Tag: Covid-19

Kenya has five weeks to use over 350,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses from Denmark

Frank

KENYA – The government of Kenya will need to expedite the deployment of 358,700 doses of the Astrazeneca Covid-19 vaccine donated by Denmark, which are to expire on July 31. The jabs arrived in Kenya on Monday night and were taken to the national vaccines store in Athi River for distribution. Head of vaccines deployment task force, Willis Akhwale, said despite the short expiry period, Kenya has one of the most efficient rollout plans. “So with these ones, and the capacity to even vaccinate 50,000 people per day, we believe…

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Delta COVID-19 strain detected in Ghana but community spread is yet to be detected

Frank

GHANA – The Ghana Health Service (GHS) says the Delta Coronavirus strain, originating from India, has been detected in Ghana through testing at the port health but there is currently no evidence of community spread. The service has said the strain was found through a generic analysis of samples collected form passengers who arrived at the Kotoka International Airport about a week ago. The number of delta strains detected in the country so far is however not known. Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, Director of Public Health, GHS, said that the Delta…

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University of Oxford is currently studying ivermectin as a possible therapy against COVID-19 in the UK

Frank

UK – Researchers from the university of Oxford under the PRINCIPLE study project are currently giving Ivermectin, a widely used anti-parasitic drug, to over-50s with COVID symptoms to see if it can keep them out of hospital. PRINCIPLE is a nationwide clinical study from the University of Oxford in collaboration with the British government trying to find COVID-19 treatments for recovery at home. The project is currently having any willing citizen over-50s with an underlying health condition or experiencing breathlessness and have had COVID symptoms for up to 14 days…

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Africa’s COVID-19 cases edge closer to the 5.3 million mark punctuated by a daily spike in infections

Frank

AFRICA – The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa has reached 5,234,387, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) reported. The Africa CDC, the specialized healthcare agency of the African Union, said the death toll from the pandemic stood at 138,154 while 4,643,802 patients across the continent had recovered from the disease. South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Ethiopia and Egypt are the countries with the most cases in the continent, according to the Africa CDC. South Africa has 1,832,479 cases and 58,795 deaths. The country has received…

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Cuba inches closer to rolling out its vaccines soberana and Abdala

Frank

CUBA – The Caribbean island nation of 11 million people, which has been under a strict United States (US) trade embargo for decades, is in process of developing five experimental shots, including Soberana 02 and Abdala, which reached final-stage trials last month. With both Soberana and Abdala in stage-three clinical trials, Cuba is racing towards potentially becoming the first country in Latin America to develop its own shot against the coronavirus. The names of the vaccines reveal much about how Cuba sees its national effort, Soberana translates as “sovereign”, while…

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Pfizer’s tofacitinib gains usage traction based on data from Brazilian hospitalized patients

Frank

USA – Pfizer Inc. and The Academic Research Organization (ARO) from the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein announced that the findings from the STOP-COVID study came out positive. The New England Journal of Medicine published positive findings from the study evaluating the efficacy and safety of oral Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor tofacitinib in 289 hospitalized adult patients with COVID-19 pneumonia who were not on ventilation. Tofacitinib is a type of drug known as a Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor that works by blocking the action of Janus kinase enzymes, which are involved…

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COVID-19 crisis in Indonesia worsens as the country reports a 2m milestone of reported cases

Frank

INDONESIA – The Southeast Asian nation Indonesia, hit the 2 million mark as its hospital occupancy rates soars to over 75percent in Jakarta and other hard-hit areas with increased COVID-19 related deaths being reported. Official figures as of Monday showed Indonesia had recorded a daily record high of 14,536 cases, taking the total to just over two million with nearly 55,000 deaths, among a population of nearly 270 million. The infamous milestone comes after the daily recorded rate double in recent weeks with the country’s authority identifying the presence of…

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Ash Cell donates PPE to three hospitals in Kumasi to bolster fight against COVID-19

Frank

GHANA – Ash Cell Limited, Distributors for MTN Ghana in the Ashanti Region, has donated Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to three hospitals in Kumasi as part of activities marking the company’s 10th anniversary. The beneficiary hospitals which included the KNUST Hospital, Suntreso Government Hospital and Apostolic Hospital received boxes of face masks and hand gloves to aid them in the fight against COVID-19. The donation was the second in a series of philanthropic activities lined up by the company to mark 10 years of excellent service delivery, having donated some…

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South Africa to host African coronavirus vaccine technology transfer hub

Frank

AFRICA – South Africa will host the continent’s first COVID-19 vaccine production facility, a new hub for Messenger RNA coronavirus vaccine technology, WHO has announced. The move comes after the WHO issued an expression of interest in April, to establish COVID-19 mRNA vaccine technology transfer hubs to scale up production and access to COVID vaccines in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The WHO describes the transfer hubs as training facilities, where the technology is established at industrial scale and clinical development performed. Interested manufacturers from LMICs can receive training and…

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UAE suspends flights from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Namibia in bid to mitigate virus spread

Frank

AFRICA – The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Emergency Management Authority (NCEMA) have announced the suspension of all inbound flights for national and international carriers coming from Liberia, Sierra Leon, and Namibia. The travel suspension which takes effect as from today includes inbound transit passengers with the exception of transit flights coming to the UAE and heading to these countries, the GCAA said. The GCAA indicated that it is required for those coming from Liberia, Sierra Leon, and Namibia through other countries that…

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