HEALTH - The African Mirror

Dec

09

2020

In COVID-19 milestone for West, Britain starts mass vaccination

COVID-19

ALISTAIR SMOUT A 90-year-old grandmother became the world's first person to receive a fully-tested COVID-19 shot on Tuesday, as Britain began mass-vaccinating its people in a global drive that poses one of the biggest logistical challenges in peacetime history. Health workers started inoculating the most vulnerable with the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, with the country a test case for the world as it contends with distributing a compound that must be stored at -70C (-94F). Margaret Keenan, who turns 91 in a week, was the first to receive the shot, at a hospital in Coventry, central England. "It's…

Sep

23

2021

By The African Mirror

Russia to resume flights with S. A, Djibouti

COVID-19

RUSSIA will resume passenger flights with Denmark, South Africa, New Zealand, Peru and Djibouti from October 5, the government has announced. Russia imposed wide-ranging travel restrictions at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, many of which remain in force.

Dec

09

2020

By The African Mirror

Morocco says Covid-19 vaccine will be free to all citizens

COVID-19

MOROCCO’S King Mohammed VI ordered that all Moroccans should receive a coronavirus vaccine for free, the Royal palace has announced. Morocco plans to roll out China's Sinopharm vaccine in the coming weeks as soon as its phase three trials are over, Prime Minister Saad Dine El Otmani told Reuters last month. The country has also ordered doses from AstraZeneca and is in talks with other vaccine developers, he said. As of Tuesday, Morocco, with a population of about 36 million, had seen 384,088 confirmed cases and 6,370 deaths. It has around 40,000 active cases. - Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Dec

08

2020

By The African Mirror

Misinformation on social media fuels vaccine hesitancy: a global study shows the link

HEALTH

VACCINE hesitancy is a severe threat to global health, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The term refers to the delay in acceptance or the refusal of vaccines, despite the availability of vaccination services. It’s a serious risk to the people who aren’t getting vaccinated as well as the wider community. STEVEN LLOYD WILSON, Assistant Professor of Politics, Brandeis University CHARLES SHEY WIYSONGE, Director, Cochrane South Africa, South African Medical Research Council Vaccine hesitancy is not new. There have been some sceptics ever since vaccination began. Soon after Dr Edward Jenner invented the smallpox vaccine in 1796, rumours started…

Sep

22

2021

By The African Mirror

U.N. chief grades world on vaccine rollout: ‘F in Ethics’

COVID-19

MICHELLE NICHOLS UNITED Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reprimanded the world on Tuesday for the inequitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, describing it as an "obscenity" and giving the globe an "F in Ethics." Addressing the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders in New York, Guterres said images from some parts of the world of expired and unused vaccines in the garbage told "the tale of our times" - with the majority of the wealthier world immunised while more than 90% of Africa has not even received one dose. "This is a moral indictment of the state of our world. It is…

Dec

08

2020

By The African Mirror

In Kenya, COVID-19’s rural spread strains creaky healthcare

COVID-19

JOSEPH AKWIRI and MAGGIE FICK THE recent deaths from COVID-19 in Kenya of a refugee, a member of parliament and a retired civil servant all happened for the same reason: emergency help was hours away. Nearly three quarters of Kenya's intensive care unit (ICU) beds are in the two largest cities, Nairobi and Mombasa. Yet the new coronavirus is spreading into rural areas where the public health system is creaking and scarce ICU units are full and turning patients away, medics round the nation told Reuters. Christmas travel may worsen the problem - and not just in Kenya. "That is…

Dec

08

2020

By The African Mirror

WHO does not envisage COVID-19 vaccines being made mandatory

COVID-19

THE World Health Organization does not foresee mandatory vaccinations being introduced around the world to stem the spread of the coronavirus, officials have said. Information campaigns and making vaccines available to priority groups such as hospital workers and the elderly would be more effective, the WHO said, as the global death toll has topped 1.5 million, according to Reuters calculations. Britain begins its vaccine programme this week and others are likely to follow soon, so authorities are seeking to reassure people of vaccines' safety and efficacy in order to get a critical mass to take them in the face of…

Sep

22

2021

By The African Mirror

Progress against a neglected tropical disease in east Africa is under threat

HEALTH

ELEVEN years ago, in the rugged hills of West Pokot County in Kenya, Mary Alamak, a mother of four, fell ill with the parasitic disease kala-azar while she was pregnant. Her weight fell from 80 to 45 kgs in a matter of weeks. She feared for the life of her baby and her own. At the Kacheliba District Hospital, she could get diagnosed, and treated with AmBisome injections. She was cured and regained weight – and her baby was saved. MONIQUE WASUNNA, Researcher, Kenya Medical Research Institute I have met many patients like Mary in my 30-year experience in the…

Sep

21

2021

By The African Mirror

U.S. to allow vaccinated travellers from South Africa

COVID-19

DAVID SHEPARDSON and ANDREA SHALAL THE United States in November will re-open air travellers from China, India, Britain and many other European countries who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the White House has announced, rolling back tough pandemic-related travel restrictions imposed beginning early last year. The decision, announced by White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients, marked an abrupt about-face for President Joe Biden's administration, which last week said it was not the right time to lift any restrictions. The restrictions had prevented tens of thousands of foreign nationals from flying to the United States to see family members and…

Dec

07

2020

By The African Mirror

Britain gets ready for roll-out world-first COVID-19 vaccine this week

COVID-19

ALISTAIR SMOUT and ESTELLE SHIRBON BRITAIN is preparing to become the first country to roll out the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine this week, initially making the shot available at hospitals before distributing stocks to doctors' clinics, the government said on Sunday. The first doses are set to be administered on Tuesday, with the National Health Service (NHS) giving top priority to vaccinating the over-80s, frontline healthcare workers and care home staff and residents. Britain gave emergency use approval for the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech last week - jumping ahead in the global race to begin the most crucial mass…