AstraZeneca/Oxford - The African Mirror

Mar

2021

Nigeria to receive 3.92 million doses

NIGERIA expects to take delivery of 3.92 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine tomorrow, the third West African country to benefit from the COVAX facility after Ghana and Ivory Coast, the government's coronavirus task force said yesterday. Nigeria, Africa's most populous country with some 200 million people, has reported fewer than 1,900 COVID-19 deaths so far, much better than had been widely predicted early in the pandemic. Last week, Nigerian drug regulator approved the Astrazeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine use in Nigeria. The dispatch is part of an overall 16 million doses planned to be delivered to Nigeria in batches over the…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

W.H.O warns vaccine selfish countries

COVID-19

COUNTRIES seeking their own vaccine doses are making deals with drug companies that threaten the supply for the global COVAX programme for poor and middle-income countries, the World Health Organization has warned. "Now countries are still pursuing deals that will compromise the COVAX supply," WHO senior adviser Bruce Aylward told a briefing. "Without a doubt." The World Health Organization has long called upon rich countries to ensure that vaccines are shared equitably. It is one of the leaders of COVAX, a programme to supply hundreds of millions of vaccine doses to poor and middle income countries. But so far, COVAX…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Vaccines for “immediate use” in S.A.

COVID-19

SOUTH Africa's health minister said yesterday that government advisers had grouped COVID-19 vaccines into three groups and those considered for "immediate use" were the Johnson & Johnson (J&J), Pfizer and Moderna shots. The country started rolling out the J&J vaccine in a research study targeting healthcare workers last week and hopes to receive Pfizer doses in the coming months. It has paused AstraZeneca vaccinations because of a small trial showing the British company's shot offered minimal protection against mild to moderate illness caused by the dominant local coronavirus variant. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said the government had placed "huge orders…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

WHO lists vaccine for emergency use

COVID-19

THE World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday listed AstraZeneca and Oxford University's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, widening access to the relatively inexpensive shot in the developing world. A WHO statement said it had approved the vaccine as produced by AstraZeneca-SKBio (Republic of Korea) and the Serum Institute of India. "We now have all the pieces in place for the rapid distribution of vaccines. But we still need to scale up production," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. The listing by the UN health agency comes days after a WHO panel provided interim recommendations on the vaccine, saying two doses with…