COVID-19 vaccines - The African Mirror

Jun

2023

Africa’s $2.6-billion kitty for future pandemics

JENNIFER RIGBY SEVERAL billions of dollars left in a scheme to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to the world's poorest could be diverted to prepare for other pandemics or to support vaccine manufacturing in Africa, the scheme's partners said. The COVAX initiative, run by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), has $2.6 billion left in its coffers as the emergency phase of the pandemic draws to a close, according to documents seen by Reuters and two sources close to the scheme. The initiative is set to wind up at the end…

Mar

2022

By The African Mirror

Ghana to start producing own Covid-19 vaccines in January 2024

COVID-19

GHANA will start producing its own COVID-19 vaccines in January 2024, President Nana Akufo-Addo said in his State of the Nation Address in parliament. A National Vaccine Institute would be established to lay out a strategy for the West African country to begin the first phase of commercial production for the jabs, he said without providing further details. "A bill will shortly be brought to you, in this House, for your support and approval for the establishment of the National Vaccine Institute," he said. So far Ghana has fully vaccinated around 21.4% of its 30-million-odd inhabitants against coronavirus, according to…

Mar

2022

By The African Mirror

How drug companies are sidestepping the WHO’s technology transfer hub in Africa

COVID-19

PHARMACEUTICAL company Moderna announced on 7 March 2022 that it would develop a site in Kenya to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines. The company holds much of the key intellectual property relating to the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines. Due to their higher efficacy, mRNA vaccines are the preferred option in developed countries. They account for 92% of all vaccinations to date in the US and European Union. Author DAVID RICHARD WALWYN, Professor of Technology Management, University of Pretoria Moderna’s decision to continue making the vaccine itself, though on the Kenyan site, is a signal that the company (at least for the moment)…

Feb

2022

By The African Mirror

COVID vaccine supply for global programme outstrips demand for first time

COVID-19

FRANCESCO GUARASCIO and JENNIFER RIGBY THE global project to share COVID-19 vaccines is struggling to place more than 300 million doses in the latest sign the problem with vaccinating the world is now more about demand than supply. Last year, wealthy nations snapped most of the available shots to inoculate their own citizens first, meaning less than a third of people in low-income countries have been vaccinated so far compared with more than 70% in richer nations. As supply and donations have ramped up, however, poorer nations are facing hurdles such as gaps in cold-chain shortage, vaccine hesitancy and a…

Dec

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigeria plans booster shots after first cases of Omicron variant

COVID-19

NIGERIA will start vaccine booster shots from next week for COVID-19, a senior official said, after the country confirmed its first cases of the Omicron variant among two travellers who arrived from South Africa last week. Faisal Shuaib, executive director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, said booster shots will be available from December 10 to those that have been fully vaccinated. Only 2.9% of Nigerians eligible to get vaccines have been inoculated so far. First reported in southern Africa a week ago, Omicron -- the mutated coronavirus variant that poses a high risk of infection -- has…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

South Africa, Oxfam call for fairer trade rules in response to pandemic

COVID-19

SOUTH Africa's president and the head of Oxfam heaped pressure on World Trade Organization members and manufacturers to allow fairer access to COVID-19 vaccines on Tuesday, including through a waiver on intellectual property rights. At a WTO public event on trade and COVID-19 also attended by German vaccine maker BioNTech, Cyril Ramaphosa said a waiver on patents was needed to save millions of lives during the pandemic. "This is not the time just to be uni-dimensionally focused on profit. This is the time to save lives," Ramaphosa said. The WTO began discussions on a waiver to intellectual property rules for…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

U.N. chief grades world on vaccine rollout: ‘F in Ethics’

COVID-19

MICHELLE NICHOLS UNITED Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reprimanded the world on Tuesday for the inequitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, describing it as an "obscenity" and giving the globe an "F in Ethics." Addressing the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders in New York, Guterres said images from some parts of the world of expired and unused vaccines in the garbage told "the tale of our times" - with the majority of the wealthier world immunised while more than 90% of Africa has not even received one dose. "This is a moral indictment of the state of our world. It is…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

African Union slams vaccine manufacturers

NEWS

THE African Union has accused manufacturers of COVID-19 vaccines of denying African countries a fair chance to buy them and urged manufacturing countries - in particular India - to lift export restrictions on vaccines and their components. "Those manufacturers know very well that they never gave us proper access," Strive Masiyiwa, AU Special Envoy for COVID-19, told a World Health Organization briefing from Geneva. "We could have handled this very differently." Out of 5.7 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines administered around the world so far, only 2% have been in Africa. Masiyiwa stressed that, in aiming to vaccinate 60% of…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

African researchers make headway in getting decisions made based on evidence

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

THE COVID-19 pandemic has added to the challenges facing African countries, including poverty, inequality and unemployment. RUTH STEWART, Professor: Evidence-Informed Decision-Making, University of Johannesburg SIZIWE NGCWABE, Senior Manager: Operations and Research Associate, University of Johannesburg Solutions exist. But they must be based on the best available evidence. That allows governments and policymakers to ensure scarce resources are carefully, transparently allocated where they can do the most good. Around the world, there is a community working to develop and support mechanisms that increase the use of research in decision-making. This is what is called evidence-informed decision-making. The community works in many…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

COVID-19 vaccines produce T-cell immunity that lasts and works against virus variants

COVID-19

OVER the past year or so, ordinary people have learnt a lot about viruses, vaccines and the immune system. We have all had to digest a lot of complex specialist knowledge about how safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines are. DEWALD SCHOEMAN, PhD Candidate, Molecular Biology and Virology, University of the Western Cape BURTRAM C. FIELDING, Professor and Director: Research Development, University of the Western Cape But one important – and positive – aspect of the vaccines hasn’t been well communicated. The statistics about COVID-19 vaccine efficacy have only focused on one aspect of immunity: antibodies. But there’s another aspect too:…