SARS-CoV-2 - The African Mirror

Jul

2021

Hard-won gains at risk as Delta variant spreads- WHO

STEPHANIE NEBEHAY and MICHAEL SHIELDS THE world is at risk of losing hard-won gains in fighting COVID-19 as the highly transmissible Delta variant spreads, but WHO-approved vaccines remain effective, the World Health Organization has warned. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has described the Delta variant of the coronavirus as being as transmissible as chickenpox and cautioned it could cause severe disease, the Washington Post said, citing an internal CDC document. COVID-19 infections have increased by 80% over the past four weeks in most regions of the world, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. Deaths in Africa…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Call for new COVID-19 origins

COVID-19

A joint China-World Health Organization (WHO) study into COVID-19 has provided no credible answers about how the pandemic began, and more rigorous investigations are required - with or without Beijing's involvement, according to a group of international scientists and researchers. The joint study, released last week, said the likeliest transmission route for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, involved bats and other wildlife. It all but ruled out the possibility it had leaked from a laboratory. In an open letter, 24 scientists and researchers from Europe, the United States, Australia and Japan said the study was tainted by politics. "Their…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

As WHO highlights COVID animal origins, China wildlife crackdown needs more teeth – experts

WORLD

DAVID STANWAY CHINA and its neighbours must not only crack down on wildlife trade but also shut legal loopholes that allow disease-prone species to be farmed, experts said after an investigation team concluded that COVID-19 most likely originated in animals. A World Health Organization-led study said it was "likely to very likely" that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused the global pandemic, was introduced to humans from bats via an intermediary species, with wildlife farming playing a crucial role. Tong Yigang, a Chinese animal disease expert involved in the joint study, said the findings vindicated Beijing's decision last year to ban…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

How the coronavirus mutates and what this means for the future of COVID-19

HEALTH

THE recent appearance of new variants of SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus causing COVID-19 infections), that may be associated with increased transmission of the virus and disease severity, has raised questions about the nature and rates of mutations in viruses. The answers to these questions will potentially guide public health decisions. However, it is also important for individuals to understand them so as to prevent potential panic. ED RYBICKI, Director, Biopharming Research Unit; and Member, Institute of infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town ANNA-LISE WILLIAMSON, Professor in Vaccinology, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

World faces around 4,000 COVID-19 variants as researchers explore mixed vaccine shots

COVID-19

GUY FAULCONBRIDGE and ALISTAIR SMOUT THE world faces around 4,000 variants of the virus that causes COVID-19, prompting a race to improve vaccines, Britain said on Thursday, as researchers began to explore mixing doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca shots. Thousands of variants have been documented as the virus mutates, including the so-called British, South African and Brazilian variants which appear to spread more swiftly than others. British Vaccine Deployment Minister Nadhim Zahawi said it was very unlikely that the current vaccines would not work against the new variants. "Its very unlikely that the current vaccine won't be effective on…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Results from Novavax vaccine trials in the UK and South Africa differ: why, and does it matter?

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

To fast track the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a broad range of candidate COVID-19 vaccines are being investigated. The results of clinical trials being run on some of them have started to be released. The Novavax vaccine trial is one of them. Phase 3 trial results from the UK and phase 2b results from South Africa were recently announced. Shabir Madhi was the lead researcher in the South African leg of the trial. The Conversation Africa’s Ina Skosana asked him to provide context. SHABIR A. MADHI, Professor of Vaccinology and Director of the SAMRC Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytical…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Pfizer vaccine only slightly less effective against key S.African mutations

COVID-19

PFIZER Inc and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine appeared to lose only a small bit of effectiveness against an engineered virus with three key mutations from the new coronavirus variant found in 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 (UTMB), which has not yet been peer-reviewed, showed a less than two-fold reduction in antibody titer levels, indicating the vaccine would likely be effective in neutralizing a virus with the so-called E484K and N501Y mutations found in the South African variant. The study was conducted…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

South African scientists who discovered new COVID-19 variant share what they know

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

LATE last year the Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa (NGS-SA) led by the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP) identified a rapidly spreading new variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The new variant, called 501Y.V2, raises critical questions – including whether current vaccines and treatments will still be effective. With the support of the South African Medical Research Council and the Department of Science and Innovation, a group of leading South African virologists, immunologists, vaccinologists, infectious disease specialists and microbiologists has since formed a consortium to address specific scientific questions surrounding 501Y.V2. The knowledge they…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

The new coronavirus variant in Britain: How worrying is it?

WORLD

KATE KELLAND A new variant of the pandemic SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is spreading rapidly in Britain and prompting high levels of concern among its European neighbours, some of which have cut transport links. The strain, referred to by some experts as the B.1.1.7 lineage, is not the first new variant of the pandemic virus to emerge, but is said to be up to 70% more transmissible than the previously dominant strain in the United Kingdom. ARE THE CONCERNS JUSTIFIED? Most scientists say yes. The new variant has rapidly become the dominant strain in cases of COVID-19 in parts of southern England,…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Coronavirus new variant – genomics researcher answers key questions

COVID-19

A new variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, is thought to be driving increased transmission of the disease in parts of the UK. The government has placed some regions including London under new, stricter coronavirus restrictions, known as Tier 4. People in Tier 4 areas will not be able to gather with anyone outside their household for Christmas, while those in the rest of the country can only gather on Christmas Day itself. LUCY VAN DORP, Senior Research Fellow, Microbial Genomics, UCL Boris Johnson, the prime minister, and his chief scientific advisors said that the new variant could…