Africa vaccines

Until recently, Tanzania gave the impression that the coronavirus pandemic — which has brought the world to a standstill — was under control. President John Magufuli assured the 58 million inhabitants of the East African nation that they need not worry about observing COVID-19 preventative measures. He also vowed last year that his country would never face curfews or lockdowns that had been introduced in neighboring Kenya and Uganda. On March 16, 2020, Tanzania's health ministry announced the country's first confirmed case of the coronavirus. "When the cases were being reported, President Magufuli was out questioning the standard of the lab equipment," Thabit Jacob, a political analyst at Roskilde University, told DW.  "He said the testing kits were made by western countries and were programmed to give many positive results."  However, the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said they had found no fault with Tanzania's testing … [Read more...] about Tanzania’s COVID-19 denial risks pulling Africa back

A booster jab that will help tackle the South African variant of coronavirus should be ready by the autumn, scientists said yesterday. The promise of an improved formulation will be necessary because the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine has a 'minimal' effect against the variant in reducing the number of cases, according to preliminary research. Government sources said last night that there was 'no indication' the easing of lockdown would be affected by the findings that the Oxford vaccine is less effective against the South African variant. Yesterday South Africa said it was suspending use of the AstraZeneca vaccine while scientists advise on the best way to proceed. Professor Sarah Gilbert, lead researcher in the Oxford team, said current vaccines 'have a reduction in efficacy against some of the variant viruses'. Professor Sarah Gilbert, lead researcher in the Oxford team, told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that her team currently has 'a version with the South African spike sequence in the … [Read more...] about Booster jab by autumn: Second vaccine dose that will help tackle the South African variant of Covid-19 could be available later this year as experts work to tweak the Oxford vaccine after research showed it has ‘minimal’ effect on the mutant strain

Holidaymakers heading to the Seychelles will no longer need to quarantine for 10 days on arrival - provided they have had a Covid-19 vaccine. The East African archipelago's tourism authorities announced this week that "with immediate effect, Seychelles will be welcoming vaccinated visitors from any part of the world". Anyone who receives the vaccination will need to wait for two weeks after receiving their second dose before they will be allowed to head to the island. However, it's worth noting that there will still be entry requirements for vaccinated visitors; you'll need to prove you've had two doses of the official vaccines, and you'll still need to provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test result, taken up to 72 hours before departure. The borders will remain closed to visitors who haven't been vaccinated, or who aren't travelling from the list of approved countries. (The Seychelles has currently closed its borders to anyone travelling from the UK). However, the islands are … [Read more...] about Seychelles won’t require tourists to quarantine if they’ve had a Covid vaccine

A peer review has confirmed that the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine is effective against two variants of the coronavirus, the companies said Monday. The review, which was published in the medical journal Nature Medicine, backed the results of a study completed by Pfizer and the University of Texas in late January. When the study was originally released, BioNTech and Pfizer said its finding suggested that no new vaccine would be necessary to fight coronavirus mutations first discovered in the United Kingdom and South Africa. Nevertheless, the continuous transformation of the deadly virus makes clinical data and constant observation imperative. Experts say that it is not a foregone conclusion that vaccines currently in use will remain effective against possible new variants of the virus in the future. Watch video 02:49 Share Coronavirus death rate soars in Germany’s Saxony Send Facebook Twitter reddit EMail Facebook Messenger Web Whatsapp Web Telegram … [Read more...] about BioNTech-Pfizer COVID vaccine effective against 2 variants

Pfizer's vaccine will work against the South African coronavirus variant — although its mutations could still mean thousands of injected people are vulnerable, a study has suggested. Researchers at New York University tested how well the variant of the virus could be destroyed by the blood of 10 people who had received Pfizer's jab. They found the immune antibodies made by the vaccine were still able to neutralise – destroy – the coronavirus, but the body didn't make as many of them. Antibody levels would be still high enough to fend off Covid-19 in most people who had the vaccine, and they offered more protection than in people who had had the illness already, the study found. But they did not work as well as they would on older versions of the virus because the antibodies were less perfectly matched to the spike proteins on the outside of the bug, meaning they more often failed to stop them. The results were backed up by a separate study — initially released last week but … [Read more...] about Pfizer’s Covid vaccine WILL work against South African variant and boost protection for people who have already had the virus, study suggests