The European Union has agreed to return millions of COVID vaccines doses partially produced in South Africa back to the African continent.
South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare operates the plant that is partially producing Johnson & Johnson vaccines, where vaccine substance from Europe is sent to be bottled and shipped.
The plant is supposed to produce 400 million doses for the AU’s African Vaccine Acquisition Trust through 2022, to be purchased by African nations using World Bank financing. Shipments started in August, with 6.4 million doses delivered to countries, but they have been limited due to the manufacturing plant’s production capacity.
The announcement came as Africa struggles to immunise its population against COVID, partly due to a lack of supply resulting from wealthier countries buying up most vaccines, and also from widespread vaccine hesitancy.
“All the vaccines produced at Aspen will stay in Africa and be distributed to Africa,” said Strive Masiyiwa, special African Union envoy. “This issue has been corrected and corrected in a very positive way.”
The announcement came after a meeting in Berlin between South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, he said, adding that the first supplies were expected this month.
“In addition, the Europeans committed to give us 200 million doses before the end of December,” Masiyiwa said at the briefing by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
About 2.93% of people who have been fully immunised against COVID, said Africa CDC director John Nkengasong. The World Health Organization meanwhile warned that eight out of 10 African countries were likely to fall short of the “crucial” goal of vaccinating the most vulnerable 10% of their populations against COVID by the end of the month.
The WHO has urged that as air travel is restored, vaccinations should not be a prerequisite for travellers, potentially locking out those in poorer regions, especially Africa.
In a virtual press briefing on Thursday, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organization Regional Director for Africa said that the WHO believes that schemes to remove quarantine and entry restrictions for travellers that have been vaccinated, are discriminatory and could deepen already existing inequalities even further.
Meanwhile, she warned that Africa’s third wave, already underway in 12 countries, with cases rising in another 14, threatens to be the worst yet with 5.3 million cases across the continent. It is projected that in three weeks the third wave will surpass the previous wave’s peak.
Public fatigue and new variants are driving this surge across Africa, with Delta the variant detected in 14 countries. She stated that Africa can “blunt this third wave” but “the window of opportunity is closing”.
The WHO aims to strengthen variant surveillance in Africa by reinforcing the regional laboratory hub have a 8 to 10 fold increase in next 6 months for genome sequencing
Though vaccination rates remain low in Africa, there is nevertheless a great demand for vaccines, with 18 countries having used over 80% of the vaccines received through COVAX. Fortunately only mild side effects from the vaccines have been seen in African communities, she said.
Mr Kamil Alawadi, Regional Vice President for Africa and Middle East, International Air Transport Association (IATA) said that inconsistent requirements added additional complications in travel, increasing cost for the passenger and the airline. For travellers, PCR testing can range from $100 up to $400 for a single, one direction trip.
The key requirement for the recovery of the airline industry is the lifting of restrictions, said Alwadi, citing a survey that showed that 84% of passengers will not fly if there were quarantines in place. However, demand still existed for air travel, as evidenced by travel bookings spiking as soon as governments relaxed their border restrictions.
Alawadi said that the IATA agreed with the WHO that only lifting quarantine requirements for vaccine individuals was inequitable, and that “a robust and flexible testing system” was needed in place of quarantine, using systematic testing at the point of departure such as rapid antigen tests which are cheaper, faster and more accessible.
Graphic from Skyscanner.net showing countries with major travel restrictions from South Africa (red, 83 countries), moderate (orange, 29) and low restrictions (green, 42)
The situation was urgent for the African aviation industry as it had lost USD7.8 billion in 2020, with eight airlines filing for bankruptcy, he noted. This was against a background of USD430 billion global loss for the industry, though he noted that some countries are seeing a rebound to 2019 numbers for domestic travel. However, it is projected that losses will only stop by 2023 and return to profit by 2024.
The IATA has developed protocols in concert with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and WHO that will be non-discriminatory not require vaccinations, said Alwadi. However the aviation industry is sinking very rapidly without governmental support.
A team of neuroscientists are calling for greater support of neuroscience research in Africa based on an analysis of the continent’s past two decades of research outputs.
The findings reveal important information about the nature of funding and international collaboration comparing activity in the continent to other countries, mainly the US, UK and areas of Europe. It is hoped that the study will provide useful data to help further develop science in Africa.
The greatest human genetic diversity is found in Africa, and Eurasian genomes have less variation than African ones; in fact, Eurasian genomes can be considered a subset of African ones. This carries important implications for understanding human diseases, including neurological disorders.
Co-lead senior author Tom Baden, Professor of Neuroscience in the School of Life Sciences and the Sussex Neuroscience research group at the University of Sussex said: “One beautiful thing about science is that there is no such thing as a truly local problem. But that also means that there should be no such thing as a local solution – research and scientific communication by their very nature must be a global endeavour.
“And yet, currently the vast majority of research across most disciplines is carried out by a relatively small number of countries, located mostly in the global north. This is a huge waste of human potential.”
The team, made up of experts from the University of Sussex, the Francis Crick Institute and institutions from across Africa, analysed the entirety of Africa’s outputs in neuroscience over two decades. A lot of early neuroscience research took place in Egypt, it was pointed out.
Lead author Mahmoud Bukar Maina, a Research Fellow in the School of Life Sciences and the Sussex Neuroscience research group at the University of Sussex and visiting scientist at Yobe State University, Nigeria, explained: “Even though early progress in neuroscience began in Egypt, Africa’s research in this area has not kept pace with developments in the field around the world. There are a number of reasons behind this and, for the first time, our work has provided a clear picture of why – covering both strengths and weaknesses of neuroscience research in Africa and comparing this to other continents.
“We hope it will provide useful data to guide governments, funders and other stakeholders in helping to shape science in Africa, and combat the ‘brain drain’ from the region.”
Co-lead senior author Lucia Prieto-Godino, a Group Leader at the Francis Crick Institute, said: “One of the reasons why this work is so important, is that the first step to solve any problem is understanding it. Here we analyse key features and the evolution of neuroscience publications across all 54 African countries, and put them in a global context. This highlights strengths and weaknesses, and informs which aspects will be key in the future to support the growth and global integration of neuroscience research in the continent.”
The study identifies the African countries with the greatest research outputs, revealing that most research funding originates from external sources such as the USA and UK.
The researchers argue that a sustainable African neuroscience research environment needs local funding, suggesting that greater government backing is needed as well as support from the philanthropic sector. Professor Baden added: “One pervasive problem highlighted in our research was the marked absence of domestic funding. In most African countries, international funding far predominates. This is doubly problematic.
“Firstly, it takes away the crucial funding stability that African researchers would need to meaningfully embark on large-scale and long-term research projects, and secondly, it means that the international, non-African funders essentially end up deciding what research is performed across the continent. Such a system would generate profound outrage across places like Europe – how then can it be acceptable for Africa?”
A number of the researchers involved in the study are members of TReND Africa, a charity supporting scientific capacity building in Africa.
Journal information: M. B. Maina et al, Two decades of neuroscience publication trends in Africa, Nature Communications (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23784-8 , www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-23784-8
COVID cases map. Photo by Giacomo Carra on Unsplash
A surge in COVID cases in many parts of Africa could mean a continental third wave, the World Health Organization warned, posing a great threat for a continent where immunisation drives have been hamstrung by funding shortfalls and production delays for vaccine doses.
The WHO said that over the last week, test positivity had risen in 14 African countries, with eight reporting a surge of over 30% in new cases. Infections are steadily climbing in South Africa, where four of nine provinces are battling a third wave and the positivity rate was 14.2% as of Sunday. Uganda has also seen sharp increases, with hospitals overwhelmed with COVID patients and a lockdown being considered.
Weak compliance with social restrictions, increasing travel and the arrival of winter is behind the rise in cases, the WHO said. Experts also believe that new variants are also driving the numbers up.
Although Africa has reported less than 3 per cent of global coronavirus cases, the WHO said that the continent accounted for 3.7 percent of total deaths. This is likely an underestimate, given the lack of formal reporting for deaths.
“The threat of a third wave in Africa is real and rising,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, in a statement. “It’s crucial that we swiftly get vaccines into the arms of Africans at high risk of falling seriously ill and dying of Covid-19.”
While many wealthier countries have vigorous vaccination campaigns and some are on track to fully reopen, many of Africa’s poorer countries face a huge challenge in accessing vaccines.
Out of 1.3 billion people on the continent, only 31 million have received at least one dose, Dr Moeti said, and only seven million are fully vaccinated. Just 1386 people in Kenya have received two doses of a vaccine, out of a population of 50 million.
Countries like Ghana and Rwanda have run through their first deliveries of vaccines through Covax, the global facility working to ensure the equitable distribution of vaccines.
In some countries, vaccine hesitancy has been so high that it even caused stocks of vaccines to expire. Possible contamination in Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses detected at a US manufacturing plant has resulted in yet another delay to South Africa’s immunisation programme.
Meanwhile, fake vaccines and PPE pose another problem; last November a police raid in South Africa found almost 2400 doses of fake vaccine.
The WHO warned that the surge of causes could swamp the limited capacities of healthcare systems. To stave off a full-blown crisis, Dr Moeti urged “countries that have reached a significant vaccination coverage to release doses and keep the most vulnerable Africans out of critical care.”
Only about two per cent of the population has received at least one vaccine dose, compared with the 24 per cent global figure.
“While many countries outside Africa have now vaccinated their high-priority groups and are able to even consider vaccinating their children, African countries are unable to even follow up with second doses for high-risk groups,” said Dr. Moeti. “I’m urging countries that have reached a significant vaccination coverage to release doses and keep the most vulnerable Africans out of critical care.”
Wednesday was a day to celebrate in Ghana as the country took delivery of the first 600 000 vaccines from the Covax inoculation scheme for poorer countries. According to the AFP, some 217 million people have been inoculated so far.
The Covax scheme, which is led by Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations , is seeking to ensure low and middle-income countries equitably receive vaccines. head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cheered on the first delivery of the Covax vaccines with an enthusiastic tweet.
“At last!” he wrote. “A day to celebrate, but it’s just the first step.”
Healthcare experts had long been warning that global access to vaccines was necessary to put an end to the pandemic. Thus far, some 112 million people (and likely more, especially in Africa) have been infected with COVID and 2.4 million people have died from the disease. The recession has caused millions of job losses, and set back development in many areas.
The delivery of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines was broadcast live on Ghanian TV, and will be administered in Ghanaian cities from Tuesday. About two billion doses are expected to be distributed this year under the Covax scheme, although it is unclear if this goal will be met, given the difficulty many advanced nations have experienced in getting vaccines. The European Union, for example, has suffered setbacks in deliveries from AstraZeneca and Pfizer. EU member nation Hungary has meanwhile decided to forge ahead with its own vaccine acquisition, ordering five million doses from Chinese firm Sinopharm, and this week began its first vaccinations.
The Ivory Coast is set to receive the next batch from Covax later this week.
A new study from Zambia has found almost a fifth of recently-deceased people in mid-2020 tested positive for COVID.
The study, from the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) study in Zambia, upends the notion that Africa somehow ‘dodged’ the worst of the COVID pandemic. Rather, the low reported rates are merely reflective of a lack of testing ability.
“Our findings cast doubt on the assumption that COVID-19 somehow skipped Africa or has not impacted the continent as heavily,” said study co-author Dr Lawrence Mwananyanda, a BUSPH adjunct research assistant professor of global health based in Lusaka. “This study shows that with proper diagnostics and testing, we can begin to identify the scale of COVID-19 in African countries such as Zambia. I hope this study will encourage African governments to look closer at the rollout of COVID-19 testing, as well as empower Africans to take proactive steps–such as wearing masks, physically distancing, and skipping handshakes–to protect themselves from COVID-19.”
The findings have important implications for global policy makers, who will need to ensure access to vaccines worldwide, along with monitoring.
The University Teaching Hospital morgue sees roughly 80% of people who die in Lusaka pass through it. From June to September, polymerase chain reaction tests detected COVID in 70 out of 364 recently-deceased people. A peak of 31% positive results was observed in July. Unlike the typical pattern of COVID deaths elsewhere, most of the deceased people who tested positive in this study were under 60 years old, including seven children. Given how rare paediatric COVID deaths are elsewhere, this is surprising, the researchers noted.
The researchers sought information about the symptoms of the 70 who tested positive. “In nearly all cases where we had those data, we found typical symptoms for COVID-19, yet only 6 had been tested before death,” Gill said. Of 75% of deaths outside hospital, none had been tested.
Monitoring COVID is not a simple task, especially in a country with limited resources. Zambia’s Ministry of Health has been very proactive and supportive of this and other COVID studies, the researchers said.
“They’re really grateful that we can provide them this data, and they can make informed decisions moving forward with this epidemic,” said Dr Mwananyanda.
The researchers were well-positioned to track COVID in Zambia, having conducted the ongoing Zambia Pertussis/RSV Infant Mortality Estimation Study (ZPRIME) at the morgue.
“Building studies such as this from scratch can take time and resources that can be difficult in the time needed to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. We invested a lot of time and money and human resources to building infrastructure that allowed for that extensive surveillance,” said co-author Rachel Pieciak, a research fellow at BUSPH. “So, what we’ve done was repurpose ZPRIME study capacity to focus on enrolling all deaths across all ages and testing for COVID-19.”
The researchers expressed hope that similar studies could be repurposed for the COVID fight.
Recent confirmed cases of an Ebola outbreak have resulted in an epidemic being declared, with governments and health organisations racing to prepare.
After an emergency meeting Sakoba Keita, head of Guinea’s National Health Security Agency, stated: “Very early this morning, the Conakry laboratory confirmed the presence of the Ebola virus.”
In late January, one person had died in Gouécké, near the Liberian border. The victim was buried on 1 February “and some people who took part in this funeral began to have symptoms of diarrhoea, vomiting, bleeding and fever a few days later”, Keita said.
Laboratory testing of samples revealed the presence of Ebola in some of them on Friday, said Keita. He added that, with a total of seven cases and three deaths, Guinea was now in an “Ebola epidemic situation”.
WHO representative Alfred George Ki-Zerbo said in a press briefing: “We are going to rapidly deploy crucial assets to help Guinea, which already has considerable experience [treating the disease]. The arsenal is stronger now and we will take advantage of that to contain this situation as fast as possible.
“The WHO is on full alert and is in contact with the manufacturer [of a vaccine] to ensure the necessary doses are made available as quickly as possible to help fight back.”
Ebola is also flaring up outside of Guinea. On Thursday, the WHO announced a resurgence of Ebola in the DRC, only three months after the outbreak there was declared over. In Guinea’s neighbour Liberia, health authorities have been put on high alert even though no cases have as yet been detected there.
The deadly Ebola outbreak of 2013-2016 prompted the creation of a global stockpile of 500 000 vaccine doses, which can be drawn upon whenever an outbreak of the disease occurs.
Over the past month, Africa has recorded the highest growth in new infections, with a 13% growth over the last week. With only two million cases and 45 000 deaths, Sub-Saharan Africa still only has a small part of the caseload of other regions.
Dr John Nkengasong, who heads the African Centres for Disease Control (CDC), said: “I think this is serious, the second wave is extremely aggressive.” The latest surge is thought to be driven by the more transmissible South African variant, known as 501Y.V2. President Cyril Ramaphosa said this variant, found in 90% of new cases, was likely responsible for the country’s latest surge, which has caused morgues to fill up and hospitals to run short of staff and critical resources such as oxygen. North of the border, Zimbabwe this week started a month-long lockdown to curb a rise in new cases and protect its own overburdened health care system. Nearly two million Zimbabweans live in SA and regularly travel and forth, potentially spreading the virus.
Rashida Ferrand, a London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine professor working at the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in the Zimbabwean capital Harare told Reuters that there was “a pretty high likelihood” that the new SA strain of the virus identified could be circulating in Zimbabwe.
Lockdowns may now not be enough to control the spread of the new variant – certain studies of the similar, highly transmissible UK variant suggests that it may now spread too fast for its R (reproduction) value to be brought below 1, or otherwise cause a much slower decline in infections. Fortunately, it seems that lockdown measures in the UK are having some effect. Meanwhile, there are concerns that the SA variant may also be able to evade the protection of current vaccines,according to new research – but that has not been peer reviewed yet. Research in SA on the question is expected to provide answers. Meanwhile, 12 gene sequencing laboratories are being geared up around Africa to track the spread of the virus variants, and some genome sequencing work has been done since December, but not enough to paint a clear picture.
On November 30, the World Health Organization released this year’s World Malaria Report. Providing an up-to-date overview of the current global malaria disease burden, it also tracks investment, innovation and research against malaria.
Globally, malaria deaths have steadily declined over the years 2000–2019, from 736 000 in 2000 to 409 000 in 2019. The percentage of total malaria deaths that were children under 5 years of age was 84% in 2000 and 67% in 2019.
Six African countries accounted for 51% of global cases, with Nigeria (27%) contributing more than the other five countries combined. Partly this is due to its large relative population size compared to the rest of Africa, having over 200 million citizens.
Elsewhere, great progress is being made, The largest reduction in cases in the WHO South-East Asia Region was seen by India, from about 20 million cases in 2000 down to approximately 5.6 million in 2019. Sri Lanka has been certified malaria free since 2015.
The 11th outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has officially come to an end, and the country has been declared Ebola-free once again.
The outbreak which had spread along the many water bodies of Équateur province, had started just before the end of another deadly outbreak elsewhere in the country which had claimed 2280 lives. This marks the first time in nearly three years that the DRC has been Ebola-free. Logistical challenges in the geographically remote Équateur province hampered efforts to control the latest outbreak.
Experts believe that international involvement was key to bringing the situation under control. The WHO also noted that “women leaders [who] were often at the forefront of the response, empowering other women with information”.
The Secretary-General of DRC’s Red Cross, Jacques Katshishi, said the country needs continued support from the international community. He said, “Bringing Ebola to zero is a huge achievement, but now we are faced with our next challenge: keeping it there. Our teams within the DRC Red Cross are facing Covid-19 within a complex humanitarian and security environment. This is not a moment to be complacent: the world cannot afford a resurgence of Ebola in DR Congo. The time to prepare is now.”
