COVID-19 WRAP | SA recorded 1,000 Covid-19 hospital admissions in last 24-hour cycle

June 11 2021 - 20:39

'Real possibility' that J&J vaccines ready to be used in SA might not be suitable: health ministry

There is a “real possibility” that the Johnson & Johnson vaccines ready to be distributed to South Africans from the Gqebherha plant will not be suitable for use.

This is according to the health ministry, commenting on Friday night after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed that just two batches of the vaccine from a Baltimore laboratory were being released, while others were not. The number of vaccines per batch was not specified in the FDA statement.

The New York Times reported earlier in the day that the FDA would ask J&J to discard 60 million vaccine doses.

June 11 2021 - 19:35

SA records more than 8,000 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours, 1,000 admitted to hospital

SA recorded just over 8,000 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Friday night.

The 8,021 new infections came at a positivity rate of 16.5%, and take the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases across SA to 1,730,106 since the outbreak of the coronavirus in SA in March last year.

“The majority of new cases today are from the Gauteng province (60%), followed by the Western Cape (9%) province,” the NICD said.

June 11 2021 - 17:29

FDA asks J&J to discard 60-million vaccine doses made at Baltimore plant: NYT report

The US Food & Drug Administration has asked Johnson & Johnson to discard 60 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine that were manufactured at the troubled Baltimore factory, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

According to the New York Times article, the FDA said the doses should be discarded “because of possible contamination”.

The article continues that the FDA planned on allowing 10 million doses to be released, but with a caveat that it “cannot guarantee” that the company that ran the Baltimore plant followed “good manufacturing practices”.

June 11 2021 - 15:33

‘We are feeling the pressure’: Gauteng hospital CEO as third wave hits

“We are feeling the pressure and the positivity rate is increasing by the day,” Tembisa Hospital acting CEO Dr Ashley Mthunzi said on Friday morning. “The facilities are overwhelmed with the increase in Covid-19 positive patients.”

On Thursday, the provincial department of health said they were concerned by the alarming increase in Covid-19 infections in the province.

According to National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) figures released on Thursday night, SA recorded 9,149 new Covid-19 cases in the previous 24 hours.

June 11 2021 - 13:33

Those who are vaccinated given a sign reading 'I am a nationalist'

Police in rural India have made some citizens who have not been vaccinated against the coronavirus wear signs with a skull and crossbones, the universal symbol for danger, stoking anger in a country where shots are in short supply.

June 11 2021 - 13:28

EU advises against AstraZeneca shot in people with rare blood condition

Europe's drug regulator on Friday advised against using AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine in people with a history of a rare bleeding condition and said it was looking into heart inflammation cases after inoculation with all coronavirus shots.

The European Medicines Agency's (EMA) safety committee in its evaluation said that capillary leak syndrome must be added as a new side effect to labelling on AstraZeneca's vaccine.

It is a condition in which blood leaks from the smallest of vessels into muscles and body cavities and is characterised by swelling and a drop in blood pressure.

The regulator first began looking into these cases in April and the recommendation adds to AstraZeneca's woes after its vaccine has been dogged with problems, including a possible link to rare blood clotting issues.

Last month, the EMA had advised against using the second AstraZeneca shot for people with the clotting conditions.

The watchdog is also broadening its probe into cases of myocarditis and pericarditis following inoculation with AstraZeneca's vaccine and other shots from Pfizer, Moderna and J&J.

Reuters

June 11 2021 - 12:20

Germany removes US, Canada, parts of Greece from Covid travel risk list

Germany has removed several countries and regions including the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Austria and some regions in Greece from its coronavirus travel risk list, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases said on Friday.

The new classifications apply from Sunday, the RKI said.

Reuters

June 11 2021 - 11:00

UK supply of Pfizer vaccine tight but on track for targets - minister

Britain's vaccine minister said on Friday that supplies of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for coronavirus would be "tight" over the next few weeks but that he was confident that the country's immunisation targets would be met.

"It is tight," vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi said on Pfizer supplies when asked on LBC radio.

"I'm confident that Scotland will be able to meet the target of offering every adult at least one dose by the end of July as we will in England as well," he added.

Britain said on Thursday that it would give at least 100 million surplus vaccines to the world's poorest nations.

Zahawi said the donations would not affect the domestic vaccine programme."No doses that are required for Scotland, for Northern Ireland, for Wales, for England are being taken away by our announcement (on donating vaccines)," Zahawi said.

Reuters

June 11 2021 - 10:30

Sinopharm unit's Covid vaccine secures approval for use on minors in China

A COVID-19 vaccine from Sinopharm unit Beijing Institute of Biological Products has obtained approval to be used on people aged between three and 17 in China, a disease control official said on Friday.

Shao Yiming, a researcher at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, was speaking to reporters at a news briefing. 

Reuters

June 11 2021 - 10:00

Total UK cases of Delta variant spike to 42,323

Total British cases of the Delta coronavirus variant of concern first identified in India have jumped by 29,892 to 42,323, Public Health England said on Friday, adding the variant accounted for over 90% of new Covid-19 cases in the country.

The figure was a big jump on the 12,431 cases of Delta reported last week, although it was not directly comparable as new genotyping tests were used this week, meaning that cases of the variant can now be confirmed within 48 hours.

Reuters

June 11 2021 -09:31

Young, Indian, Unvaccinated: the world's largest inoculation drive falters

India began an inoculation drive for its 1.38 billion people in earnest in mid-January.

Healthcare, frontline workers and the elderly were the first eligible, followed by people aged over 45 in April and then adults aged 18-45 in May.

June 11 2021 -08:43

Brazil plans to allow vaccinated people to not wear face masks, says president

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday that the health minister was preparing a measure to no longer require face masks for people who have been vaccinated for the coronavirus or previously infected.

June 11 2021 -08:00

How primates are helping in the fight against Covid-19

As the coronavirus outbreak rages around the world, the primates, mostly rhesus macaques, at the Tulane National Research Centre in Covington, Louisiana, are taking center stage in the fight against the pandemic.

June 11 2021 -07:45

Thousands of unreported Covid-19 deaths emerge in India

India’s Covid-19 daily death toll surged dramatically after eastern Bihar state revised its figures to include previously unreported deaths, lending weight to suspicion that many more victims have not been included in official data.

June 11 2021 -07:30

Covid-19 pandemic takes Haiti by surprise

Haiti is grappling with its first serious outbreak of Covid-19, and the country has yet to receive its first batch of vaccine doses.

June 11 2021 -07:00

US to donate 500 million vaccine doses globally, sources say

The Biden administration plans to donate 500 million Pfizer coronavirus vaccine doses to nearly 100 countries over the next two years, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

June 11 2021 -06:30

President Joe Biden: We won't be safe from Covid-19 at home until we defeat it in every corner of the globe.

June 11 2021 -06:20

As the world enters a highly uneven #COVID19 recovery, who benefits and who is falling behind?

June 11 2021 -06:15

India records 91,702 new Covid-19 cases over past 24 hours

India on Friday reported 91,702 new Covid-19 infections over the past 24 hours, and 3,403 daily deaths from the coronavirus.

The South Asian country's total Covid-19 case load now stands at 29.3 million, while total fatalities are at 363,079, according to data from the health ministry. 

Reuters

June 11 2021 -06:10

Covid third wave rolling relentlessly across Africa, so mask up

Fourteen African countries are “aggressively” heading into a third wave of Covid-19 infections, and the delta variant, first identified in India, has now been detected in 13 states to date, said Africa CDC director Dr John Nkengasong at his weekly briefing on Thursday.

The continent is heading towards five million reported Covid-19 cases (4.9 million) and more than 133,000 deaths by Thursday.

Nkengasong said: “The continent as a whole is moving towards a third wave, there is no doubt about that. This is unfortunate, but it is what you expect in a pandemic. We need to roll out vaccines at speed and scale, that is the only way (to stop the virus).

June 11 2021 -06:00

The low-down on Covid-19 around the world, including Gauteng spike

Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus across the world, starting with SA.

The number of new confirmed Covid-19 cases has surged by 8,881 on June 9, the biggest jump in infections in about five months.