vaccinated - The African Mirror

May

2022

South Africa has entered a new phase of the COVID pandemic: what that means

CONFIRMED cases of SARS-CoV-2 have been increasing in South Africa in recent weeks. This has been largely driven by two offspring – known as the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-lineages – of the Omicron variant first identified in South Africa late last year. What’s notable about the most recent spike is that there are a number of differences between what the country is currently experiencing and the first four waves of COVID-19 in South Africa. Authors MICHELLE J. GROOME, Head of the Division of Public Health Surveillance and Response, National Institute for Communicable Diseases JULIET PULLIAM, Director: SACEMA, South African Centre…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Africa seeing uptick of Covd-19 cases – WHO

COVID-19

AFRICA is seeing an uptick in COVID-19 infections, largely driven by a doubling in cases reported in South Africa, the World Health Organization said, urging people across the continent to continue to get vaccinated. Africa had been experiencing a lull in COVID cases, with the WHO earlier this month pointing to the longest-running decline in weekly infections on the continent since the start of the pandemic. But last week cases started to pick up in South Africa -- the country that has recorded the most infections and deaths in Africa to date -- and health authorities there are monitoring for…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Less than 3.5 % of Africans vaccinated against COVID

COVID-19

LESS than 3.5% of Africans are vaccinated against COVID-19, far short of its official target of 60%, John Nkengasong, director of Africa's Centers for Disease Control, said on Tuesday. World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the same briefing that the continent was being "left behind by the rest of the world" and that this would allow the coronavirus to keep circulating.

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

South Africa ease COVID-19 restrictions

COVID-19

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER BOUYED by lower infection rates, impressive vaccination levels - with over 7-million South African inoculated - the country’s president has eased COVID-19 restrictions, allowing for the sale of alcohol during weekdays, and bigger crowds at gatherings. In a special address to the nation, Ramaphosa said SA will move from Lockdown Level 3 to 2. He also made an impassioned plea to South Africans to get vaccinated. In terms of the relaxed restrictions, the following will apply: Hours of curfew will be 11pm and 4am.Restaurants, bars and gyms will have to close by 10pm.All gatherings will now be…

Aug

2021

By The African Mirror

COVID-19 herd immunity? It’s not going to happen, so what next?

COVID-19

ANY notion that COVID-19 was going to last for just a few months was very much misplaced in 2020. Especially after it was recognised that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was largely spread through the airborne route, all indications were that it would cause repeat bouts of waves. This is what happened in the flu epidemic of 1918. SHABIR A. MADHI, Dean Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at University of the Witwatersrand; and Director of the SAMRC Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand In addition, very few scientists predicted that we would see the…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Carrot or stick? How countries are tackling COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy

COVID-19

SONIA ELKS GET a COVID-19 jab in California and you could walk away with a lot more than a sore arm - a $1.5 million lottery jackpot is up for grabs for residents of the state who get vaccinated. From dollars to donuts, a dizzying array of incentives are being offered by authorities and companies around the world in a bid to win around the vaccine hesitant as they seek to turn a page on the pandemic. But as countries strive to reach 'herd immunity' - where enough people are protected against a disease that it becomes difficult for infections…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Zimbabwe president gets COVID-19 dose

COVID-19

ZIMBABWE's President Emmerson Mnangagwa and some opposition politicians received China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine in the tourist resort of Victoria Falls yesterday as part of efforts to encourage citizens to get inoculated. Zimbabwe has registered vaccines from China, India and Russia for emergency use but none so far from Western manufacturers. In a country where suspicion and scepticism often trump facts, Mnangagwa's vaccination at a public event, together with opposition leaders, was meant to assure citizens that the vaccines were safe. The southern African nation had planned to administer the Sinopharm vaccine to 53,000 health workers and selected security forces when…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Kigali street cleaners get their shots

COVID-19

STREET cleaners in the City of #Kigali are among the people who received COVID-19 vaccine shots this Friday.

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

South African President receives COVID-19 vaccine jab

NEWS

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER WITH his eyes wide open, a smile underneath his mask and applause from health workers, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa received a symbolic COVID-19 jab, hours after the Johnson and Johnson vaccines arrived in the country. Ramaphosa, accompanied by Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize, received his jab at the Khayelitsha Clinic in Cape Town. He said it was important for him to take the jab to demonstrate confidence and allay any fears about the vaccine. Mkhize also received a jab. They were not the first to receive the J&J jab. Nurse Zoliswa Gidi-Dyosi is the first health…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Push for digital COVID-19 record

COVID-19

MANAS MISHRA and AMRUTA KHANDEKAR MICROSOFT Corp, health insurer Cigna Corp and Mayo Clinic are part of a coalition pushing for digital records of people who get vaccinated against COVID-19. A key aim of the project, called Vaccination Credential Initiative, is to help people store encrypted digital copies of their immunization records in a digital wallet of their choice, the companies said in a joint statement on Thursday. These records could eventually be used, with an individual's consent, by colleges that are trying to re-open or even for entry into concerts in the future, Joan Harvey, an executive at Cigna…