HEALTH - The African Mirror

Feb

03

2021

Zimbabwe to have access to Chinese vaccine

COVID-19

ZIMBABWE will have access to a Chinese COVID-19 vaccine soon, China's ambassador in Harare said yesterday, as Beijing ramps up its availability to developing nations. Last week, Zimbabwe health officials said Russia and China had approached it about supplying coronavirus vaccines. Guo Shaochun, Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe COVID infections have escalated in Zimbabwe this year, with about 60% of its 33,548 cases and more than two-thirds of its 1,234 deaths recorded since New Year's Day. Only a handful of African nations have begun giving doses as the continent scrambles to obtain supplies for its 1.3 billion people - at a…

Feb

03

2021

By The African Mirror

Uganda orders 18 million doses of vaccine

COVID-19

UGANDA has ordered 18 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and up to 40% of the shipments are expected to arrive in the country by the end of March, the government has announced. Uganda has so far reported 39,651 COVID-19 cases and 325 deaths - a much lower toll than in most countries due to what experts attribute to years of experience battling other viral outbreaks such as HIV AIDS and Ebola. Its economy, however, is reeling from the impact of the measures put in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The vaccine shots will…

Sep

01

2021

By The African Mirror

Egypt ramps up local vaccine production with eye on exports

COVID-19

EGYPT is ramping up production of the Sinovac coronavirus vaccine as it aims to become a hub for vaccine exports to Africa and protect its own population of more than 100 million from a fourth wave of infections. The government is preparing new facilities that it says could produce several million vaccine doses daily and is also in talks with an unspecified European vaccine producer. "We are currently in discussions with other companies because it is important to us that we diversify our sources, and hopefully soon we will announce our partnership with a European company," said Dr Heba Wali,…

Sep

01

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigeria prioritising four COVID-19 vaccines

COVID-19

NIGERIA is prioritising the AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, the official heading Nigeria's COVID-19 vaccination campaign has said, when asked whether the Sinopharm shot would be used in the country. Dr Faisal Shuaib, head of Nigeria's primary healthcare agency, said the Sinopharm vaccine had been approved by the national medicines regulator "for emergency use", but rolling it out was not a priority. "We don't want a situation where we may have 10, 20 vaccines that have been globally recognised or listed for emergency use, and then you want to take all 20 vaccines to Nigeria, it doesn't…

Sep

01

2021

By The African Mirror

‘New variant does not seem to be spreading’

COVID-19

A new coronavirus variant that was first detected in South Africa in May does not appear to be spreading, the World Health Organisation has said, adding it was monitoring the variant as the virus evolves. "It does not appear to be increasing in circulation," WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris told a U.N. briefing, adding the variant labelled C.1.2. was not currently classified as a "variant of concern" by the U.N. health agency.

Feb

02

2021

By The African Mirror

How S.A will get over 42-million vaccine doses

COVID-19

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER HOURS after South Africa received its first COVID-19 vaccine doses, the country’s president Cyril Ramaphosa revealed plans for the country to receive over 42- million doses. In a special address to the nation, Ramaphosa unveiled the different sources for a vaccine that is key to the country’s fight against COVID-19, which has infected over 1.3-million South Africans and killed over 40 000. He said in addition to the one million Covishield does received yesterday, South Africa expects: 500,000 doses from the Serum Institute of India to arrive later in February. 12 million doses in total from the…

Sep

01

2021

By The African Mirror

Why it’s hard to end elephantiasis, a debilitating disease spread by mosquitoes

HEALTH

ALEXANDER KWARTENG, Lecturer in Immunology of Infectious Diseases, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) JONATHAN ROBERTS, Associate Professor, Mount Saint Vincent University KRISTI HEATHER KENYON, Associate Professor, University of Winnipeg MARY ASIRIFI, Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing Foundations, MacEwan University Lymphatic filariasis is one of the world’s leading causes of permanent and long-term disability. Sometimes referred to as Elephantiasis tropica, it is a neglected and stigmatised mosquito-borne disease. It damages the human lymphatic system, leading to disfiguring swelling of limbs, breasts and genitals. Despite a decade of World Health Organisation (WHO)-led drug administration to halt its spread, the…

Feb

02

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigeria expects 41 million vaccine doses from AU

COVID-19

ALEXIS AKWAGYIRAM NIGERIA expects to receive 41 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from the African Union, the head of the country's primary healthcare agency said on Monday, while the health minister said vaccines from Russia and India were being considered. Authorities in Africa's most populous country, which has 200 million people, plan to inoculate 40% of the population this year and another 30% in 2022. The African Union initially secured 270 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from manufacturers for member states. Last week it was announced that the bloc would receive another 400 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Faisal Shuaib, who…

Feb

02

2021

By The African Mirror

Rural South African nurses fear being forgotten in vaccine roll-out

COVID-19

SOUTH African nurses called on the government on Monday to ensure overstretched workers in rural clinics and hospitals get access to COVID-19 vaccines as the hard-hit country received its first batch of doses. Rural nurses have reported shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks during the pandemic and - with few detailed announcements about inoculation plans for remote areas - many fear they could be last in line. “Healthcare workers’ hands are full as we speak, we are very concerned about overstretching them to breaking point,” said Sibongiseni Delihlazo, spokesman for the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA),…

Feb

02

2021

By The African Mirror

Tunisia, Palestinians among 1st COVAX recipients

COVID-19

AIDAN LEWIS THE Palestinian territories and Tunisia will benefit from a first wave of coronavirus vaccines from the COVAX scheme, but poorer states in the Middle East face a big gap in early vaccine provision, a World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Monday. The Palestinian territories are expected to receive 37,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech starting in mid-February through COVAX, while Tunisia is due to receive 93,600 doses, said Rick Brennan, emergency director for the WHO's Eastern Mediterranean region. Two doses of the vaccine are recommended per person. The WHO set up COVAX…