HEALTH - The African Mirror

Dec

05

2020

Coronavirus claims 1.5 million lives globally with 10,000 dying each day

COVID-19

SHAINA AHLUWALIA and SANGAMESWARAN S OVER 1.5-million people have lost their lives due to COVID-19 with one death reported every nine seconds on a weekly average, as vaccinations are set to begin in December in a handful of developed nations. Half a million deaths occurred in just the last two months, indicating that the severity of the pandemic is far from over. Nearly 65-million people globally have been infected by the disease and the worst affected country, United States, is currently battling a third wave of coronavirus infections. In the last week alone, more than 10,000 people in the world…

Dec

05

2020

By The African Mirror

FACTBOX – Latest on worldwide spread of the coronavirus

COVID-19

U.S. leaders urgently called on Americans to wear masks and threatened even more drastic stay-at-home orders after deaths from the coronavirus set a single-day record, with two people dying every minute, while worldwide deaths crossed 1.5- million. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS * For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread of COVID-19. * Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals for a case tracker and summary of news. EUROPE * More than half of Spaniards are not willing to get COVID-19 vaccinations as soon as they are available, a survey showed as the government announced a target of 15 million to 20 million…

Dec

04

2020

By The African Mirror

How COVID upended life as we knew it in a matter of weeks

COVID-19

ALEXANDRA HUDSON ON January 1, 2020, as the world welcomed a new decade, Chinese authorities in Wuhan shut down a seafood market in the central city of 11 million, suspecting that an outbreak of a new "viral pneumonia" affecting 27 people might be linked to the site. Early lab tests in China pointed to a new coronavirus. By January 20 it had spread to three countries. For most people, it was a minor health scare unfolding half a world away. Nearly a year later it has changed lives fundamentally. Almost everyone has been affected, be it through illness, losing loved…

Dec

04

2020

By The African Mirror

Promise of COVID vaccines is ‘phenomenal’, WHO says

COVID-19

STEPHANIE NEBEHAY THE promise of COVID-19 vaccines is "phenomenal" and "potentially game-changing", Hans Kluge, the World Health Organization's regional director for Europe, told a briefing. Speaking from Copenhagen, he said supplies were expected to be very limited in the early stages and countries must decide who gets priority, though the WHO said there is "growing consensus" that first recipients should be older people, medical workers and people with co-morbidities. Britain approved Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, jumping ahead of the rest of the world in the race to begin the most crucial mass inoculation programme in history. Prime Minister…

Dec

03

2020

By The African Mirror

South African reintroduces tough anti-COVID-19 measures in response to second wave

COVID-19

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER THE resurgence of a COVID-19 second wave has forced South Africa to reintroduce tough measures in the Nelson Mandela Bay in Eastern Cape, an area which has seen new high infection rates which has led to overwhelmed hospitals. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the measures, in a special address to the nation, which will apply to the Nelson Mandela Bay, which has been declared a COVID-19 hotspot. He said the government would assess the Sarah Baartman region in the Eastern Cape and the Garden Route region in the Western Cape, which have also shown signs of…

Dec

03

2020

By The African Mirror

EXPLAINER-When and how will COVID-19 vaccines become available?

COVID-19

JULIE STEENHUYSEN nad CARL O’DONNELL BRITAIN has become the first Western country to approve a COVID-19 vaccine, jumping ahead of the United States and Europe after its regulator cleared a shot developed by Pfizer and BioNTech for emergency use in record time. Pfizer, with partner BioNTech SE, and rival Moderna have released trial data showing their COVID-19 vaccines to be about 95% effective at preventing the illness, while AstraZeneca last month said its vaccine was on average about 70% effective. The companies have said distribution could begin almost immediately after any approval, with governments around the world to decide who…

Dec

02

2020

By The African Mirror

Here is how the world reacted to Britain’s announcement that its COVID-19 vaccine rollout will begin next week

COVID-19

BRITAIN has become the first country in the world to approve the COVID-19 vaccine developed by U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech and said it will be rolled out from early next week. Here are some reactions to the news: JOHN TREGONING, A READER IN RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS AT IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON: "This is great news and remarkable progress given the first cases were less than a year ago. It shows what progress can be made through science and innovation. The MHRA, the UK drug regulator, will have gone through all the safety data from the trials before approving…

Dec

02

2020

By The African Mirror

‘A shot can end the stigma’: African women pin hopes on anti-HIV jab

HEALTH

NITA BHALLA KENYAN sex worker Silvia does not much like the large, oblong-shaped blue pill she takes with her porridge every morning. While the daily tablets of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drastically cut her risk of getting HIV, they bring with it stigma and even violence due to the common misconception that the drug is taken by people who already have the virus. "I was beaten up by a client who found the pills in my handbag. He thought I had AIDS and accused me of giving it to him and hit me on the head with bar stool. I ended…

Dec

02

2020

By The African Mirror

COVID-19 vaccine trials in Africa: what’s promising, and what’s problematic

COVID-19

SCIENTISTS are working around the clock to develop and test vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. Experts agree that widespread use of safe and effective vaccines will rapidly contain the COVID-19 pandemic, preventing transmission and disease. BENJAMIN KAGINA, Senior Research Officer, Vaccines For Africa Initiative, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town A key step in the process of any vaccine development is clinical testing, which involves assigning a vaccine or a placebo to human subjects, then evaluating the health effects over a period of time. This testing helps to demonstrate safety in diverse human populations living…

Dec

02

2020

By The African Mirror

COVID R&D Alliance launches trial of Amgen, UCB, Takeda drugs

COVID-19

DEENA BEASLEY AMGEN Inc, UCB SA and Takeda Pharmaceuticals Inc has launched a global trial to identify whether any of three different drugs can reduce the severity of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients by moderating the immune system's response to the disease. The drugmakers are part of the COVID Research & Development Alliance, a group of more than 20 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies cooperating to speed development of therapies for the disease that has killed more than 1.4 million people worldwide. The study initially will test whether Amgen's psoriasis drug Otezla, Takeda's experimental anti-inflammatory lanadelumab, and UCB's experimental immune system-inhibitor zilucoplan…