Tag: covid vaccination

Categories : COVID Expert OpinionTags :

UCT Expert Talks COVID and Warns of Third Wave

On By ModernMedia

If South Africa does not pursue a rapid vaccination programme to achieve herd immunity, it may face a third wave as a consequence, warned a leading local expert.

Professor Marc Mendelson of UCT’s Division of Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine at Groote Schuur Hospital made these statements while speaking during a virtual Summer School lecture on Saturday, titled “COVID-19 Insights and Lessons”.

“Without rapid vaccination of at least two thirds of the population, we [South Africa] are not going to get to population immunity, and without that, we will see another wave,” Mendelson warned.

However, he emphasised that much had been accomplished in the battle against COVID. “It is associated with a scientific endeavour that we have never seen before. We’re definitely better off a year down the line, but there are a huge number of things that we need to answer. As a country we still face deep problems with severe issues around vaccine strategy, and we haven’t even talked about vaccine denial,” he said.

Criticism has been directed at the South African government because of its failure to start a vaccination programme, despite its huge case load and status as Africa’s most wealthy nation. A leaked phone call from a Pfizer executive has only added to this, as it was revealed that for months SA health officials had not been responding to requests for vaccine discussions.

Regarding COVID transmission, he said that the virus resided in the upper respiratory tract as well as the lungs, and that it could be expelled in aerosol droplets. The clinical and epidemiological evidence suggested that larger, heavier droplets carried the virus.

“The household infection rates were high. A very large number of cases, the vast majority [in fact], were within families in close proximity [to one another]. This, epidemiologically, suggests that large droplets play a role in transmission.

“If you want to reduce transmission from large droplets, then you need to increase the distance you are from someone. Also, because droplets drop onto surfaces … you will need to clean surfaces and wash your hands well. This is the science behind the use of masks, handwashing, social distancing and ventilation.”

However, he added that a number of studies had found the virus in remote corners of hospitals at a distance from patients, suggesting that it had been carried there by smaller, aerosolised particles.

“If you want to reduce aerosols, one way of doing that is to improve ventilation. The more the air is changed, the [quicker] it will dilute small droplets,” he said.

Source: University of Cape Town

Categories : COVIDTags :

WHO Warns of ‘Catastrophic Failure’ over COVID Vaccination

On By ModernMedia

The World Health Organization head, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has warned that the world faces a “catastrophic moral failure” because of unequal access to COVID vaccines. 

He said that 49 wealthier states had conducted 39 million vaccinations between them, but one poor country had only 25 doses.

To date, the US, China, India, Russia and the UK have all developed vaccines, and mostly prioritised their own populations to receive them – although the German company BioNTech developed theirs in collaboration with Pfizer, and even so, the EU failed to secure vaccines sufficiently in advance. 

Dr Tedros spoke to an executive board session of the WHO, saying: “I need to be blunt: the world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure – and the price of this failure will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the world’s poorest countries.”

He warned that a selfish approach to vaccination would lead to hoarding and rising prices.

“Ultimately, these actions will only prolong the pandemic, the restrictions needed to contain it, and human and economic suffering,” he added.

Calling on nations to accelerate their progress, he said: “My challenge to all member states is to ensure that by the time World Health Day arrives on 7 April, Covid-19 vaccines are being administered in every country, as a symbol of hope for overcoming both the pandemic and the inequalities that lie at the root of so many global health challenges.” 

Thus far, 180 countries have signed on to the Covax initiative, which aims to negotiate as a bloc for lower vaccine prices. The initiative aims to distribute vaccines to low- and middle income countries, 92 of which will have their vaccines paid for by the initiative. Dr Tedros said that two billion doses had been secured, with an option of a billion more, with the first doses delivered by February.

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said in a reaction to Dr Tedros’ warnings that, “The UK is the world’s biggest supporter, financial supporter, of the global programme to ensure access to vaccines in all countries in the world.”

The UK has contributed £548m ($734m) to the Covax initiative. Canada drew criticism after it was revealed that, due to vaccine hoarding, the 70 poorest countries would only be able to vaccinate 10% of their population, while Canada had secured enough vaccines for five times its population of nearly 38 million. However, these vaccines are “hypothetical” according to Karina Gould, Canada’s minister of international development. Canada is also contributing $380 million to Covax. Furthermore, discussions are reportedly under way for South Africa to secure some of the vaccines allocated to Canada.

Source: BBC News

Categories : COVID UncategorizedTags :

SA Government Aims for a Corruption-free Vaccine Programme

On By ModernMedia

In the past week, President Cyril Ramaphosa and health minister Zweli Mkhize have undertaken a publicity drive to demonstrate how the government is working to ensure a tightly controlled vaccine drive that is not plagued by corruption. This is to avoid a repeat of the corruption in PPE acquisition last year, with some R10.5 billion being investigated for looting, with an Auditor-General report finding some items being purchased at five times the going price.

These efforts include centralised transactions which involve the auditor-general looking out for any discrepancies. Vaccine acquisition and roll-out planning will be handled by the government, with the private sector being tapped for storage and distribution. “What we have done is to get the Treasury and the Department of Health’s office of the chief procurement officer to oversee any form of transaction that is going to happen.

“Right now the procurement of the vaccines is within government. It makes it easier because it’s a tight-knit set of people, the prices are known, the manufacturers are known, the deviation is specific and it’s not the same as what we had in PPE where there were so many vendors, suppliers and so many different prices,” he said.

Furthermore, there will be consultation with the Attorney General. “We are going to say [to the AG]… these are the risks we have identified and ask them to analyse our plans and see if there are further risks we must be aware of and how we can work together to prevent any risk of looting,” Mkhize said.

Medical aid schemes have voiced concerns over the process, having sourced vaccines for their members as well as contributing to the vaccination costs of those not covered by any medical aid scheme.

President Ramaphosa said that South Africa would have pre-paid like other countries to secure vaccines, even given the risks of them failing, if it had the funds to do so.

However, he affirmed that there are funds available to buy the vaccination scheme, saying: “we are going to have the money, it will come from Treasury. There is just no way we can say, when it comes to saving the lives of South Africans, that we don’t have the money. The money will be there. It has to be there to save the lives of South Africans. That one will be my bottom line.”

The Covax programme will provide a vaccine for 10% of the population in the second quarter of 2021, for which a deposit of R283 million has been paid. A further 1.5-million vaccine doses have been secured from AstraZeneca and 9-million from Johnson & Johnson (J&J). The J&J vaccine only requires a single dose to confer immunity, so should be able to cover 9 million people.

“J&J will be producing through Aspen here at home, and we are hoping to get the bulk of our supply from there, once the production starts,” said Ramaphosa.

Source: Times Live

Categories : COVIDTags :

EU Angered by Pfizer Delay

On By ModernMedia

Pfizer has said in a statement on Friday that the drop in production is the result of the company upgrading its manufacturing processes, and that there will be an overall increase in supply as a result.

“Although this will temporarily impact shipments in late January to early February, it will provide a significant increase in doses available for patients in late February and March,” Pfizer said.

The German health ministry has said the delays are surprising and regrettable, pointing out that it had secured binding mid-February delivery dates from the company. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that she had been given assurances by Pfizer’s chief executive that all orders for the first quarter would arrive. She had previously said that Pfizer had promised to double its delivery of doses to the EU to 600 million this year.

However, the EU also has agreements in place with Moderna to supply vaccines, and this is not wholly dependent on Pfizer. However, Johnson & Johnson is also falling behind in its vaccine delivery targets, amidst reports that the US has failed to meet vaccination goals for the end of 2020, and may struggle to meet this year’s goals. Meanwhile, the UK is expected to be slightly impacted by the drop in supply but remains on track to meets its February immunisation goals.

However, the EU has lagged behind the UK in its vaccination programme, for a number of reasons including the fact that the UK ordered and approved its vaccines sooner, while Brussels’ negotiations were slower. Much of the delay is due to the added bureaucracy of the 27 nation political confederation and its decision to acquire vaccines as a single entity instead of individual countries further exacerbated this.

According to Reuters, citing a participant at a meeting last week, a third of the EU’s 27 countries reported difficulties in securing enough vaccines for their vaccination programmes.

Source: BBC News