HEALTH - The African Mirror

Sep

10

2021

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…

Jan

25

2021

By The African Mirror

Egypt begins COVID-19 vaccination drive

COVID-19

EGYPT began vaccinating frontline medical staff against COVID-19, using the jab developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm). The vaccine will be provided free of charge first to all doctors and frontline workers treating coronavirus patients, then to other medical workers, senior citizens and people with chronic illnesses, Health Minister Hala Zayed said. "As soon as each citizen registers, they will take their turn. But you cannot set a timeframe for when this will be, and even the countries that have set a timeframe have not been able to fulfil it, not because they have a problem, but because of…

Sep

09

2021

By The African Mirror

COVID-19 disruption causing many deaths from TB, AIDS in poorest countries, fund says

COVID-19

EMMA FARGE HUNDREDS of thousands of people will die of tuberculosis left untreated because of disruption to healthcare systems in poor countries caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a global aid fund said. In a few of the world's poorest countries, excess deaths from AIDS and tuberculosis (TB) could even exceed those from the coronavirus itself, said the head of the Geneva-based aid body, known as the Global Fund. The Fund's annual report for 2020, released on Wednesday, showed that the number of people treated for drug-resistant tuberculosis in countries where it operates fell by 19%. A decline of 11% was…

Jan

25

2021

By The African Mirror

New cases of SA and Brazilian variants

COVID-19

BRITAIN has detected 77 cases of the South African variant of COVID-19, the health minister said on Sunday, also urging people to strictly follow lockdown rules as the best precaution against Britain's own potentially more deadly variant. Matt Hancock said all 77 cases were connected to travel from South Africa and were under close observation, as were nine identified cases of a Brazilian variant. "They are under very close observation, and we have enhanced contact tracing to do everything we possibly can to stop them from spreading," he said during an interview on BBC television. Oxford professor Anthony Harnden, deputy…

Jan

25

2021

By The African Mirror

Poor countries to start vaccinating in February

COVID-19

The World Health Organization has reached an agreement with Pfizer/BioNTech for 40 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine and should be able to start delivering vaccines to poor and lower-middle-income countries next month under its COVAX programme. The COVAX scheme, led by the WHO and the GAVI vaccine alliance, signed deals for hundreds of millions of doses to vaccinate people in poor and lower-middle-income countries, but vaccinations have yet to start. Pfizer's vaccine is so far the only one that has WHO emergency approval. "In this world we are as protected as our neighbour," said Pfizer's CEO Albert Bourla, officially…

Sep

09

2021

By The African Mirror

Meningitis outbreak kills 129 in north-east Congo

HEALTH

A meningitis outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo's north-eastern Tshopo province has killed 129 of the 267 people who have been infected since the first cases were discovered in June, the health minister has announced. Tests carried out by the Institut Pasteur in Paris detected one of the most common types of the bacteria, Neisseria meningitides, which has the potential to cause large epidemics, the World Health Organization said. An investigation in early June near Panga, around 270 kilometres north of the city of Kisangani, found patients suffering from fever, headaches, stiff neck, and difficulty speaking, said health minister,…

Jan

24

2021

By The African Mirror

Egypt to begin vaccinations today

COVID-19

EGYPT will begin coronavirus vaccinations on Sunday, beginning with medical staff, President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said in recorded comments on Saturday. On Friday, Egypt recorded 748 new cases and 52 deaths. However, health officials say the real number is likely far higher because of the relatively low rate of coronavirus testing and the exclusion of private test results. Egypt received its first shipment of vaccines developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) in December. Egypt will get 40 million vials via the GAVI vaccine alliance for 20 million people, or 20% of the 100 million population, its health minister said last…