HomeWeekly Roundup
Weekly Roundup
Serious Adverse Events on the rise in Gauteng's worst hospitals
Jack Bloom DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health says in a statement on Politicsweb:
Serious adverse events (SAEs) in Gauteng public hospitals have risen from...
IFP anger over Addington Hospital's continued lift woes
The IFP in KwaZulu-Natal is furious that the KZN Health Department spent almost R2.5m to fix faulty lifts at Addington Hospital in Durban. TimesLIVE...
WTO patent rights impasse frustrates attempts to ramp vaccine production
A push to increase production of COVID-19 vaccines for poor nations hangs in the balance at the World Trade Organisation amid disagreement between richer...
Police escorts demanded for EMS crews following KZN shooting of paramedic
The Democratic Alliance (DA) said no provincial Health Department ambulances should go out to high risk areas without police escorts. The Mercury reports that...
WHO critic of Italy's handling of COVID-19 resigns following 'pressure'
A World Health Organisation scientist who spoke out about the UN body’s withdrawal of a report on Italy’s early handling of the coronavirus pandemic...
SA vaccine supply will be sufficient but the issue is timing
South Africa will have enough vaccines to weather the COVID storm, say experts. But, reports the Financial Mail, whether they arrive ahead of winter...
Operating licence dispute again brings Tshwane emergency services to a halt
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency medical services provided by the City of Tshwane have once again been brought to a standstill,...
Cele blames COVID-19 and finances for massive Forensic Science Lab backlog
Financial constraints and the COVID-19 pandemic are the reasons for the police's National Forensic Science Laboratories (NFSL) shortages leading to a backlog, Police Minister...
Inquiry into COVID-19's Chinese origins 'must be independent' of WHO — Open letter
A small group of scientists and others who believe the novel coronavirus that spawned the pandemic could have originated from a lab leak or...
Government briefs Parliament on SA's COVID-19 vaccine rollout plans
Marking one year since the first COVID-19 case was reported in South Africa, the government has reiterated the vaccine will be administered for free....
Eastern Cape Health ordered to pay 6 doctors' salaries
The Mthatha High Court has ordered the Eastern Cape Health Department and the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital to pay six medical officers their salaries...
Limpopo health workers suspend strike for two weeks
The implementation of two contentious circulars over which health workers in Limpopo had threatened to down tools from this week have been put on...
Mkhize: 1.1m health care workers will be inoculated by end March
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...
SAHRC defends decision to charter SAA plane to fetch vaccines
The SAA Pilots' Association (Saapa) has lambasted government for chartering an empty South African Airways (SAA) cargo plane to fetch a batch of the...
Brazil's COVID-19 catastrophe 'like an atomic bomb'
Health experts and lawmakers have warned that Brazil is steaming into the darkest days of its coronavirus catastrophe, as fatalities soared to new heights...
39,000 hospital-acquired COVID-19 infections in England in 5 months
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...
Fauci announces new name for 'COVID long-haulers' and a new study
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...
Oxford vaccine team making a 'pre-emptive strike' on COVID-19 variants
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...
Moderna modifying COVID-19 vaccine to protect against emerging strains
Moderna is pressing forward with a modified version of its COVID-19 vaccine meant to protect against an emerging strain of the virus – the...
Mkhize 'welcomes' SIU probe into claims of COVID tenders for friends
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...
Denosa Student Movement targets Western Cape Health
Following what it said was a vague response by the Western Cape Health Department on the absorption of Community Service Practitioner Nurses, the Denosa...
PE company claims 'first COVID-19 vaccine of African origin'
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...
Full FDA Briefing Document on J&J vaccine
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,...
Mkhize tells MPs that J&J and Pfizer vaccine deals due 'within days'
Health minister Zweli Mkhize has assured MPs that the government was close to finalising key coronavirus vaccine deals with pharmaceutical manufacturers Johnson & Johnson...
'Black Africans more willing to accept a vaccine than whites’ — UJ/HSRC survey
The Centre for Social Change (CSC) at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in partnership with the developmental, capable and ethical state (DCES) research division...
SA vaccine experts 'not overly concerned' with results of Pfizer study
South Africa is pushing ahead with the planned rollout of the Pfizer vaccine, with experts not overly concerned about the results of a new...
SA plans AstraZeneca trial to assess effect on severe COVID-19
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...
Pfizer Inc/BioNTech vaccine's efficacy diminished two-thirds by SA variant
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...
SA's medical organisations urge renewed action on finding Munshi's killers
Four medical organisations representing general practitioners and specialists in South Africa have urged police not to rest until Dr Abdulhay Munshi’s killers are brought...
Eastern Cape Health MEC charged with fraud is fired
Eastern Cape Health MEC Sindiswa Gomba, who faces charges relating to a scandal over alleged misuse of funds meant for former President Nelson Mandela’s...
Company claims to have improved Ivermectin's solubility
Mountain Valley MD, listed in Canada and Germany, says it has patented the "Holy Grail" for pharmaceutical companies – the improved solubilisation of drugs....
SA’s private healthcare sector is starting to recover from the pandemic
Across the board, private healthcare providers felt the brunt of the pandemic in the first half of 2020, with operating profits falling by 35%...
'Dead' heart transplant technique found suitable also for use with children
Doctors at the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) have pioneered the use of a “dead” heart transplant technique – previously deemed suitable only for...
New datasets: 'Increased severity' of COVID-19 cases from UK variant
Evidence continues to mount that the so-called UK variant is "likely" deadlier and results in more hospitalisations than non-variant COVID-19 cases, according to data...
SA's opposition parties demand greater oversight on vaccine rollout
With the rampant corruption in personal protective equipment (PPE) procurement still fresh in mind, News24 reports that opposition parties have expressed the need for...
SAMRC: Eastern Cape COVID death rate may be world's worst
The latest data released by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) show South Africa's excess deaths during the pandemic have reached 137,731, but...
Western Cape trauma cases more than double with lifting of alcohol ban
Western Cape healthcare workers have recorded an increase in trauma cases following the lifting of the alcohol ban. The increase in trauma cases comes...
Health Ombud report into Tembisa: Hospital CEO fights to hang onto job
CEO of Tembisa Tertiary Hospital, Lekopane Mogaladi, has reiterated he will be taking his battle to remain in charge of the hospital to court....
HPCSA investigation into forced sterilisations 'ongoing'
The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) is still investigating cases of forced or coerced sterilisations in South Africa. News24 quotes communications manager,...
Funding-starved SIU still trying to recover missing Ledla PPE millions
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) still has to recover R14m from Ledla Structural, money which was irregularly awarded through a R139m personal protective equipment...