HEALTH - The African Mirror

Feb

16

2021

Ultra-cold vaccine storage to be built

COVID-19

SOUTH African natural gas and helium producer Renergen will start production of its helium powered ultra-cold mobile freezer in the next few days and has started discussions to sell the units to logistics companies, it said yesterday. Companies and governments around the world are working on ways to establish cold-chain storage and delivery systems for vaccines such as the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech shot, which must be shipped and stored at ultra-cold temperatures and can only last at standard fridge temperatures for up to five days. As a solution, Renergen on Monday launched its prototype cold-chain storage called Cryo-Vacc, which…

Feb

16

2021

By The African Mirror

WHO lists vaccine for emergency use

COVID-19

THE World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday listed AstraZeneca and Oxford University's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, widening access to the relatively inexpensive shot in the developing world. A WHO statement said it had approved the vaccine as produced by AstraZeneca-SKBio (Republic of Korea) and the Serum Institute of India. "We now have all the pieces in place for the rapid distribution of vaccines. But we still need to scale up production," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. The listing by the UN health agency comes days after a WHO panel provided interim recommendations on the vaccine, saying two doses with…

Feb

16

2021

By The African Mirror

Botswana gives AstraZeneca the nod

COVID-19

BOTSWANA will move ahead with plans to use AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, the southern African country's health minister said yesterday, despite neighbour South Africa pausing the rollout of the shots. South Africa's decision to suspend use of the AstraZeneca vaccine was based on preliminary data showing it offered minimal protection against mild to moderate illness caused by the dominant coronavirus variant there. That more contagious variant - called 501Y.V2 - has been detected in Botswana too. Asked whether Botswana would be using the AstraZeneca vaccine, Health Minister Edwin Dikoloti said in parliament: "Our intended outcome is well-covered by what AstraZeneca offers."…

Jul

28

2021

By The African Mirror

This is no time to neglect hepatitis – 70 million Africans are infected

HEALTH

IN 2016, the World Health Organisation (WHO) set an ambitious target to eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030. This was followed by commitments from governments – including African countries – to develop national strategic plans for viral hepatitis and earmark resources to eliminate the disease. PAULINE BAKIBINGA, Associate Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center Hepatitis results in the inflammation of the liver. There are different forms of hepatitis – A, B, C, D and E – each attributed to a different type of virus. Unfortunately, most people who have the most serious forms of the disease, particularly the B…

Feb

16

2021

By The African Mirror

Zimbabwe receives 200 000 vaccines

COVID-19

ZIMBABWE's first coronavirus vaccines, 200 000 doses donated by China, have arrived in the capital Harare. A further 600 000 doses from China are set to arrive in early March, information minister Monica Mutsvangwa said last week. It is unclear how much the cash-strapped southern African nation will pay for the second batch of the vaccines from China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm). Zimbabwe's Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, head of the delegation receiving the vaccines that included the finance minister, said frontline health workers would be the first to be vaccinated. "This is a timely donation...our people have suffered from this…

Feb

16

2021

By The African Mirror

J&J’s vaccine study in S.A gets the nod

COVID-19

WENDELL ROELF SOUTH Africa's drugs regulator has approved an implementation study of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, clearing the way to start the country's first inoculations among frontline health workers. South Africa has yet to launch its COVID-19 vaccination programme and the government has decided to go with the J&J dose after trial results this month showed AstraZeneca's two-shot vaccine was less effective against the new variant of the coronavirus dominating South African infections. "SAHPRA has approved the implementation study," the regulator said in response to Reuters questions, adding it was still reviewing its separate application for full market use.…

Feb

16

2021

By The African Mirror

South African hotel turns to machines to beat pandemic

COVID-19

KIRTHANA PILLAY STAFF at Hotel Sky in Johannesburg's wealthy Sandton district adhere to strict COVID-19 protocols, wearing masks and physically distancing from guests as much as possible; all, that is, except Lexi, Micah and Ariel. For the three concierges couldn't breathe germs on you even if they wanted to: they're robots. Robot hospitality is not new - Japanese hotels have been deploying them for years and in 2015 Tokyo's Henn'na, or 'Strange', hotel became the first to be fully staffed by machines. Several robot-staffed Tokyo hotels are now using them to serve guests with mild COVID-19 symptoms. But Hotel Sky,…

Feb

16

2021

By The African Mirror

Ghanaians are eating more fast food: the who and the why

HEALTH

FAST food – food sold in an outlet, drive-through, or restaurant either as preheated or precooked and served or packaged as take-away – is ubiquitous in developed countries. For instance, in the US, 45% of adults between the ages of 20 and 39 years and 37.7% of those between the ages of 40 and 59 consume fast food daily. Over 40% of higher-income earners eat fast food on a given day, 36.4% of middle-income, and 31.7% of lower-income earners. JAMES BOAFO, Lecturer, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Over the past two decades fast food brands have expanded…

Jul

27

2021

By The African Mirror

World Bank, COVAX unveil plan to speed vaccine supplies to developing countries

COVID-19

ANDREA SHALAL THE World Bank and the COVAX global vaccine distribution program have unveiled a financing mechanism to speed the supply of doses to developing countries, where COVID-19 inoculation rates lag far behind those of richer nations. The mechanism allows COVAX to make advance purchases - at more competitive prices - from vaccine manufacturers based on aggregate demand across countries, using financing from the World Bank and other multilateral development banks. "Accessing vaccines remains the single greatest challenge that developing countries face in protecting their people from the health, social, and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic," World Bank President…

Jul

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Mixed AstraZeneca-Pfizer shot boosts COVID antibody level – study

COVID-19

SANGMI CHA A mixed vaccination of first AstraZeneca and then a Pfizer COVID-19 shot boosted neutralizing antibody levels by six times compared with two AstraZeneca doses, a study from South Korea showed. The study involved 499 medical workers - 100 receiving mixed doses, 200 taking two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech shot and the remainder getting two AstraZeneca shots. All showed neutralizing antibodies, which prevent the virus from entering cells and replicating, and the result of the mixed schedule of vaccines showed similar amounts of neutralizing antibodies found from the group that received two Pfizer shots. A British study last month…