coronavirus variant - The African Mirror

May

2021

Zim’s 1st case of ‘Indian variant’

ZIMBABWE has detected the first cases of the new coronavirus variant that emerged in India, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga said yesterday, adding that all travellers from the Asian nation would be required to undergo mandatory quarantine. Chiwenga, who also doubles as Zimbabwe's health minister, said in a statement the cases had been detected among a group of people in the central town of Kwekwe after a student returned from India on April 29. "People travelling from or transiting from India will be subject to mandatory quarantine at a designated quarantine centre and at their own cost," Chiwenga said. Travellers from…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

WHO classifies India variant as being of global concern

NEWS

STEPHANIE NEBEHAY and EMMA FARGE The World Health Organization announced yesterday that the coronavirus variant first identified in India last year was being classified as a variant of global concern, with some preliminary studies showing that it spreads more easily. The B.1.617 variant is the fourth variant to be designated as being of global concern and requiring heightened tracking and analysis. The others are those first detected in Britain, South Africa and Brazil. "We are classifying this as a variant of concern at a global level," Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO technical lead on COVID-19, told a briefing. "There is some…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Four cases of ‘Indian variant’ in South Africa

COVID-19

SOUTH Africa has detected the first four cases of a new coronavirus variant that emerged in India and was responsible for a surge of infections and deaths in the Asian country. Testing had also picked up 11 cases of the variant B.1.1.7 first detected in the UK, the health ministry said in a statement. "The Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa confirmed today that two variants of concern, other than the B.1.351 already dominating in South Africa, have been detected," Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said. The four positive cases were detected in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces, and all had…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

‘South African variant may evade protection from Pfizer vaccine’

COVID-19

MAAYAN LUBELL THE coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa may evade the protection provided by Pfizer/BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine to some extent, a real-world data study in Israel found, though its prevalence in the country is very low and the research has not been peer-reviewed. The study, released on Saturday, compared almost 400 people who had tested positive for COVID-19, 14 days or more after they received one or two doses of the vaccine, against the same number of unvaccinated patients with the disease. It matched age and gender, among other characteristics. The South African variant, B.1.351, was found to make…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

South African scientists’ COVID-19 breakthrough

NEWS

RESEARCH by South African scientists suggests that antibodies triggered by exposure to the country's dominant coronavirus variant can prevent infection by other variants, the scientists disclosed yesterday. The findings in laboratory studies offer hope that COVID-19 vaccines based on the 501Y.V2 variant first identified late last year could protect against multiple variants circulating in different parts of the world. The more contagious variant drove a second wave of infections in South Africa that peaked in January and is believed to have spread to many other countries in Africa and other continents. "We used plasma ... from people that were infected…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

South Africa backs Pfizer vaccine

COVID-19

ALEXANDER WINNING TWO of the South African government's top advisers on COVID-19 backed Pfizer's vaccine on Friday, despite a study earlier this week showing that the dominant local coronavirus variant may reduce protective antibodies it triggers. The country is counting on the Pfizer shot, developed with German partner BioNTech, to step up its vaccination programme after administering its first Johnson & Johnson doses on Wednesday. Professor Barry Schoub AstraZeneca vaccinations are on hold after a small local trial found the shot offered minimal protection against mild to moderate illness from the 501Y.V2 variant first identified late last year. The laboratory…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

COVID-19: What you need to know

COVID-19

HERE's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: UK variant 'likely to sweep the world' The coronavirus variant first found in the British region of Kent is a concern because it could undermine the protection given by vaccines against developing COVID-19, the head of Britain's genetic surveillance programme said. The variant was dominant in Britain and was likely to sweep the world "in all probability", she said. Sharon Peacock, director of the COVID-19 Genomics UK consortium, told the BBC: "What's concerning about this is that the 1.1.7. variant that we have had circulating for some weeks and…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Africa CDC’s guide AstraZeneca vaccine

COVID-19

AFRICAN countries that have not reported the circulation of the 501Y.V2 coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa should proceed with the rollout of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, the African Union's disease control body said on Thursday. For countries that have reported circulation of the 501Y.V2 variant, they should accelerate their preparedness to introduce all vaccines that have received emergency use authorisation, Africa CDC Director John Nkengasong told a news conference. "Consideration should be given to the effectiveness of the vaccine against the 501Y.V2 variant," Nkengasong said.

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

South Africa suspends use of AstraZeneca vaccine

COVID-19

South Africa will suspend use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shot in its vaccination programme after data showed it gave minimal protection against mild to moderate infection caused by the country's dominant coronavirus variant. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Sunday the government would await advice from scientists on how best to proceed, after disappointing results in a trial conducted by the University of the Witwatersrand. The government had intended to roll the AstraZeneca shot out to healthcare workers soon, after receiving 1 million doses produced by the Serum Institute of India on Monday. Instead, it will offer vaccines developed by Johnson…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Gambia’s first two cases of British variant

COVID-19

THE Gambia has recorded its first two cases of the highly infectious coronavirus variant first found in Britain, its health minister has said, in what appears to be the first confirmation of the variant's presence in Africa. Speaking before parliament, Health Minister Ahmadou Lamin Samateh did not give any further details about the cases, which could hamper efforts to contain a recent surge in infections. In a weekly report on Tuesday, the World Health Organization listed 50 countries where the variant had been detected around the world - none of them in Africa. Gambia, a former British colony, has so…