South Africa is moving forward with plans to produce mRNA vaccines at a facility in Cape Town, where leaders including Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of the World Health Organization were on hand for a ribbon-cutting at the technology hub facility launched by biotech firm Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines. Afrigen has…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Africa’s struggle with the coronavirus, including the lack of COVID-19 vaccine access, was the focus of a blistering Amnesty International report released Tuesday. Just 8% of the 1.2 billion people on the continent were vaccinated by the end of 2021, with multiple waves of the pandemic having a “devastating impact”…
President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa is in Brussels to attend the European Union-African Union summit on Thursday and Friday. Ramaphosa will participate in discussions on climate change and the energy transition during the first day’s sessions, along with a roundtable on technology and transportation. On Friday, he will serve…
Akinwumi Adesina, head of the African Development Bank (AfDB), says he was in the VIP lounge of Dakar’s Blaise-Diagne International Airport with Senegal’s economic minister this week when another African dignitary walked in. The surprise guest was Moussa Faki Mahamat, head of the African Union Commission. What followed, the AfDB…
Namibia reported a record high of 2,547 new COVID cases on Thursday, as health minister Kalumbi Shangula appealed for more oxygen supplies and nurses. South Africa saw 18,762 new cases as the government began deploying its COVID surge team. Mozambique, Uganda, Kenya – they’re all seeing impacts from a trending…
African nations can expect 5 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from the United States, according to U.S. President Joe Biden. The commitment was announced Thursday as part of a U.S. plan to send vaccines to low-income nations still waiting for the lifesaving medicine. Biden described an allocation of the…
The head of Africa’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that ongoing delays in receiving Astra Zeneca vaccines from India pose a threat to controlling the COVID-19 pandemic in the face of emerging variants. John Nkengasong says any interruption would definitely impact the ability to continue vaccinating people….
Somalia received its first shipment of the Oxford Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses on Monday, just as other nations – particularly across Europe – put their vaccination efforts on pause because of concerns over the safety of the product. The first batch of 300,000 doses to arrive in Mogadishu is…
The World Health Organization says more than 6,000 people have died from measles in Democratic Republic of Congo, during an outbreak that has seen some 310,000 suspected cases reported since the beginning of 2019. “We are doing our utmost to bring this epidemic under control,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO…
Social media giant Facebook has announced a new policy on how it will handle posts and pages that spread misinformation about vaccines and vaccinations. It is a growing problem particularly in the West, where parents are choosing to avoid once-routine vaccinations for their children because of fears stoked by unreliable…