HEALTH - The African Mirror

Apr

11

2021

Kenya’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout has got off to a slow start: the gaps, and how to fix them

HEALTH

KENYA has started the first phase of its COVID-19 vaccination strategy. This was made possible by the delivery of just over one million AstraZeneca vaccines that arrived in two batches. One batch came via the global COVAX initiative, which aims to provide equal access to COVID-19 vaccines, and a 100,000 shot donation came from the Indian government. CATHERINE KYOBUTUNGI, Executive Director, African Population and Health Research Center Kenya’s first phase is meant to run until the end of June 2021. The initial plan was to vaccinate high priority groups, such as frontline healthcare workers. A few weeks into the rollout,…

Apr

10

2021

By The African Mirror

New research shows South Africa’s levy on sugar-sweetened drinks is having an impact

HEALTH

THREE years ago South Africa introduced Africa’s first major tax on sugar-sweetened beverages based on grams of sugar. The tax now stands at about 11% of the price per litre. KAREN HOFMAN, Professor and Programme Director, SA MRC Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science - PRICELESS SA (Priority Cost Effective Lessons in Systems Strengthening South Africa), University of the Witwatersrand We assessed the impact in recently published research. We found that the health promotion levy coincided with large reductions in purchases of taxable beverages, in terms of both volume and sugar quantities. We didn’t find significant changes for non-taxable…

Jul

12

2021

By The African Mirror

Ex-cabinet minister, board chair succumbs to COVID-19

COVID-19

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER DR BEN Ngubane, a prominent South African who was a former cabinet minister, provincial premier, diplomat and ex-chair of Eskom and SABC boards has died from COVID-19 related complications. Ngubane, 79, passed away this morning at a hospital in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal. While his last prominent positions were those as chair of the boards of Eskom and the SABC, Ngubane was also premier of KwaZulu-Natal, the minister of arts and culture as well as South Africa’s ambassador to Japan. Ngubane died at the Melomed Richards Bay Hospital. The institution’s manager Randal Pedro said: “It is with regret…

Jul

11

2021

By The African Mirror

Algerian prime minister infected with COVID-19

COVID-19

NEWLY-appointed Algerian Prime Minister Ayman Benabderrahmane is infected with COVID-19, according to the Algerian state TV. The prime minister, who had just formed his new government on Wednesday, will quarantine for seven days, but will continue performing his duties virtually, state TV said. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune ordered his government to reimpose physical distancing and mask-wearing measures across the country on Saturday, as well as to speed up a vaccination drive to cope with a surge in infection cases, it said. The North African country has so far reported 145,296 confirmed cases of coronavirus including 3,824 deaths.

Jul

11

2021

By The African Mirror

Arab countries pledge aid as Tunisia struggles with COVID pandemic

COVID-19

TAREK AMARA SEVERAL countries have promised to help Tunisia fight the coronavirus as the north African country recorded its highest daily death toll since the pandemic began, putting its health care system under severe stress and depleting oxygen supplies. President Kais Saied said in a statement that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had pledged to send vaccinations and whatever medical equipment Tunisia needed. Libya also pledged to send medical aid, the president's office said in a separate statement. Officials and local media said that Kuwait, Turkey and Algeria had promised to help. Qatar had already sent a military plane…

Apr

09

2021

By The African Mirror

COVAX vaccines reach 102 countries

COVID-19

STEPHANIE NEBEHAY THE COVAX vaccine facility has delivered nearly 38.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to 102 countries and economies across six continents, six weeks after it began to roll out supplies, according to a statement yesterday. The programme offers a lifeline to low-income countries, in particular, allowing them in the first instance to inoculate health workers and others at high risk, even if their governments have not managed to secure vaccines from the manufacturers. But there have been some delays, the GAVI vaccine alliance and World Health Organization said in a statement. Reduced availability of delayed some deliveries in…

Apr

09

2021

By The African Mirror

India refunds SA for undelivered doses

COVID-19

THE Serum Institute of India has fully refunded South Africa for 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine which the country did not want and which had not yet been delivered, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said yesterday. He added that South Africa expected to get more than 1 million vaccine doses from Johnson & Johnson in April as the country looks to ramp up its vaccination drive.

Apr

09

2021

By The African Mirror

Tunisia approve J&J vaccine

COVID-19

TUNISIA approved Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, the health minister Faouzi Mehdi said, and will soon receive 1.5 million doses of the vaccine under an African Union plan. The North Africa country also intends to buy further doses directly from the company to speed up its vaccination campaign, as it seeks to vaccinate 5 million people by the end of the year. Tunisia will extend its nighttime curfew hours and will prevent all gatherings and weekly markets to curb the rapid spread of the coronavirus pandemic, as intensive care units near-maximum capacity in most hospitals.

Apr

09

2021

By The African Mirror

Egypt to produce up to 80 million doses

COVID-19

EGYPT has agreed with China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd to manufacture its COVID-19 vaccine domestically and could produce up to 80 million doses a year, the health ministry said on Thursday. The agreement could provide a major boost to vaccination efforts in Egypt, which has a population of 100 million and has thus far received just 1.5 million doses. Egypt's cabinet and presidency approved a joint manufacturing agreement to make the vaccines that will be distributed in Egypt and to other African countries, Zayed said. One production facility can produce 20 million doses annually, while another could produce 60 million, the…

Apr

09

2021

By The African Mirror

Call for new COVID-19 origins

COVID-19

A joint China-World Health Organization (WHO) study into COVID-19 has provided no credible answers about how the pandemic began, and more rigorous investigations are required - with or without Beijing's involvement, according to a group of international scientists and researchers. The joint study, released last week, said the likeliest transmission route for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, involved bats and other wildlife. It all but ruled out the possibility it had leaked from a laboratory. In an open letter, 24 scientists and researchers from Europe, the United States, Australia and Japan said the study was tainted by politics. "Their…