COVID-19 shots - The African Mirror

Jan

2021

EXCLUSIVE – COVID-19 shots to cost $3 to $10 in Africa

DAVID LEWIS and ALEXANDER WINNING AFRICAN countries will pay between $3 and $10 per vaccine dose to access 270 million COVID-19 shots secured this month by the African Union (AU), according to a draft briefing on the plan prepared by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and provided to Reuters. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who serves as AU chair, said last week arrangements had been made with the bank to support member states who want access to vaccines. Countries can pay back the loans in instalments over five to seven years, the document showed. Afreximbank's press office declined to answer…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

WHO advices on COVID-19 travel

COVID-19

STEPHANIE NEBEHAY and MICHAEL SHIELDS THE World Health Organization has refrained from advising proof of COVID-19 vaccination or immunity as a condition for international travel, citing "critical unknowns" regarding their efficacy in reducing transmission and limited availability. The WHO's Emergency Committee, composed of 19 independent experts, held its sixth meeting in a year as the global death toll from the pandemic reached two million among more than 90 million cases. The experts issued a series of recommendations, which WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus accepted and sent to the U.N. agency's 194 member states, a statement said. "At the present time,…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

FACTBOX-Latest on worldwide spread of the coronavirus

COVID-19

THE European Union said it had secured nearly half of Pfizer's 2021 global output of COVID-19 shots, while a study found that this vaccine appears able to protect against a key mutation in the new variants. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS * Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals here for a case tracker and summary of news. EUROPE * Germany has secured 50 million vaccine doses from German biotech firms BioNTech and CureVac on top of EU supplies, a document showed, amid record daily deaths and concerns about a new variant. * France and Britain approved Moderna's vaccine, while the Mayor of London declared a…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Vaccine alliance secures $2 bln to fund COVID shots for poor nations

COVID-19

KATE KELLAND and STEPHANIE NEBEHAY A facility set up by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the GAVI vaccine group has exceeded an interim target of raising more than $2 billion to buy and distribute COVID-19 shots for poorer countries but said it still needs more. The GAVI alliance has announced that the funds for an advance market commitment (AMC) will allow the COVAX facility to buy an initial one billion vaccine doses for 92 eligible countries which would not otherwise be able to afford them. "We've seen sovereign and private donors from across the world dig deep and meet…