COVAX - The African Mirror

Nov

2020

Botswana signs agreement with global vaccine scheme for 20% of population

BOTSWANA has signed an agreement with the global vaccine distribution scheme co-led by the World Health Organization, giving it the option to buy coronavirus vaccines for 20% of its population, a senior health official told Reuters. The southern African country has registered a relatively low number of coronavirus cases, around 7,800 with 27 deaths, but its economy has been dealt a severe blow by the pandemic. Unlike many other African countries, Botswana does not qualify for subsidised vaccines under the COVAX scheme because it is classified as an upper middle income country like neighbours Namibia and South Africa. Botswana made…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Afreximbank ready to raise up to $5 bln for COVID-19 vaccines for Africa – CDC head

BUSINESS

DAVID LEWIS and GIULIA PARAVICINI THE African Export-Import Bank is ready to raise up to $5 billion to purchase COVID-19 vaccines for African countries, according to the head of the continent's disease control body. John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said Africa needs to be pro-active in the race to secure vaccines for the novel coronavirus that has infected more than 41 million people globally. COVAX, a global COVID-19 vaccine allocation plan co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO), will only be able to secure shots for less than 10% of the continent's…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

WHO vaccine drive bedevilled by a familiar question: who pays if things go wrong?

COVID-19

FRANCESCO GUARASCIO WHO foots the bill if people in poor countries fall sick with unexpected side-effects from coronavirus vaccines? It's not clear and that's a big problem in the battle to beat COVID-19. The World Health Organization (WHO) has so far left the question of financial claims unresolved as it seeks to ensure shots are fairly distributed around the world, according to confidential documents reviewed by Reuters and six people familiar with discussions. A similar situation emerged during the H1N1 swine flu pandemic in 2009-10. Back then, fears about potential compensation costs stymied the WHO's efforts to get vaccines to…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s Biovac in talks to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines

COVID-19

WENDELL ROELF and ALEXANDER WINNING A South African company part-owned by the government is in talks with the global COVID-19 vaccine distribution scheme and pharmaceutical companies to produce some of the vaccines the country needs to protect itself against the disease. The Biovac Institute, a Cape Town-based joint venture between the government and private sector, could produce up to 30 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines per year, depending on the technology involved, Chief Executive Morena Makhoana told Reuters. Depending on whether the vaccines require a one- or two-dose regimen, that could be enough for a quarter or half of South…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

WHO says $700 million raised so far for COVID-19 vaccines initiative for poor

COVID-19

INTERNATIONAL donors have raised $700 million - less than half the target - to purchase future coronavirus vaccines for poor countries in a global initiative to ensure eventual vaccines do not go only to rich countries, a World Health Organization official has said. The COVAX Advanced Market Commitment has an initial target of $2 billion to buy the vaccines. "Up to today, what has been mobilised so far is $700 million ... So there is a great deal of work to be done to diversify the possible sources of funding," Matshidiso Moeti, Africa regional director for the WHO, told an…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Africa to get 230-million doses of new COVID-19 vaccine

NEWS

GEORGE OBULUTSA and DUNCAN MIRIRI THE World Health Organization wants to secure an initial 230-million doses of any COVID-19 vaccine for Africa, officials have announced, while emphasising that any vaccine in development should also be tested on the continent. The global vaccine allocation plan, called COVAX, aims to help buy and fairly distribute deliver 2-billion doses of approved vaccines by the end of 2021. "This ... (initial batch) will cover 20% of the African population, initially prioritising those who are the front line, health care workers, then expanding to cover vulnerable groups," Richard Mihigo, the programme area manager for WHO…