COVID-19 vaccine doses - The African Mirror

Mar

05

2022

S.Africa risks destroying 100,000 vaccine doses by end-March due to slow uptake

ABOUT 100,000 doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine are at risk of being destroyed by the end of this month due to slow uptake by citizens, South African health authorities said. South Africa has recorded the most coronavirus infections and deaths on the African continent, however, inoculations have slowed and the country has ample vaccine stocks of about 25 million doses. "There is a risk that just over 100,000 or so doses which will expire by end of March ... may have to be discarded. It will be a sad day if significant volumes of doses can end up being discarded. We…

Jul

31

2021

By The African Mirror

Botswana pays $15 a dose for vaccine

COVID-19

BOTSWANA’S health minister said on Friday that the government was paying the equivalent of $15 a dose for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech and almost $29 a dose for U.S. company Moderna's shot. African countries have struggled to procure enough vaccines in the global scramble for doses, with coverage secured through World Health Organization (WHO) and African Union (AU)-backed schemes so far falling short of the continent's needs. Under pressure over a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, health minister Edwin Dikoloti revealed how much the diamond-rich southern African country was paying in bilateral deals with pharmaceutical companies…

Jul

09

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

17

2021

By The African Mirror

Equatorial Guinea buys 500 000 vaccines

COVID-19

EQUATORIAL Guinea has purchased 500,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses from China's Sinopharm, according to its health ministry. "At the Beijing airport, the 500,000 doses... to continue the vaccination campaign are ready to be shipped," the health ministry said on Twitter, adding a video of crates labelled "Sinopharm" being loaded from a semi-truck. The tweet did not specify the price Equatorial Guinea had agreed to pay for the shots. The ministry could not be reached for further comments. China sent 100,000 doses of Sinopharm's vaccine to Equatorial Guinea in February, as part of a series of donations to African countries struggling to…

Jun

12

2021

By The African Mirror

G7 to donate 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to poorer countries

WORLD

KATE HOLTON BRITISH Prime Minister Boris Johnson expects the Group of Seven to agree to donate 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to poorer countries during its summit starting on Friday, and help inoculate the world by the end of next year. Just hours after U.S. President Joe Biden vowed to supercharge the battle against the coronavirus with a donation of 500 million Pfizer shots, Johnson said Britain would give at least 100 million surplus vaccines to the poorest nations. Johnson has already called on G7 leaders to commit to vaccinate the entire world by the end of 2022 and the…

Apr

28

2021

By The African Mirror

Congo to lose 1.3-million shots

COVID-19

HEALTH authorities are reallocating around 75% of Democratic Republic of Congo's 1.7 million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses to other African countries to make sure they're used before they expire, a UNICEF representative has said. Congo received the doses from the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility on March 2, but delayed the rollout after several European countries suspended the use of the AstraZeneca shot in response to reports of rare blood clots. The country began its vaccination campaign on April 19, but had administered doses to just 1,265 people out of its population of over 85 million as of Saturday, according to the…

Apr

09

2021

By The African Mirror

Egypt to produce up to 80 million doses

COVID-19

EGYPT has agreed with China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd to manufacture its COVID-19 vaccine domestically and could produce up to 80 million doses a year, the health ministry said on Thursday. The agreement could provide a major boost to vaccination efforts in Egypt, which has a population of 100 million and has thus far received just 1.5 million doses. Egypt's cabinet and presidency approved a joint manufacturing agreement to make the vaccines that will be distributed in Egypt and to other African countries, Zayed said. One production facility can produce 20 million doses annually, while another could produce 60 million, the…

Mar

30

2021

By The African Mirror

Ethiopia to get 300,000 doses of vaccines

COVID-19

ETHIOPIA is to receive 300,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses from China's state-backed China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm). The Sinopharm doses are the first shots Ethiopia has secured outside the global COVAX vaccine-sharing initiative, Health Minister Lia Tadesse told Reuters in a text message. Ethiopia is struggling to administer shots and tame infections that have spiked. In the past month, it has recorded a 26% increase in coronavirus infections and deaths rose by 18%, health ministry data shows. On Thursday, Africa's disease control body, the Africa CDC, said Ethiopia had reported the highest number of new cases in the last week of…

Feb

25

2021

By The African Mirror

Zimbabwe to buy 1.2 million more vaccines

COVID-19

ZIMBABWE will buy an additional 1.2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from China at a preferential price, President Emmerson Mnangagwa's spokesman yesterday after Beijing agreed to give more free doses to the southern African country. Zimbabwe began COVID-19 vaccinations last week after receiving a donation of 200,000 doses from the China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm). The government initially aims to inoculate health workers, security forces and journalists, among others. Chinese Ambassador Guo Shaochun said in a statement that his country had decided to double its donation of vaccines to 400,000 as part of its "solidarity and action" with Zimbabwe. Mnangagwa's spokesman…

Feb

17

2021

By The African Mirror

S.A. plans to share vaccine

COVID-19

ALEXANDER WINNING and WENDELL ROELF SOUTH Africa plans to share 1 million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses with other African countries, a senior official said, as a medical association said the first shots from rival Johnson & Johnson was expected to arrive. The country paused the rollout of AstraZeneca doses this month, after preliminary trial data showed they offered minimal protection against mild to moderate illness from the country's dominant coronavirus variant. It has been consulting with scientists about what to do with the AstraZeneca vaccine, switching to a plan to start inoculating healthcare workers with J&J's alternative in a research…