HEALTH - The African Mirror

Jun

08

2021

WHO optimistic about African vaccine sites

COVID-19

WORLD Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hopes African COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing sites will be identified and some even close to producing by the end of 2021, in the race to deliver more shots to the continent. While Tedros did not provide specifics on which country, Reuters has reported that Senegal could begin producing COVID-19 vaccines next year under an agreement with Belgian biotech group Univercells aimed at boosting Africa's drug-manufacturing ambitions. Tedros also called on companies including Pfizer and Moderna whose vaccines rely on so-called mRNA technology to share their knowledge with the WHO's COVID-19 Technology Access Pool, which…

Jun

08

2021

By The African Mirror

Funding, vaccines sought from G20 nations

COVID-19

STEPHANIE NEBEHAY EMERGING powers among G20 countries including China, Brazil and India are being pressed to contribute urgent financing and COVID-19 vaccines for the COVAX dose-sharing facility, the World Health Organization and a Norwegian official have said. Ahead of the G7 summit this week, wealthy countries have also been pushed to follow the United States in making doses available immediately to cover a 200 million dose gap caused by Indian supply disruptions and manufacturing delays. So far some 150 million doses have been pledged to COVAX, far short of the 250 million needed by the end of September, and 1…

Jun

05

2021

By The African Mirror

COVAX hopes to deliver delayed AstraZeneca shots to Africa in June, July

COVID-19

EMMA FARGE THE COVAX vaccine-sharing scheme hopes to send millions of delayed doses of AstraZeneca's shots to Africa in June and July, but the deployment hinges on a Spanish manufacturing site securing regulatory approval, according to U.N. officials. Africa has been hit by a halt in vaccine exports from India which were due to make up a significant portion of the first phase of the COVAX roll-out. As a result, many recipients including health workers will not receive their second dose of the AstraZeneca shot within the recommended 12-week interval. "The second dose gap is a huge issue," World Health…

Jun

08

2021

By The African Mirror

U.S. FDA approves Biogen Alzheimer’s drug, hailed as ‘a big day’

HEALTH

DEENA BEASLEY and JULIE STEENHUYSEN U.S. regulators on Monday approved Biogen Inc's aducanumab as the first treatment to attack a likely cause of Alzheimer's disease despite controversy over whether the clinical evidence proves the drug works. Aducanumab aims to remove sticky deposits of a protein called amyloid-beta from the brains of patients in earlier stages of Alzheimer's in order to stave off its ravages, which include memory loss and the inability to care for one's self. "This is good news for patients with Alzheimer's disease. We've not had a disease-modifying therapy approved ever," said Dr Ronald Petersen, an Alzheimer's disease…

Jun

07

2021

By The African Mirror

Boost for Africa: Senegal to make COVID vaccines

COVID-19

EDWARD McALLISTER SENEGAL could begin producing COVID-19 vaccines next year under an agreement with Belgian biotech group Univercells aimed at boosting Africa's drug-manufacturing ambitions, a source involved in funding the project told Reuters. As wealthy countries begin to reopen after securing vaccine supplies early, African nations are still struggling to acquire shots. On a continent of 1.3 billion, only about 7 million have been fully vaccinated. The collaboration highlights the opportunities created by a global push to channel money and technology towards production on a continent that makes only 1% of the vaccines it requires. Univercells announced the signing of…

Apr

27

2021

By The African Mirror

South African study using J&J vaccine will resume

COVID-19

SOUTH African researchers will tomorrow resume a study further evaluating the efficacy of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine in the field, after it was temporarily suspended along with use of the shot in the United States. U.S. regulators recommended pausing the use of the single-shot earlier this month due to extremely rare cases of blood clots but on Friday said the United States could restart vaccinations. Europe's drug regulator has backed its overall benefits against any risk. The Sisonke study is being carried out by the National Department of Health, South African Medical Research Council and Johnson & Johnson among…

Apr

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Egypt approves vaccine for emergency use

COVID-19

EGYPT'S drug authority said on Monday it had granted approval to China's Sinovac coronavirus vaccine for emergency use. Egypt has so far approved and received shipments of the Sinopharm and AstraZeneca vaccines and has said it is preparing to produce up to 80 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine locally. It has also granted approval to Russia's Sputnik vaccine.

Apr

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Disruptions to immunisation put millions of children at risk – U.N.

HEALTH

MILLIONS of children whose immunisations have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in Africa, are now at risk from life-threatening diseases such as measles, polio, yellow fever and diphtheria, U.N. health agencies has warned. Gaps in vaccination coverage have already led to serious measles outbreaks in Pakistan and Yemen, the agencies said, and are likely to lead to more epidemics as more regular childhood vaccinations are missed. Compared to 2020, some progress has been made in restoring routine vaccinations disrupted by the pandemic, but more than a third of the 135 countries that responded to a World Health Organization…

Apr

28

2021

By The African Mirror

New malaria vaccine proves highly effective – and COVID shows how quickly it could be deployed

HEALTH

CORONAVIRUS vaccines have been developed and deployed in record time, but as global rollout has progressed, too few doses have been made available in low-income countries. It’s a stark reminder that when it comes to infectious diseases, the world’s poorest often get left behind. ADRIAN HILL, Director of the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford This is a problem that extends far beyond COVID-19. In Africa, for example, malaria has probably caused four times as many deaths as COVID-19 over the past year. Thankfully, our new research shows that an effective vaccine against malaria could now be closer than ever before.…

May

31

2021

By The African Mirror

Kenya extends COVID-19 curfew by 60 days

COVID-19

KENYA has extended its nightly curfew by 60 days to slow the spread of COVID-19, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday. The move followed a decision by President Uhuru Kenyatta in late March to extend the 10 p.m to 4 a.m. curfew. A ban on political gatherings and processions that could turn into super spreader events was also extended for 60 days, as was a prohibition on overnight events and vigils, the ministry said. When the first coronavirus cases were confirmed in Kenya in March 2020, the government closed schools, imposed a curfew, banned public gatherings and on multiple occasions…