Driven by Omicron, Africa is facing a steep wave of new COVID infections – last week reporting the fourth highest number of cases ever recorded in a single week, said WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday. He was speaking at an exclusive media briefing in Geneva behind closed doors to a handful […] Continue reading ->
In what should be reassuring news for health systems the world over, preliminary lab results suggest that Moderna’s authorised COVID booster dose of 50 µg offers 37-fold more protection against Omicron than the first two vaccine jabs after 29 days. And a 100 µg booster -comparable to the dose received in the first two shots […] Continue reading ->
As more vaccine supplies finally become available to the world’s low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), the latent challenges that should have been addressed long before have emerged. Those include vaccine hesitancy and the ability of weak health systems to mount mass vaccination campaigns amidst other pressing health needs. Global policymakers need to shift their attention from […] Continue reading ->
An overwhelming majority of people in Africa – 78% of people surveyed across 19 countries in the African Union – are willing to get vaccinated, according to new research from the Partnership for Evidence-Based Response to COVID-19 (PERC). PERC – a public-private partnership consisting of organizations and institutions such as the African Union, Africa Centres […] Continue reading ->
Rapidly Spreading Omicron is Now in 77 Countries and WHO Warns Against Assuming its Effects are Mild
Omicron is now in 77 countries, spreading at a rate not seen by other COVID-19 variants and countries should not assume that it is mild, warned World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Tuesday. Even if people get milder symptoms from Omicron, the sheer number of cases could overcome health systems that […] Continue reading ->
CAPE TOWN – The mRNA vaccine ‘hub’ being set up in South Africa aims to have a COVID-19 vaccine candidate ready for clinical trials by 2023. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) – which initiated the South Africa hub to address regional inequity – is setting up a “biomanufacturing workforce training centre” to address the […] Continue reading ->
On Universal Health Coverage Day – an appeal to food and health advocates to shape an agenda for ‘Universal Nutrition Coverage’ including joined-up solutions that promote sustainable agro-ecosystems producing healthier foods for people with co-benefits for the planet. Every year on December 12, the health community marks Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day. While the technical […] Continue reading ->
The virus reproduction number of the Omicron variant in Gauteng province – the epicentre of South Africa’s pandemic – is 3 – meaning that one infected person will infect three others on average. That is the highest seen so far in the country’s COVID-19 pandemic history – and testimony to the highly infectious nature of […] Continue reading ->
There has been a substantial increase in COVID-19 vaccine deliveries to Africa in the past four weeks, with around 20 million doses arriving every week at present – but only six countries out of 54 African countries will reach the global target of vaccinating 40% of their population by the end of this year. This […] Continue reading ->
The newly constituted African Medicines Agency (AMA) will be key in assisting the African Union (AU) to achieve its aim of producing 60% of vaccines on its own soil by 2040. This emerged at a two-day meeting of the Partnership for Africa Vaccine Manufacturing (PAVM) hosted by Rwanda this week. The PAVM was set up […] Continue reading ->