

COVID cases surpass 400 million as Omicron grips world

COVID-19

ROSHAN ABRAHAM and KAVYA B GLOBAL COVID-19 cases surpassed 400 million on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally, as the highly contagious Omicron variant dominates the outbreak, pushing health systems in several countries to the brink of capacity. The Omicron variant, which is dominating the surge around the world, accounts for almost all new cases reported daily. While cases have begun to level off in many countries, more than 2 million cases are still being reported on average each day, according to a Reuters analysis. Deaths, which tend to lag cases, have increased by 70% in the last five weeks based…

Feb

09

2022

By The African Mirror

Drones to digital: Asia, Africa find ways to plug COVID health gaps

COVID-19

EMMA BATHA AS COVID-19 strains Pakistan's health system, tens of thousands of women doctors are sitting at home, their talents squandered in a country where millions have no access to medical care. Many families encourage their daughters to study medicine, not for a career, but to bolster their marriage prospects. The phenomenon even has a name - "doctor-brides". Appalled by the waste of expertise, entrepreneur Sara Saeed Khurram has set up a telemedicine platform enabling female medics to provide e-consultations from their homes to patients in rural communities. "Half the population in Pakistan – 100 million people – never get…

Feb

09

2022

By The African Mirror

5 ways to tackle ignorance about evidence during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19

Author JOHN N. LAVIS, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Evidence-Informed Health Systems, McMaster University SOME political leaders — the Jair Bolsonaros and Donald Trumps of the world — have given the public the impression that they’re at war with the scientific community. They’ve willfully ignored evidence and trafficked in misinformation in ways that have led to botched pandemic responses and cost the lives of millions. But over the last two years, I’ve come to believe that the Bolsonaro or Trump approach is the exception, not the rule. In most countries, and across the United Nations system, it’s ignorance about…

Feb

08

2022

By The African Mirror

South African regulator approves Sinopharm COVID vaccine

COVID-19

SOUTH Africa's health regulator said on Monday it had approved a COVID-19 vaccine from China's Sinopharm, although a senior health official said the government was not planning to procure doses for now. South Africa, the country worst hit by the pandemic in Africa in terms of reported COVID-19 infections and deaths, has used the Pfizer-BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) shots in its vaccination campaign. The government delayed some vaccine deliveries late last year because of oversupply as hesitancy slowed the uptake. Drugs regulator SAHPRA said in a statement the Sinopharm approval was based on "acceptable safety, quality and efficacy data…

Feb

07

2022

By The African Mirror

Approval of COVID vaccine made in South Africa could take 3 years, WHO says

COVID-19

THE mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine produced at the World Health Organization-backed vaccine hub in South Africa could take up to three years to get approval if companies do not share their technology and data, a WHO official said. The WHO-backed tech transfer hub in South Africa was set up in June to give poorer nations the know-how to produce COVID-19 vaccines, after market leaders of the mRNA COVID vaccine, Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna, declined a WHO request to share their technology and expertise. Martin Friede, coordinator of the WHO Initiative for Vaccine Research, said if companies with approved COVID vaccines or late…