HEALTH - The African Mirror

Jan

27

2021

Morocco to launch vaccination programme

COVID-19

MOROCCO’S health ministry has started distributing COVID-19 vaccines across the country as it prepares to become the first African state to roll out a mass immunisation programme this week. Appointments have been made for health workers and citizens are registering online to receive the vaccine in 3,000 locations, said Ben Azouz Mohammed, head of the ministry's vaccination programme. Morocco on Friday received 2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by India's Serum Institute and it expects to get 500,000 doses of vaccine from China's Sinopharm on Wednesday. The virus has hit Morocco hard, shrinking the economy by 7.2% last…

Sep

11

2021

By The African Mirror

Sinovac in talks about setting up S.Africa vaccine production

COVID-19

CHINA’S Sinovac Biotech is in talks about setting up a vaccine production facility in South Africa with its local partner, the chief executive of Numolux said on Friday. Hilton Klein made the comments at the launch of the South African leg of a global Phase III trial of Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine in children and adolescents. "This clinical trial is a precursor to the establishment of a South African vaccine manufacturing facility partnered by Sinovac and Numolux Group that will cover the entire spectrum of vaccinations beyond just the COVID-19 response," Klein told a news conference. "We are in talks with…

Jan

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Risk of severe COVID established early in infection – new study

HEALTH

WHY most people who get COVID have mild symptoms or none at all while some become severely ill is still a mystery – a mystery that scientists are urgently trying to solve. REBECCA AICHELER, Senior Lecturer in Immunology, Cardiff Metropolitan University Being obese or having existing health problems, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, are known to increase the risk of severe COVID. But this is not the whole story. Some seemingly healthy people can suffer from severe disease, too. Early in 2020, scientists discovered that people with severe COVID had unusual levels of certain immune cells in their…

Jan

26

2021

By The African Mirror

Vaccine appears to be effective against new variants

COVID-19

MORDENA Inc says ita COVID-19 vaccine produced virus-neutralizing antibodies in laboratory tests against new coronavirus variants found in the UK and South Africa. A two-dose regimen of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is expected to be protective against emerging strains detected to date, the company said. Moderna, however, said it would test a vaccine booster against the South Africa variant in pre-clinical trials to see if that would be more effective in boosting antibodies against the variant and other future variants. Although all viruses mutate constantly, scientists are concerned about the mutations discovered in Britain and South Africa because they are…

Jan

26

2021

By The African Mirror

Zimbabwe gets vaccine offers from Russia, China

COVID-19

RUSSIA and China have approached Zimbabwe about supplying vaccines to tackle its escalating COVID-19 outbreak amid concern about Harare's ability to afford the shots, with plans for meetings with business leaders who have offered to pay for them. Authorities in the impoverished southern African nation are scrambling to contain the accelerating spread of the coronavirus. Infections have doubled in just the past few weeks and three government ministers have died in the last 10 days. Zimbabwe doctors' groups say that hospitals are quickly filling up with COVID-19 patients and cite an increase in the number of infected people dying at…

Jan

26

2021

By The African Mirror

Tunisia’s foreign minister tests positive for COVID-19

COVID-19

TUNISIA’S foreign minister, Othman Jerandi, has tested positive for COVID-19, saying in a tweet that the symptoms are severe, according to an official statement by the Foreign Ministry. "Today, my tests confirmed that I have COVID-19, despite taking all the necessary precautions and respecting the health protocol. Severe symptoms, I ask God the safety for everyone," Jerandi said in his tweet.

Sep

10

2021

By The African Mirror

Vaccine trials for SA children

COVID-19

CHINA’S Sinovac Biotech will trial its COVID-19 vaccine in children and adolescents in South Africa as part of a global Phase III study, according to Sinovac and its local partner Numolux Group. The study will evaluate the efficacy, immunogenicity and safety of the CoronaVac vaccine on children and adolescents aged 6 months to 17 years, the firms said in a statement. The global trial will enrol 14,000 participants across Chile, the Philippines, Malaysia and Kenya, including 2,000 in South Africa, they said. The trial has been approved by South African drugs regulator SAHPRA, and the first child will be vaccinated…

Sep

09

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Give vaccines to Africa, ditch unproven third shot’

COVID-19

TIM COCKS RICH nations would do better to send vaccines to Africa to help fight the global COVID-19 pandemic rather than hoarding them for third-dose booster shots that scientific evidence does not back, the African Union's (AU) top health official said on Thursday. Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) director John Nkengasong told a news conference he was baffled some rich countries were disregarding World Health Organization (WHO) advice to hold off from booster shots until more people were fully vaccinated worldwide. "The problem we have with the third doses is: we have not seen enough science…

Jan

25

2021

By The African Mirror

US to impose South Africa travel ban

COVID-19

DAVID SHEPARDSON US President Joe Biden will impose a ban on most non-U.S. citizens entering the country who have recently been in South Africa starting this weekend in a bid to contain the spread of a new variant of COVID-19, U.S. public health officials told Reuters. Biden today is also reimposing an entry ban on nearly all non-U.S. travellers who have been in Brazil, the United Kingdom, Ireland and 26 countries in Europe that allow travel across open borders, said the sources, who requested anonymity because the plans have not yet been made public. Then-President Donald Trump directed on January…

Jan

25

2021

By The African Mirror

Zambia allocated 8.7-million AU vaccines

COVID-19

ZAMBIA has been allocated 8.7 million doses of the 270 million COVID-19 vaccines secured this month by the African Union (AU), and this may rise to 25 million doses by December 2021, the Zambian mission at the AU has said. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who serves as AU chair, has said the vaccines secured by the AU will be supplied by Pfizer, AstraZeneca, through the Serum Institute of India, and Johnson & Johnson. They will be allocated according to countries' population size. "If member states have to buy individually, they have to wait until July 2022, but through this…