HEALTH - The African Mirror

Jul

27

2021

Libya imposes two-week curfew

COVID-19

LIBYA’S Government of National Unity has announced a two-week curfew in some local councils where there is a rise in COVID-19 infection cases. The curfew, which will take effect as of July 27, will be imposed in some selected municipalities in the western and central regions of the country. The government said the curfew will be from 6 pm to 6 am, and all commercial activities will be closed except for institutions that provide public, security, and medical services.

Feb

15

2021

By The African Mirror

Rwanda says begins COVID-19 vaccinations

COVID-19

RWANDA has commenced COVID-19 vaccinations with limited supplies of vaccines acquired through unnamed international partners and said the programme had started with frontline healthcare workers. The central African country has been battling a surge in infections of COVID-19 which forced the government to re-impose a lockdown last month in the capital Kigali. Authorities banned movement in and out of the city, except for essential services and for tourists. In a tweet, Rwanda's ministry of health said the country's National Vaccination Program had begun "vaccinating high-risk groups, notably frontline healthcare staff, with WHO-approved COVID-19 vaccines acquired through international partnerships in limited…

Feb

14

2021

By The African Mirror

South Africa to reopen 20 land border crossing points

COVID-19

SOUTH Africa will reopen 20 land border crossings to allow normal travel, lifting restrictions implemented last month to control rising coronavirus infections, the Home Affairs Ministry said yesterday. Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi speaking during the Stop TB Conference held at DoubleTree in Hilton Hotel, Cape Town. 31/01/2014 Kopano Tlape GCIS The ministry said land border points, including those with Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Botswana, would reopen after being closed on January 11. "The active and orderly management of people through our borders is an important part of the country's overall risk-adjusted approach to control the spread of Covid-19," said Home Affairs…

Feb

14

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Not perfect but our drug saves lives’

COVID-19

PUSHAKALA ARIPAKA and LUDWIG BURGER THE production of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine has not been perfect but the shot will have a big impact on the pandemic, its chief executive has said, as the drugmaker pledged to double output by April and the African Union gave its backing for the shot. The two-dose inoculation, 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…

Feb

14

2021

By The African Mirror

Vaccine response among children tested

COVID-19

THE University of Oxford has launched a study to assess the safety and immune response of the COVID-19 vaccine it has developed with AstraZeneca Plc in children for the first time, it said on Saturday. The new mid-stage trial will determine whether the vaccine is effective on people between the ages of 6 and 17, according to an emailed statement from the university. Around 300 volunteers will be enrolled and first inoculations are expected this month, Oxford said. The two-dose Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine has been hailed as a 'vaccine for the world' because it is cheaper and easier to distribute than…

Jul

26

2021

By The African Mirror

SA eases COVID-19 restrictions, lifts booze ban

COVID-19

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER BUOYED by scientific data that show that the country is over the peak of the COVID-19 third wave, South Africa has eased restrictions, allowing for alcohol sales and public gatherings including those of religious and political nature. The downgrading of SA from lockdown alert level four to three, was announced by the country’s President Cyril Ramaphosa in a special address to the nation. Ramaphosa said the decline in the infection made it possible to ease the restrictions. He announced these new measures: Sale of alcohol will be permitted: Monday to Thursday - 10am - 6pm for off-sales…

Feb

14

2021

By The African Mirror

Global ranks of child soldiers swell

COVID-19

EMELINE WUILBERCQ MORE children could be pushed into joining armed groups in conflict zones as families face increasing poverty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a top U.N. official warned. The exact number of child soldiers is unknown, but in 2019 alone about 7,740 children - some as young as six - were recruited and used as fighters or in other roles by mostly non-state armed groups, according to United Nations data. Speaking on International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers - or Red Hand Day - the U.N. Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba said that number was…

Jul

26

2021

By The African Mirror

Monkeypox in Nigeria: why the disease needs intense management

HEALTH

MONKEYPOX is back in the news. The publicity this time derives from a case brought into the US by someone from Nigeria in June 2021. In this interview with Adejuwon Soyinka, The Conversation’s West Africa regional editor, virologist Oyewale Tomori explains that the US case was not the only export from Nigeria this year. He provides insights into why this is happening and what needs to be done. OYEWALE TOMORI, Fellow, Nigerian Academy of Science Is it right to describe the latest development as a resurgence of Monkeypox in Nigeria? Not really. Monkeypox is endemic and always with us in…

Jul

24

2021

By The African Mirror

COVID-19 SCIENCE: J&J shot recipients may need a booster, new advice on infected kids

COVID-19

NANCY LAPID THE following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19. Johnson & Johnson shot may need boosting People who received the one-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine may need a booster shot to fend off some of the worrisome coronavirus variants now spreading worldwide, a study suggests.A "significant fraction" of blood samples from recipients of the J&J shot had low neutralizing antibody levels against the Delta, Delta Plus, Beta and Lambda variants, according to a report posted on Wednesday on the medical website…

Feb

26

2021

By The African Mirror

Trials show vaccine is effective against variants

COVID-19

CUREVAC’S chief Franz-Werner Haas disclosed yesterday that preliminary trials on animals of the company's COVID-19 vaccine candidate show it is effective against the UK and South African variants. Haas told EU lawmakers that the results of the preliminary trials on the vaccine's effects on variants would be published soon. He also said that the company expected its vaccine to be approved in the European Union by June.