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Weekly Roundup
Western Cape 'has contingency plan to procure vaccines’ — Premier
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde outlines some of the work the province has done, as well as its priorities, ahead of his State of...
Mining sector surveys show 21% of employees have COVID-19 antibodies
The Minerals Council South Africa last year announced plans to undertake a series of surveys to better understand the progression of COVID-19 in local...
More than half of South Africans do not seek TB treatment – HSRC survey
About 66% of people in South Africa with tuberculosis do not seek treatment in a country burdened with the illness. A Mail & Guardian...
Indaba nursing union advises members against taking COVID-19 vaccines
As a nurse in a country battling deadly diseases, Rich Sicina sometimes vaccinates other South Africans, but he says there is no way he...
Northern Cape doctors protest working up to 180 hours a week
Disgruntled doctors at Dr Harry Surtie Hospital in Upington, in the Northern Cape, held a protest during their lunch hour on Wednesday of last...
Pandemic shrinks SA organ donor pool; 5,000 lives threatened
Experts are warning that close to 5,000 South Africans – adults and children – could die if they don’t get the vital organ transplants...
COVAX releases its COVID-19 vaccine distribution list
The COVAX initiative for equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines has published its first distribution list, planning enough doses for dozens of countries to...
USAID support to Free State/Eastern Cape field hospitals in R766m programme
Field hospitals in the Free State and Eastern Cape have received support from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in the form of...
Pharmaceutical manufacturers welcome medicine price increase of 3.68%
South Africa’s biggest industry association for pharmaceutical manufacturers has welcomed the government’s announcement that private-sector medicine prices may increase by up to 3.68% this...
COVID-19 continues to weigh on Netcare's profits
Netcare, South Africa’s third-largest private hospital operator by market value, says COVID-19 continues to weigh on its profits, with it seeing more pandemic-related patients...
SAMRC: Excess deaths during pandemic now more 125,000
South Africa has recorded more than 125,000 excess deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, The Times reports a report by the SA Medical Research Council...
Proposals to prohibit Compensation Fund services sector ill-advised
With the stroke of a legislative pen the government proposes to wipe out a services sector that has played a crucial role in acting...
High cost of vaccinating dwarfed by the human/economic cost of unchecked pandemic
Having received finer pricing details from COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers over the past month, organised business is currently estimating that it will cost about R12bn...
MPs told of 'spaza shop' PPE compliance by military
The South African Defence & Military Veterans Department compliance on personal protective equipment (PPE) was akin to running a spaza shop, the auditor-general (AG)...
SA experts scoff at the 'flimsy' evidence for Ivermectin to treat COVID-19
The evidence on Ivermectin is flimsy and there is no compelling case for it to be used in the fight against COVID-19. The Times...
Scopa urges transparency on vaccine storage and distribution tenders
Parliament’s finance watchdog Scopa has written to the Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize and Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni calling for an open tender...
Treasury clarifies issue of indemnification of pharmaceutical companies in signing vaccine contracts
Daily Maverick reports that South Africa’s National Treasury has responded to article on alleged hold-ups in the signing of vaccine contracts over the issue...
Discovery Health CEO: We need vaccine clinical data not assurances
Medical aid scheme Discovery Health CEO Ryan Noach has emphasised the importance of Phase 3 clinical trial data on COVID-19 vaccines, urging manufacturers to...
MTN donates $25m to AU's health worker vaccine programme
Telecoms group MTN has donated $25m to the African Union's (AU's) vaccine programme to immunise health workers. Polity reports that this was announced by...
In The Same Breath: Documentary's scathing assessment of China's COVID-19 response
When evidence began mounting of a deadly new coronavirus in China a year ago, authorities could have reacted with swift warnings about public safety....
Ramaphosa: SA to nominate Cuban medical brigade for Nobel Peace Prize
South Africa will nominate the Cuban medical brigade for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for its work around the world to fight COVID-19. The...
Solidarity warns against using vaccine rollout for BEE
Trade union Solidarity says it will send an urgent letter to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the National Coronavirus Command Council about the...
Economists: Govt's tax plan to fund vaccine 'horrible', 'incompetent and 'ridiculous'
The suggestion last week by South African Treasury director general Dondo Mogajane said the government was considering a tax increase to fund the COVID...
HSRC Survey shows potential acceptance of a COVID-19 vaccine in South Africa
Authors, Narnia Bohler-Muller, divisional executive and Benjamin Roberts a research director in the developmental, capable and ethical state (DCES) research division at the Human...
Pfizer's offers to discuss vaccine uptake were ignored by SA Health Department
South African health officials were allegedly not responsive to requests from global pharmaceutical company Pfizer to discuss potential uptake of its COVID-19 vaccines for...
Focus on COVID-19 may be obscuring malaria diagnoses
With South Africa’s intensive care units crammed full of COVID-19 patients, even as the second infection surge slowly wanes, the Mail & Guardian reports...
UK to assist in Kenya's 24m-shot vaccine rollout
Britain has announced that it is helping Kenya prepare to rollout the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Astrazeneca and Oxford University, as African nations race...
Africa's COVID-19 case fatality rate now higher than global rate
Africa's coronavirus case fatality rate stands at 2.5%, higher than the global level of 2.2% – a trend that is alarming experts. This Times...
Global scientists tackle vaccine safety, efficacy and access after deaths in Norway
More than 2,800 scientists from 130 countries gathered on Friday (15 January) in a virtual forum hosted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to...
SA looking to use electronic vaccination data system
The South African government is establishing an electronic vaccination data system (EVDS) to assist with the management and surveillance of the COVID-19 vaccine, reports...
HSRC dismisses rumours that antibody survey is a secret vaccination plot
The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and its research partners have dismissed rumours that its National COVID-19 Antibody Survey (NCAS) was an attempt to...
Distell enters the medical cannabis market
South African liquor group Distell and Invenfin, the venture capital arm of Remgro, have entered into a partnership with Releaf Pharmaceuticals to share ownership...
KRISP director: It's 'unjust and damaging' to call 501Y.V2 the 'SA variant'
Scientists in South Africa and “around the world” have taken a “strong stand” against calling the latest variant of SARS-CoV-2 spreading like wildfire across...
Treasury looks to tax hike to pay for SA's vaccines
As the government’s efforts to secure supplies of COVID-19 vaccines find growing success, the Treasury is considering raising taxes as one of several possible...
Nzimande: R69m for plant-based and reagent vaccine candidates
The Higher Education, Science and Innovation Ministry has announced that it has invested R68,766,000 towards coronavirus (COVID-19) research and development. Engineering News reports that...
Lack of emergency use application to SAHPRA could delay vaccine approval
Government officials have yet to file an application for a key approval needed for the emergency use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, a delay that...
SAMRC: Record in excess deaths in first week in January
South Africa had a record 10,907 excess deaths from natural causes in the week of 30 December to 5 January, according to the 11...
Namibia Health Ministry to act over 'unadulterated lies' about state hospitals
Namibia’s Ministry of Health and Social Services has vowed to hold accountable those who are spreading fake audio recordings about COVID-19 vaccines. Several audio...
SA's private hospital groups recruit volunteers and retired employees
South Africaʼs hospital groups have begun recruiting volunteers and retired employees, as they grapple with increasing COVID-19 cases and staff shortages. News24 reports that...
AU secures a tenth of the vaccines needed for Africa
The African Union (AU), through the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (Avatt), has secured 270m vaccine doses to supply African countries, with at least...