HEALTH - The African Mirror

Sep

14

2021

Russia to resume flights with Kenya from September 21

COVID-19

RUSSIA will resume passenger flights with Spain, Iraq, Kenya and Slovakia from September 21, the government said on Monday and will increase the number of airports with flights to Turkey and Egypt. Russia imposed wide-ranging travel restrictions at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, many of which remain in force, but has gradually expanded the list of countries for air travel. Russia's coronavirus task force said it had decided flights could resume after it had assessed the epidemiological situation in those countries. From September 21, there will be four return Moscow flights each week with Madrid, Barcelona…

Jan

28

2021

By The African Mirror

Morocco gets half million doses of Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine

COVID-19

MOROCCO has received half a million doses of China's Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine as it prepares to be the first African country to roll out a national immunisation campaign. The consignment is the second batch to arrive in Morocco after 2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by India's Serum Institute. The government has announced that it will first start vaccinating health, security, and teaching staff this week and has launched a website for other people to register for the vaccine. The country signed a deal with Sinopharm in August which involved conducting clinical trials in Morocco as well as announcing…

Jan

28

2021

By The African Mirror

Decrying vaccines, Tanzania president says ‘God will protect’ from COVID-19

COVID-19

TANZANIA’S President John Magufuli says no lockdown was planned because God will protect people from COVID-19 while homespun precautions such as steam inhalation were better than vaccines. "Vaccines are not good and if they were good, whites would have brought even HIV/AIDS vaccine," he said in a speech in western Tanzania, contradicting global scientific consensus and advice from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Sep

12

2021

By The African Mirror

South Africa ease COVID-19 restrictions

COVID-19

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER BOUYED by lower infection rates, impressive vaccination levels - with over 7-million South African inoculated - the country’s president has eased COVID-19 restrictions, allowing for the sale of alcohol during weekdays, and bigger crowds at gatherings. In a special address to the nation, Ramaphosa said SA will move from Lockdown Level 3 to 2. He also made an impassioned plea to South Africans to get vaccinated. In terms of the relaxed restrictions, the following will apply: Hours of curfew will be 11pm and 4am.Restaurants, bars and gyms will have to close by 10pm.All gatherings will now be…

Jan

28

2021

By The African Mirror

Forgotten but not gone: COVID-19 focus poses new risks to ‘invisible’ leprosy sufferers

HEALTH

RANDY MULYANTO and BEH LIH YI FIRST it was the neighbours who started avoiding Indonesian food hawker Titi Amaliyah. Then regular customers stopped buying her traditional noodle snacks when word spread that she had been diagnosed with leprosy. Since her diagnosis last year, Amaliyah and her family have been dependent on her husband's income from odd jobs, which has dwindled due to the coronavirus pandemic. With three children, they are struggling to put food on the table. "It's a mental burden for me and it affects my family's income," said Amaliyah, 44, who is being treated for the age-old disease…

Sep

12

2021

By The African Mirror

Compulsory COVID-19 vaccination in Nigeria? Why it’s illegal, and a bad idea

COVID-19

TWO states in Nigeria – Edo and Ondo – recently announced compulsory COVID-19 vaccinations for adults. Even after a court restrained the Edo State government from going ahead, it insists the order stands. The Federal Government is also considering making COVID-19 vaccination compulsory for civil servants. Abiodun Odusote weighs in on the legality of these orders. ABIODUN ODUSOTE, Senior Lecturer, University of Lagos Do state governments have the legal authority to compel vaccination of adults? At the moment, mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in Nigeria is illegal. I am not aware of any legislation or regulation that mandates Nigerians to take vaccines.…

Sep

12

2021

By The African Mirror

S.A approves vaccine for children 12 and up

COVID-19

SOUTH Africa's health regulator has approved Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for use by children aged 12 and older, paving the way for the government to offer vaccinations to teenagers. The South African Health Products Authority (SAPHRA) said the decision came after a review of updated safety and efficacy information submitted in March this year. After a bumpy start, South Africa's vaccination campaign has ramped up in recent months with a solid supply of shots secured and just over 12% of its more than 60 million people vaccinated. That puts the country well ahead of others on the continent. However, health insurers…

Jan

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Enthusiasm over COVID-19 vaccines tempered by talk of protectionism and hoarding

COVID-19

ANDRIUS SYTAS EUROPE has urged pharmaceutical companies to honour their commitments to supply coronavirus vaccines, as delivery cuts and delays dim hopes of a quick fix to COVID-19 and increase talk of protectionism and hoarding. Countries around the world, anxious to reboot economies and restart travel by the European summer, hailed the rapid development of vaccines as the great escape from the year-long pandemic, which has killed more than 2.1 million people. But vaccine roll-outs in the European Union have been slow compared with countries in some other regions and fraught with problems, not least interruptions to supply chains. AstraZeneca,…

Jan

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Gambia to name and shame quarantine cheats

COVID-19

FORTY people in Gambia confirmed as coronavirus positive in the past week have refused to self-isolate or escaped treatment centres, the health ministry has said, promising to reveal the identities of those flouting health regulations. It also said large numbers of recent arrivals to the former British colony from COVID-19 hotspots had failed to follow health protocols or report for a mandatory test. The non-compliance will have strained efforts to contain the virus in the small West African nation, which earlier in January recorded its first two cases of the highly infectious variant first found in Britain. All those concerned…

Jan

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Saudi in talks with COVID vaccine makers to supply Yemen, African states

COVID-19

SAUDI Arabia's finance minister said his country was talking to manufacturers to provide COVID-19 vaccines to low-income countries including Yemen and African states. "We are negotiating with a lot of the vaccination companies to provide more vaccinations particularly to low income countries," Mohammed al-Jadaan told the virtual World Economic Forum in Davos. Saudi Arabia leads a military coalition that has been fighting the Iran-aligned Houthi group in Yemen since early 2015, in a war that has pushed Yemen into a humanitarian crisis. Jadaan said Yemen and some African nations would not be able to get enough vaccines through the COVAX…