COVAX - The African Mirror

Apr

2022

COVAX, African Union decline to buy more doses of Moderna’s COVID shots

COVAX, the global project to share COVID-19 vaccines, and the African Union have declined options to buy additional doses of Moderna's shot, as developing nations struggle to allocate supplies. The global alliance did not exercise the option for 166 million doses of the shot for the third quarter of 2022, as well for 166 million doses in the fourth quarter, which expired on April 1, a Moderna spokesperson said. COVAX, which is backed by Gavi, the World Health Organization and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, is struggling to place more than 300 million doses, Reuters reported in February. Moderna and…

Feb

2022

By The African Mirror

S.Africa’s Ramaphosa: COVAX must buy vaccines from local manufacturing hubs

COVID-19

SOUTH AFRICAN President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the global vaccine distribution scheme COVAX and vaccines alliance GAVI should commit themselves to buying vaccines from local manufacturing hubs. "The lack of a market for vaccines produced in Africa is something that should be concerning to all of us. Organizations such as COVAX and GAVI need to commit to buying vaccines from local manufacturers instead of going outside of those hubs that have been set up," Ramaphosa said. He was speaking after the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the first six African countries, including South Africa, to receive the technology needed to…

Feb

2022

By The African Mirror

South African regulator approves Sinopharm COVID vaccine

COVID-19

SOUTH Africa's health regulator said on Monday it had approved a COVID-19 vaccine from China's Sinopharm, although a senior health official said the government was not planning to procure doses for now. South Africa, the country worst hit by the pandemic in Africa in terms of reported COVID-19 infections and deaths, has used the Pfizer-BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) shots in its vaccination campaign. The government delayed some vaccine deliveries late last year because of oversupply as hesitancy slowed the uptake. Drugs regulator SAHPRA said in a statement the Sinopharm approval was based on "acceptable safety, quality and efficacy data…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Africa demands local production of vaccines

COVID-19

DUNCAN MIRIRI and GEORGE OBULUTSA GLOBAL pharmaceutical firms should license the production of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa rather than just do piecemeal contract deals, an African Union special envoy has said. AU coronavirus envoy Strive Masiyiwa was speaking a day after Pfizer and BioNTech announced a "fill and finish" deal with South Africa's Biovac Institute under which it will carry out the final stages of vaccine manufacturing where the product is processed and put into vials. Pfizer and BioNTech will handle drug substance production at their facilities in Europe. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has called the arrangement "restrictive" and said…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Vaccine-starved Namibia receives boost

COVID-19

NAMIBIA, whose COVID-19 inoculation programme was halted by a lack of vaccines, has received a boost with the arrival of 250,000 Sinopharm doses bought from China. Namibia has temporarily suspended delivering shots at major vaccination centres across the country after supplies ran low. It is classified as an upper-middle-income country and had to pay to participate in the global vaccine distribution scheme COVAX. But it has only received 67,200 doses out of 108,000 allocated by the facility. It has also received donations of 100,000 Sinopharm doses from China and 30,000 AstraZeneca doses from India. Out of a population of 2.5…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigeria expects nearly 8 million vaccines

COVID-19

CHIJIOKE OHUOCHA NIGERIA expects to receive nearly 8 million additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of August, including from a U.S. government donation, the head of its primary care agency said on Tuesday. Faisal Shuaib, head of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), said Nigeria exhausted its initial supply of nearly 4 million shots last week and aims to resume vaccinations within weeks, when the new doses arrive. Nigeria expects delivery of 3.924 million doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca shots from global vaccine-sharing scheme COVAX by the end of July or early August, Shuaib said, and an additional…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

COVAX to deliver 520 million doses to Africa

COVID-19

ALEXANDER WINNING and GEORGE OBULUTSA THE global vaccine distribution scheme COVAX aims to deliver 520 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Africa this year, its managing director said, with supplies ramping up from September after delays caused by Indian export restrictions. Aurelia Nguyen told a news conference organised by the World Health Organization's Africa region that the scheme had delivered around 25 million doses to 44 African countries so far, but she was not happy with progress. In early March, the CEO of vaccine alliance Gavi, one of the organisations co-leading COVAX, had said the aim was to supply Africa -…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

WHO estimates COVID-19 boosters needed yearly for most vulnerable

COVID-19

FRANCESCO GUARASCIO THE World Health Organization (WHO) forecasts that people most vulnerable to COVID-19, such as the elderly, will need to get an annual vaccine booster to be protected against variants, an internal document seen by Reuters shows. The estimate is included in a report, which is to be discussed on Thursday at a board meeting of Gavi, a vaccine alliance that co-leads the WHO's COVID-19 vaccine programme COVAX. The forecast is subject to changes and is also paired with two other less likely scenarios. Vaccine makers Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc, with its German partner BioNTech, have been vocal…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

US to share millions of vaccines

COVID-19

JEFF MASON THE White House has laid out a plan to share 55 million U.S. COVID-19 vaccine doses globally, with roughly 75% of the doses allocated to Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Africa through the COVAX international vaccine-sharing program. The plan fulfils President Joe Biden's commitment to share 80 million U.S.-made vaccines with countries around the world. The president sketched out his priorities for the first 25 million doses from that pledge earlier this month. "As we continue to fight the COVID-19 pandemic at home and work to end the pandemic worldwide, President Biden has promised that the…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

“Africa is in the midst of a full-blown third-wave”

COVID-19

COVID-19 cases rose by over 20% week-on-week in nearly two dozen African countries and progress on vaccinating Africans is proceeding slowly, with just 0.79% of people on the continent fully vaccinated, senior health officials have disclosed. "Africa is in the midst of a full-blown third-wave...We've seen in India and elsewhere how quickly COVID-19 can rebound and overwhelm health systems," Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, told a news conference. New cases are up nearly 30% in the past week and deaths are up by 15%, she said, with five countries -- South Africa, Tunisia, Zambia, Uganda and Namibia --…