HEALTH - The African Mirror

Aug

06

2021

African Union’s J&J vaccine shipments begin

COVID-19

MAGGIE FICK AFRICAN Union officials have revealed that the body had begun shipping COVID-19 vaccine doses acquired from Johnson & Johnson, but they raised alarm at the pace of total deliveries to a region where only 1.5% of people are fully vaccinated. The AU's COVID special envoy Strive Masiyiwa said the start of the J&J shipments marked a step forward for the continent of more than 1.3 billion people, but in a news conference, he called Africa's situation regarding vaccine deliveries a "crisis". Africa remains in the grip of a third wave of the pandemic, and in the past four…

Feb

12

2021

By The African Mirror

Africa CDC’s guide AstraZeneca vaccine

COVID-19

AFRICAN countries that have not reported the circulation of the 501Y.V2 coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa should proceed with the rollout of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, the African Union's disease control body said on Thursday. For countries that have reported circulation of the 501Y.V2 variant, they should accelerate their preparedness to introduce all vaccines that have received emergency use authorisation, Africa CDC Director John Nkengasong told a news conference. "Consideration should be given to the effectiveness of the vaccine against the 501Y.V2 variant," Nkengasong said.

Feb

12

2021

By The African Mirror

Zimbabwe buys 600,000 vaccines

COVID-19

ZIMBABWE has purchased 600,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses from China's Sinopharm, in addition to 200,000 China has donated, its information minister said yesterday, adding these were due to arrive in Zimbabwe by the start of March. Monica Mutsvangwa also said Zimbabwe was negotiating with Russia over the procurement of its Sputnik vaccines and was expecting more doses from India and COVAX. A total of 800,000 Sinopharm doses will be in the country by the start of March, Mutsvangwa said in a video posted on the information ministry's Twitter feed on Wednesday, with aircraft heading to China to collect the shots no…

Feb

12

2021

By The African Mirror

Morocco receives four million vaccines

COVID-19

MOROCCO received a second batch of four million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine yesterday, having begun Africa's first national vaccination campaign two weeks ago, health ministry sources said. The shipment of AstraZeneca vaccines manufacturd by India's Serum Institute arrived at Casablanca airport yesterday afternoon. "This new batch would enable a steady continuation of Morocco's national vaccination campaign," said Said Afif, a member of the health ministry's scientific committee. The latest batch of AstraZeneca vaccines follows 2 million doses received last month and 500,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinopharm. By Wednesday Morocco had vaccinated 746,116 people and…

Feb

12

2021

By The African Mirror

Kenya moves ahead with AstraZeneca

COVID-19

KENYA is going ahead with its plan to inoculate its citizens against COVID-19 using a vaccine developed by AstraZeneca, a senior health ministry official said yesterday, dismissing concerns over its efficacy. South Africa paused the rollout of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University following a small clinical trial that showed it offered minimal protection against mild to moderate illness from the 501Y.V2 variant dominant in the country. That move will not deter Kenya, which says it expects to receive 24 million doses of the vaccine beginning this month, said Mercy Mwangangi, the chief administrative secretary at the ministry.…

Feb

12

2021

By The African Mirror

COVID-19: What you need to know

COVID-19

HERE's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: UK variant 'likely to sweep the world' The coronavirus variant first found in the British region of Kent is a concern because it could undermine the protection given by vaccines against developing COVID-19, the head of Britain's genetic surveillance programme said. The variant was dominant in Britain and was likely to sweep the world "in all probability", she said. Sharon Peacock, director of the COVID-19 Genomics UK consortium, told the BBC: "What's concerning about this is that the 1.1.7. variant that we have had circulating for some weeks and…

Feb

12

2021

By The African Mirror

Not perfect, but saves lives, AstraZeneca says of COVID-19 vaccine

COVID-19

PUSHKALA ARIPAKA and LUDWIG BURGER ASTRAZENECA’S COVID-19 vaccine is not perfect but will have a big impact on the pandemic, its chief executive predicted on Thursday, as the drugmaker pledged to double supplies to more than 200 million doses per month by April. The two-dose shot, developed with Oxford University, has been hailed as a "vaccine for the world" because it is cheaper and easier to distribute than some rivals. But its rapid approval in Europe and elsewhere has been clouded by doubts over its most effective dosage and interval between doses. Data at the weekend also showed it was…

Aug

05

2021

By The African Mirror

Five ways Uganda’s health teams provided HIV care in lockdown

HEALTH

UGANDA is currently in a partial country-wide lockdown. The “second wave” of coronavirus infections has been especially unforgiving. There is no household in Uganda I know of that has not been touched by the COVID-19 pandemic. Social media posts are awash with reports of death. Hundreds of lives cut short in their prime. It is no longer a story about the elderly. The frequency of death announcements in the national newspapers is truly unprecedented. HENRY ZAKUMUMPA, Health Systems Researcher, Makerere University Earlier this year, the world watched as funeral pyres burned across India. At the time, the ravages of the…

Feb

11

2021

By The African Mirror

S.Africa secures millions of Pfizer, J&J vaccine doses to fight COVID variant – Ramaphosa

COVID-19

SOUTH Africa has secured millions of doses of Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer vaccines to fight the highly infectious COVID-19 variant that is dominant in the country, President Cyril Ramaphosa said tonight. During an annual state of the nation address, Ramaphosa said South Africa has secured 9 million doses of the J&J vaccine, of which 500,000 would arrive over the next four weeks so authorities could start vaccinating health workers. Another 20 million Pfizer doses were also on their way, he said. In addition, the World Health organisation-backed COVAX facility would provide 12 million vaccine doses, Ramaphosa said. South Africa…

Aug

05

2021

By The African Mirror

COVID-19 herd immunity? It’s not going to happen, so what next?

COVID-19

ANY notion that COVID-19 was going to last for just a few months was very much misplaced in 2020. Especially after it was recognised that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was largely spread through the airborne route, all indications were that it would cause repeat bouts of waves. This is what happened in the flu epidemic of 1918. SHABIR A. MADHI, Dean Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at University of the Witwatersrand; and Director of the SAMRC Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand In addition, very few scientists predicted that we would see the…