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May
17
2021
By The African Mirror
South Africa targets 5 million elderly people in phase 2 of COVID-19 vaccine rollout

South Africa targets 5 million elderly people in phase 2 of COVID-19 vaccine rollout

COVID-19
SOUTH Africa will launch phase two of its vaccine rollout today with the aim of inoculating five million citizens aged over 60 by the end of June, the health minister said yesterday. "This is provided that the supply of vaccines flows as anticipated. By the end of June we expect to have received 4.5 million doses of Pfizer and 2 million doses from Johnson & Johnson," the minister, Zweli Mkhize, said during a webinar.
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May
16
2021
By The African Mirror
COVID-19 vaccine for life: Health or profit motive?

COVID-19 vaccine for life: Health or profit motive?

COVID-19
JULIE STEENHUYSEN and KATE KELLAND COVID-19 vaccine developers are making ever bolder assertions that the world will need yearly booster shots or new vaccines to tackle concerning coronavirus variants, but some scientists question when, or whether, such shots will be needed. In interviews with Reuters, more than a dozen influential infectious disease and vaccine development experts said there is growing evidence that a first round of global vaccinations may offer enduring protection against the coronavirus and its most worrisome variants discovered to date. Some of these scientists expressed concern that public expectations around COVID-19 boosters are being set by pharmaceutical…
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May
15
2021
By The African Mirror
Where are the women? How pandemic decisions are ingraining global gender bias

Where are the women? How pandemic decisions are ingraining global gender bias

COVID-19
RAQUEL LAGUNAS THERE are teams of experts around the world right now tackling the coronavirus pandemic, providing pathways to put an end to this deadly global scourge and charting the course for recovery. These task forces comprise health experts, economic leaders, policymakers, and more to ensure the best holistic solutions are put forward. But what they don’t have is gender balance and, in some cases, any women at all. There are three men to every woman on national COVID-19 task forces around the world, according to recent data from the United Nations Development Programme, UN Women and the University of Pittsburgh. The…
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May
15
2021
By The African Mirror
WHO urges rich countries to donate

WHO urges rich countries to donate

COVID-19
THE World Health Organization has urged rich countries to reconsider plans to vaccinate children and instead donate COVID-19 shots to the COVAX scheme for poorer countries. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said the second year of the pandemic was set to be more deadly than the first, with India a huge concern. "I understand why some countries want to vaccinate their children and adolescents, but right now I urge them to reconsider and to instead donate vaccines to #COVAX," he told a virtual meeting in Geneva. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sounded the alarm over the rapid spread of…
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May
15
2021
By The African Mirror
One health approach key to tackling Africa’s challenges

One health approach key to tackling Africa’s challenges

HEALTH
OLANIKE ADEYEMO THE COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that global health challenges cannot be solved only by health sector interventions. Many of the recent epidemics — Ebola, Zika and even Covid-19 — are emerging infectious diseases transmissible from wildlife species. In addition, other global health challenges greatly impact people, livestock, wildlife and agriculture which results in adverse effects on local, national, and global economies. To truly tackle prospective pandemics, Africa’s higher education institutions need to promote a more integrated approach to healthcare training that breaks down the silos between doctors, veterinarians, laboratory scientists and other aligned professions to embrace a “one health”…
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May
16
2021
By The African Mirror
Poor nutrition changes the way a body fights infection: this might protect against severe COVID-19

Poor nutrition changes the way a body fights infection: this might protect against severe COVID-19

HEALTH
Back at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, case numbers on the continent were still modest. But predictions and projections suggested the disease was going to cut a swathe through Africa. In April 2020 the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa sounded the alarm bell: Anywhere between 300,000 and 3.3 million African people could lose their lives as a direct result of COVID-19, depending on the intervention measures taken to stop the spread. BURTRAM C. FIELDING, Professor and Director: Research Development, University of the Western Cape DEWALD SCHOEMAN, PhD Candidate, Molecular Biology and Virology, University of the Western Cape The…
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May
14
2021
By The African Mirror
Americans shed their masks

Americans shed their masks

COVID-19
DAVID SHEPARDSON THE U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has advised that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks outdoors and can avoid wearing them indoors in most places, updated guidance the agency said will allow life to begin to return to normal. The CDC, which hopes the guidance will prod more Americans to get vaccinated, also said fully immunized people will not need to physically distance in most places. The turnaround came just 16 days since CDC issued revised guidance that left many restrictions in place for vaccinated people. The agency came under fire in…
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May
14
2021
By The African Mirror
Booster shots: Who decides?

Booster shots: Who decides?

COVID-19
JULIE STEENHUYSEN and KATE KELLAND VACCINE makers Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc, with their German partner BioNTech, have been vocal in their view that the world will soon need COVID-19 booster shots to maintain high levels of immunity. What is less clear, however, is who should make that decision - and based on what evidence. THE MODEL FOR FLU VACCINES Public health officials have a well-coordinated mechanism, first established in 1952, for determining when seasonal flu vaccines should be updated to cope with fast-mutating strains of influenza. The World Health Organization's Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System gathers data collected…
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May
14
2021
By The African Mirror
S.A’s death toll much higher than official tally

S.A’s death toll much higher than official tally

COVID-19
A South African report into excess deaths over the past year suggests more than 133,000 people in the country have died from COVID-19, far more than the official tally of nearly 55,000. The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) has been monitoring excess deaths since May 2020. In its latest report, published on Wednesday, the SAMRC said South Africa had seen 157,000 excess deaths in the past 12 months and estimated that 85% of them were caused by COVID-19, which means just over 133,000 people have died from the disease. This compares to an official death toll of 54,968 since…
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May
14
2021
By The African Mirror
US, SA discuss vaccine waiver

US, SA discuss vaccine waiver

COVID-19
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai yesterday expressed her support for a waiver of intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines in a call with South African Trade Minister Ebrahim Patel, one of the initial proponents of the waiver at the World Trade Organization. USTR said in a statement after the call that Tai "acknowledged the WTO members who have expressed support for negotiations and welcomed an update from Minister Patel about efforts to revise and resubmit South Africa's waiver proposal." Tai earlier on Thursday told U.S. lawmakers the vaccine IP waiver negotiations can help the embattled WTO to "show its relevance…
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