COVAX vaccine-sharing - The African Mirror

Sep

27

2021

Global vaccines project to revamp rules after Britain got more than Botswana

FRANCESCO GUARASCIO IN March, as wealthy Britain led the world in vaccination rates and almost half its people had received a shot, the organisation meant to ensure fair global access to COVID-19 vaccines allotted the country over half a million doses from its supplies. By contrast Botswana, which hadn't even started its vaccination drive, was assigned 20,000 doses from the same batch of millions of Pfizer mRNA vaccines, according to publicly available documents detailing COVAX's allocations. Other poorer nations, with fledgling vaccination drives at best, also received fewer shots than Britain. Rwanda and Togo were each allotted about 100,000 doses,…

Jul

30

2021

By The African Mirror

Stretched Senegalese hospitals overwhelmed by third COVID wave

COVID-19

ALESSANDRA PRENTICE IDRISSA Lo rushed back to Senegal from the United States when family members started falling sick with COVID-19 and dying. On Wednesday, he mourned a fifth family member lost to the virus - one of nearly 150 Senegalese to die this month as a third wave sweeps through the capital Dakar, leaving its hospitals nearly overrun. "The one I lost two hours ago is my really close cousin. He was young, he was like 40 years old," said Lo, a U.S.-based transport worker, standing in the sun-baked yard of the hospital in Dakar's Yoff neighbourhood. "There is something…

Jul

27

2021

By The African Mirror

World Bank, COVAX unveil plan to speed vaccine supplies to developing countries

COVID-19

ANDREA SHALAL THE World Bank and the COVAX global vaccine distribution program have unveiled a financing mechanism to speed the supply of doses to developing countries, where COVID-19 inoculation rates lag far behind those of richer nations. The mechanism allows COVAX to make advance purchases - at more competitive prices - from vaccine manufacturers based on aggregate demand across countries, using financing from the World Bank and other multilateral development banks. "Accessing vaccines remains the single greatest challenge that developing countries face in protecting their people from the health, social, and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic," World Bank President…

Jun

26

2021

By The African Mirror

Tanzania’s president warns of third wave

COVID-19

TANZANIA’S President Samia Suluhu Hassan has urged the public not to ignore a third wave of COVID-19, after her predecessor, the late John Magufuli, alarmed the world with his sceptical approach to the pandemic. Since Hassan took office after the death of Magufuli in March, the government has changed tack from downplaying the crisis to calling for social distancing and emphasising mask-wearing in public. There is currently no COVID-19 vaccination programme in Tanzania, but the country has applied to join COVAX vaccine-sharing facility and officials there are working with health partners to develop a deployment plan, the World Health Organization…

Jun

03

2021

By The African Mirror

Summit secures $2.4 bln for COVID shots for poor countries

COVID-19

STEPHANIE NEBEHAY and JOHN MILLER DOZENS of countries have pledged nearly $2.4 billion to the COVAX vaccine-sharing plan to widen the availability of COVID-19 shots to people in poorer nations who have so far come up short. The announcements, ranging from $2,500 from island nation Mauritius to millions of dollars and doses from larger, wealthier countries, came during a video summit hosted by Japan and the GAVI Vaccine Alliance, which leads the COVAX facility alongside the World Health Organization. "We have taken a big step towards 'one world protected'," said Jose Manuel Barroso, GAVI vaccine alliance chairman. The fresh funds…

Apr

03

2021

By The African Mirror

Kenya stops private import of COVID-19 vaccines

COVID-19

KENYA has ordered an immediate halt to imports of COVID-19 vaccines by private companies, the health minister said on Friday, saying such shipments were unlicensed and potentially dangerous because the shots could be counterfeit. Kenya, which went into a partial lockdown on March 26 after a surge of infections and deaths, has started vaccinating its citizens using just over 1 million shots secured through the global COVAX vaccine-sharing facility. At least one private firm has also brought in shots of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, according to Kenyan news media, who say the shots are being sold for about 16,000 shillings…

Mar

20

2021

By The African Mirror

Cameroon suspends use of AstraZeneca vaccine

COVID-19

CAMEROON’S health ministry has suspended the administration of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine it was scheduled to receive on March 20 as part of the global vaccines sharing scheme COVAX. The ministry said that the suspension was for precaution and prudence. It gave no further reasons for the decision or if it will go ahead and take delivery of its share of the vaccine. Several countries have resumed use of shots on Friday after the European Union and British regulators said the benefits outweighed any risks after reports of rare instances of blood clotting that temporarily halted inoculations. Cameroon has approved Russia's…

Mar

14

2021

By The African Mirror

DRC delays AstraZeneca rollout

COVID-19

THE Democratic Republic of Congo has delayed the rollout of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines, citing the suspension of the use of the shots by several European countries, two health ministry spokesmen said on Friday. Congo received 1.7 million AstraZeneca doses via the global COVAX vaccine-sharing programme on March 2 but is yet to start its inoculation programme. A World Health Organization expert advisory committee is currently looking at AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine after some countries paused distribution of the shot, but a spokeswoman said there is no reason not to use it. Health authorities in Denmark, Norway, Iceland and Bulgaria have suspended…