Pfizer-BioNTech - The African Mirror

Feb

2022

African countries to get mRNA vaccine technology in WHO project

WENDELL ROELF and ALEXANDER WINNING THE World Health Organization said six African countries - Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia - would be the first on the continent to receive the technology needed to produce mRNA vaccines. The technology transfer project, launched last year in Cape Town, aims to help low- and middle-income countries manufacture mRNA vaccines at scale and according to international standards. mRNA is the advanced technology used by companies such as Pfizer-BioNTech, and Moderna for their COVID-19 shots. The WHO established its global mRNA technology transfer hub after large-scale vaccine purchases by wealthy countries and companies prioritising…

Dec

2021

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s Biovac to start making Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in early 2022 – exec

COVID-19

SOUTH Africa's Biovac Institute will start making Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine early next year after receiving the drug substance from Europe, according to a Pfizer executive. Biovac's "fill and finish" deal with Pfizer, announced in July, will make it one of the few companies processing COVID-19 shots in Africa, where many countries have struggled to access sufficient doses during the pandemic. "We expect that the Cape Town facility will be incorporated into our supply chain by the end of this year," Patrick van der Loo, Pfizer regional president for Africa and the Middle East, told a conference in Kigali on vaccine…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

SA signs deal for 20 million Pfizer doses

COVID-19

SOUTH Africa has signed an agreement to buy 20 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech dual-shot COVID-19 vaccine, a senior government official has announced, boosting plans to ramp up vaccinations from this month. The deal is a boost for the country worst hit by coronavirus infections in Africa, as it adds to 31 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's single-shot vaccine that the government has already secured. The first batch from Pfizer is expected to arrive later in April, Anban Pillay, deputy director-general at the Department of Health, told Reuters. He said he was not allowed to disclose the price, but…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Study suggests Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine less effective against S.African variant

COVID-19

KATE KELLAND THE Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine may be less able to protect against infection with a South African variant of the virus that has a worrying mutation, according to results of a British study released yesterday. The preliminary data, which have yet to be peer-reviewed and involve a small number of patients, also suggest a significant proportion of people aged over 80 may not be sufficiently protected against new variants of the virus until they have had two doses of the vaccine, researchers leading the study said. "Of particular concern ... is the emergence of the E484K mutation (found in…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Vaccine appears effective against new variants

COVID-19

MICHAEL ERMAN PFIZER Inc and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine appears able to protect against a key mutation in the highly transmissible new variants of the coronavirus discovered in Britain and South Africa, according to a laboratory study conducted by the U.S. drugmaker. The study by Pfizer and scientists from the University of Texas Medical Branch, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, indicated the vaccine was effective in neutralizing variants with the so-called N501Y mutation, situated on a portion of the virus that it uses to enter and infect cells. All of the vaccines already approved or in development use this outer…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Two doses of vaccine recommended

COVID-19

COVID-19 patients should take two doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine within a period of 21-28 days, the World Health Organization said, as many countries grappled with a more highly infectious coronavirus variant. "We deliberated and came out with the following recommendation: two 2 doses of this vaccine within 21-28 days," Alejandro Cravioto, chairman of WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE), told an online news briefing. He said SAGE did not recommend the Pfizer jab for travellers unless they were in a very high-risk group due to the very limited supply of anti-COVID drugs at present.…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigeria aims for 42 million vaccines

COVID-19

FELIX ONUAH NIGERIA hopes to get 42 million COVID-19 vaccines to cover one-fifth of its population through the global COVAX scheme, said Faisal Shuaib, head of the country's primary healthcare agency. Shuaib said the batch of vaccines would come as part of Nigeria's plan to inoculate 40% of the population this year, with another 30% in 2022. By the end of January, 100,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are expected to arrive, he said. The COVAX scheme was set up to provide vaccines to poorer countries such as Nigeria, whose 200 million people and poor infrastructure pose a daunting challenge…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca: Which COVID-19 vaccine could reach developing countries first?

COVID-19

THIN LEI WIN BRITAIN has become the first country in the world to approve a coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca as it battles a major winter surge driven by a new, highly contagious variant of the virus. Britain has already ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine, and the government said it had accepted the recommendation from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to grant emergency authorisation. The approval is a vindication for a shot seen as essential for mass immunisations in the developing world as well as in Britain. In December, Britain began rolling…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Where are we in the COVID-19 vaccine race?

COVID-19

PFIZER Inc and BioNTech SE has received U.S. regulatory authorization for their COVID-19 vaccine, making it the first inoculation against the new coronavirus to get a regulatory green light in the United States. The following is what we know about the race to deliver vaccines to help end the coronavirus pandemic that has killed 1.59 million people worldwide: WHO IS FURTHEST ALONG? U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and German partner BioNTech are the coronavirus vaccine trailblazers. On Nov. 18, they became the first in the world to release full late-stage trial data. Britain was the first to approve the shot for emergency…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

UK warns people with serious allergies to avoid Pfizer vaccine after two adverse reactions

COVID-19

ALISTAIR SMOUT BRITAIN’S medicine regulator has advised that people with a history of significant allergies do not get Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine after two people reported adverse reactions on the first day of rollout. Starting with the elderly and frontline workers, Britain began mass vaccinating its population on Tuesday, part of a global drive that poses one of the biggest logistical challenges in peacetime history. National Health Service medical director Stephen Powis said the advice had been changed after two NHS workers reported anaphylactoid reactions associated with receiving the vaccine. They were among the thousands who received the shot on Tuesday.…