More than 1m of South Africa’s health-care workers can expect to receive a coronavirus shot by the end of March, after the Health Department secured a commitment from Pfizer for an initial tranche of 600,000 doses of its double-shot vaccine,...Weekly Roundup
The SAA Pilots' Association (Saapa) has lambasted government for chartering an empty South African Airways (SAA) cargo plane to fetch a batch of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine from Brussels. According to News24, the flight, which left on...Weekly Roundup
Health experts and lawmakers have warned that Brazil is steaming into the darkest days of its coronavirus catastrophe, as fatalities soared to new heights and one prominent politician compared the crisis to an atomic bomb. The Guardian reports that...Weekly Roundup
Figures published by NHS England suggest that 39,088 people were likely to have been infected with COVID-19 in hospitals between 1 August last year and 21 February 2021, reports The Guardian.
More than 31,000 people were infected with COVID-19...Weekly Roundup
The US government is launching a nationwide initiative to study COVID-19 patients who suffer from residual symptoms months after recovery, commonly known as "COVID long-haulers". USA Today reports that this is according to Dr Antony Fauci who also...Weekly Roundup
Buoyed by the fact that their vaccine is relatively easy to update, scientists at Oxford University are modifying it in a pre-emptive strike to prevent new coronavirus variants, including the variant first discovered in South Africa, from taking...Weekly Roundup
Moderna is pressing forward with a modified version of its COVID-19 vaccine meant to protect against an emerging strain of the virus – the company said it is planning to start a clinical trial as soon as regulators give the green light, reports...Weekly Roundup
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has confirmed it was investigating allegations that Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize’s close associates benefited from COVID-19 tenders issued by the Health Department valued at more than R82m.
“We got the...Weekly Roundup
Following what it said was a vague response by the Western Cape Health Department on the absorption of Community Service Practitioner Nurses, the Denosa Student Movement has vowed to continue with sit-ins and sleepovers at the department's offices....Weekly Roundup
A group of South African scientists have designed and developed the first COVID-19 vaccine of African origin, called Shantivax, reports IoL. Port Elizabeth-based immunotherapy company, Genlab, together with Danish biotechnology company, Immunitrack,...Weekly Roundup
The Food and Drug Administration released an analysis of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday (24 September) supports its authorisation for emergency use, reports National Public Radio.
On Friday, a panel of advisers to the...Weekly Roundup
Health minister Zweli Mkhize has assured MPs that the government was close to finalising key coronavirus vaccine deals with pharmaceutical manufacturers Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Pfizer and would conclude agreements within a matter of...Weekly Roundup
The Centre for Social Change (CSC) at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in partnership with the developmental, capable and ethical state (DCES) research division of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) have released a research briefing on...Weekly Roundup
South Africa is pushing ahead with the planned rollout of the Pfizer vaccine, with experts not overly concerned about the results of a new study showing that the dominant local coronavirus variant may reduce protective antibodies it triggers by...Weekly Roundup
The government’s top COVID-19 vaccine advisers have met to discuss launching a clinical trial of AstraZeneca’s shot, designed to answer key questions about the extent to which the jab protects people from severe disease caused by the new variant...Weekly Roundup
A laboratory study suggests that the South African variant of the coronavirus may reduce protective antibodies elicited by the Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE vaccine by two-thirds, and it is not clear if the shot will be effective against the mutation,...
