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Apr
09
2021
By The African Mirror
African Union drops AstraZeneca vaccine

African Union drops AstraZeneca vaccine

NEWS
THE African Union's disease control body has dropped plans to secure AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines for its members from the Serum Institute of India, the world's biggest vaccine supplier, amid global shortfalls of the shot. The announcement is another blow to AstraZeneca, which has touted its shot as the vaccine for the world because it is the cheapest and easiest to store and transport, making it well suited to the needs of developing countries. It comes the day after European and British medicine regulators said they had found possible links between the vaccine and rare cases of brain blood clots, while…
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Apr
11
2021
By The African Mirror
Calls to tackle vaccine hesitancy

Calls to tackle vaccine hesitancy

COVID-19
KIM HARRISBERG WARINESS about taking AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine in Africa could be compounded by the African Union's decision to halt plans to procure the shot, health experts said on Friday, calling for public awareness programmes to fight misinformation. The African Union (AU) said its announcement was not related to recent findings by European and British medicine regulators that there are possible links between the vaccine and extremely rare blood clots, but rather a case of diversifying options. Still, experts said the timing of Thursday's announcement could fuel vaccine hesitancy. "The announcement happening around the same time the European medical authority…
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Jul
03
2021
By The African Mirror
COVID-19 shows why Africa’s reliance on outsiders for health services is a problem

COVID-19 shows why Africa’s reliance on outsiders for health services is a problem

HEALTH
THE COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced several truths about the detrimental effects of Africa being over-reliant on western and international stakeholders to solve its health challenges and using western solutions to Africa’s health problems. FRANCISCA MUTAPI, Professor in Global Health Infection and Immunity. and co-Director of the Global Health Academy, University of Edinburgh The continent has suffered heavily from the global COVID-19 supply chain crisis. Competitive procurement by governments with deeper pockets has hiked prices of vaccines while national export controls on essential commodities and raw materials have blocked access. These effects were recently highlighted by the African Union special envoy,…
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Apr
20
2021
By The African Mirror
Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe: Nigerian academic mentor and researcher who made an impact

Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe: Nigerian academic mentor and researcher who made an impact

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION
OYEWUSI Ibidapo-Obe, who passed away earlier this year, was the former president of the Nigeria Academy of Science. He was also a former vice-chancellor of both the University of Lagos and of Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike. OLUMUYIWA ASAOLU, Associate Professor of Systems Engineering, University of Lagos He pioneered the study of stochastic methods in mechanics and the development of computer algorithms, applying Martingale Concepts to the control of nonlinear dynamical systems. That is: how to monitor and control seemingly random events in engineering via computer programmes. He was also a great mentor who made a notable contribution to deepening…
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Jun
30
2021
By The African Mirror
AU wants Covishield approved

AU wants Covishield approved

COVID-19
THE African Union has criticised an EU decision not to include Covishield, a version of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine used by the global COVAX facility, on a list of approved vaccines for a digital certificate meant to ease travel in the bloc. Covishield is produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and has been distributed to African nations as part of the COVAX initiative to give poor and developing countries access to COVID-19 vaccines. But Covishield is not one of four vaccines approved by the European Union for its planned digital vaccination certificate, which is intended to allow people to…
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May
13
2021
By The African Mirror
AU urges power sharing in Chad

AU urges power sharing in Chad

NEWS
MAHAMAT RAMADANE AN African Union mission has recommended that Chad's military share power with a civilian president, as one of three options towards restoring constitutional order following last month's killing of president Idriss Deby. A military council led by Deby's son Mahamat Idriss Deby seized power in April after his father was killed while visiting troops opposing a rebel insurgency. The African Union, which could suspend Chad over the military takeover, sent a fact-finding mission to develop strategies for a return to constitutional order and democratic governance. In a report, the mission recommended the AU's security council could support the…
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Jun
03
2021
By The African Mirror
Chad, C.A.R call for UN probe into border incident

Chad, C.A.R call for UN probe into border incident

NEWS
CHAD and the Central African Republic (CAR) has called on the United Nations and African Union to investigate an incident at a border post in which at least six Chadian soldiers were killed by Central African troops, a joint statement said Tuesday. The incident threatens to escalate tensions between the two countries since Chad participated in African efforts to stabilise CAR in 2013, which has been wracked by rebel insurgencies ever since. "The two parties have recognised the gravity of the situation and stress the urgency of clarifying the circumstances in which this attack was carried out," the countries' foreign…
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Apr
28
2021
By The African Mirror
AU special envoy succumbs to COVID-19

AU special envoy succumbs to COVID-19

COVID-19
ABDERRAHMANE Benkhalfa, one of Africa’s leading politicians and a special envoy of the African Union has succumbed to COVID-19. Benkhalfa succumbed to COVID-19 on 23 April 2021 in a military hospital in Algiers. He was 71. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the immediate past chairperson of the AU, has expressed deep sadness at the passing of Benkhalfa, a financial expert and former Algerian Minister of Finance. During Ramaphosa’s year-long term as Chairperson of the African Union (AU), the President appointed Benkhalfa as one of five AU COVID-19 Special Envoys to mobilise international financial and other support for the African continental…
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