COVID-19 WRAP | SA records 5,931 Covid-19 cases in 24 hours

September 05 2021 - 19:08

SA records 5,931 Covid-19 cases in 24 hours 

SA recorded 5,931 cases in 24 hours, bringing the cumulative total of confirmed cases on Sunday to 2,819,945.

The country also recorded 76 new Covid-19 related deaths, bringing the national death toll to 83,419.

Since the start of the vaccine rollout, 13,454,823 vaccines have been administered. 

September 05 2021 - 18:30

Pfizer on track for US vaccine boosters, Moderna lagging, Fauci says

Top US infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday that officials were likely to soon get the regulatory go-ahead to administer Covid-19 vaccine booster shots made by Pfizer, although Moderna booster could take a little longer.

Asked on CBS' "Face the Nation," about President Joe Biden's goal to give booster shots starting September 20, Fauci said that "in some respects" that remained the plan.

But he said that while Pfizer-BioNTech has submitted the necessary data on booster shots to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Moderna has yet to complete the process. 

-Reuters

September 05 2021 - 15:51

Vietnam sets September 15 deadline to vaccinate biggest cities' adults

Vietnam's coronavirus epicentre, Ho Chi Minh City, and capital Hanoi must vaccinate all of their adult residents with at least one shot by September 15, the ministry of health said on Sunday.

Vietnam has one of the lowest coronavirus vaccination rates in the region, with only 3.3% of the country's 98 million people fully vaccinated with two shots, and 15.4% with one shot.

The country is battling a worsening Covid-19 outbreak that has infected more than 520,000 people and killed 13,000, the vast majority in the past few months.

-Reuters

September 05 2021 - 14:06

UK minister: no decision yet on Covid-19 vaccines for healthy children

British vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi on Sunday said a decision had not yet been taken on whether healthy children aged 12- to 15-years-old should be vaccinated against Covid-19, following reports that a rollout could begin in the coming days.

Britain's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on Friday declined to recommend vaccinations for children in that group, taking a precautionary approach due to a rare risk of heart inflammation, but adding the issue was finely balanced.

The government is consulting medical advisers to seek advice on wider considerations, such as the impact on schools, and may still give the go-ahead to broad vaccination of the age group.

-Reuters

September 05 2021 - 13:20

Mpumalanga school pupils aged 18 and over to get Covid-19 vaccinations

The Mpumalanga education department will from Monday take Covid-19 vaccinations into schools.

The department announced that it would be facilitating the administration of Covid-19 jabs to pupils who are 18 years and older.

The drive will take place from September 6 to 10.

September 05 2021 - 11:00

Brazil health regulator suspends use of 12-million Sinovac vaccine shots

Brazil's federal health regulator Anvisa on Saturday suspended the use of over 12-million doses of a Covid-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd that were produced in an unauthorised plant, it said in a statement.

Anvisa said it was alerted on Friday by Sao Paulo's Butantan institute, a biomedical center that has partnered with Sinovac to locally fill and finish the vaccines, that 25 batches, or 12.1-million doses, sent to Brazil had been made in the plant.

"The manufacturing unit ... was not inspected and was not approved by Anvisa in the authorisation of emergency use of the mentioned vaccine," the regulator said. The ban was "a precautionary measure to avoid exposing the population to possible imminent risk," it added.

September 05 2021 - 05:30

'Covid-19 is still raging': Ghebreyesus