<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106925952-1628769806824-gettyimages-1234570376-pitton-notitle210807_npXkx.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-411443" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106925952-1628769806824-gettyimages-1234570376-pitton-notitle210807_npXkx.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106925952-1628769806824-gettyimages-1234570376-pitton-notitle210807_npXkx-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106925952-1628769806824-gettyimages-1234570376-pitton-notitle210807_npXkx-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Toulouse against France’s mandatory health pass on July 12th 2021. More than 234,000 people demonstrated across France against the pass which will be mandatory for entry to a wide array of public venues such as cafes, theaters, concerts hall, cinemas, shopping malls, public transportation, public swimming pools, and even hospitals unless there’s a critical situation. NurPhoto | NurPhoto | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



LONDON — The divide between the vaccinated and unvaccinated when it comes to Covid-19 is likely to become even deeper, with officials in the U.S. and Europe planning, or introducing, an increasing number of restrictions on people who haven’t gotten a Covid shot.



Almost all governments around the world have so far resisted making Covid vaccination mandatory for their citizens, although many have introduced forms of Covid vaccination certificates, passes or passports that allow the immunized bearer more freedoms and work opportunities than unvaccinated people.



Aspects of daily life are increasingly complicated for anyone who is not vaccinated against Covid, and there is a rising sense of anger and injustice among those who reject the vaccine.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-vaccine-fault-lines"><a></a>Vaccine fault lines</h2>



Despite protests among groups against such moves, the freedom to travel, work, socialize and engage in leisure activities is increasingly determined by our Covid vaccination status.



Nationally the U.S. has ruled out making Covid vaccination mandatory, rejecting the concept of vaccination passports back in April due to concerns over privacy and citizens’ rights. But some states are moving toward more restrictions for unvaccinated people.



Covid vaccinations are now mandatory for New York City’s municipal workers, and from mid-September proof of inoculation will be required from employees and customers of indoor eateries, gyms and entertainment centers. Meanwhile, workers in health care facilities in California will be required to provide proof that they’ve been fully vaccinated against Covid from October. On Monday, the Pentagon said it plans to make Covid vaccination mandatory for military service members no later than mid-September.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/blood-clots-associated-with-astrazeneca-vaccine-are-rare-but-devastating-study-says/">Blood clots associated with AstraZeneca vaccine are ‘rare but devastating,’ study says</a></h3>



France, Greece and the U.K. are among European countries mandating vaccinations for health professionals or home care staff. In China, some local governments have reportedly said students will not be allowed back to school in September unless their entire family is fully vaccinated. In Australia, some states in lockdown are allowing only vaccinated people back to work and have said restrictions will be lifted only when a majority of people are immunized.



A large number of European countries now require travelers to show they are fully vaccinated, provide proof of a negative Covid test, or show that they have recovered from a recent infection. Otherwise, they must quarantine.



“I ask all those who have been vaccinated to encourage their friends, acquaintances and family members to also get vaccinated,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday, shortly after new measures were announced in that country.&nbsp;“This is not only a protection for us, but also for others who cannot be vaccinated — children or people with previous illnesses.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-blackmail-and-dictatorship"><a></a>‘Blackmail’ and ‘dictatorship’</h2>



There are many individuals who are unhappy about the trend toward differentiating between the vaccinated and unvaccinated. Marco De Matteo, a young Neapolitan man who is a travel enthusiast, is angry about the situation in Italy where a “green pass” has been introduced, likening the situation to a “health and economic dictatorship.”



“Those in power are limiting, by law, individuals’ freedom and dignity,” he said. “The imposition of the green pass in the world of work, both in the public and in the private sector &#8230; is breaking society apart,” he told CNBC.



The pass is a digital or paper certificate that shows if someone has received at least one shot of a vaccine, has tested negative or has recently recovered from the coronavirus. The pass is now needed for any Italian citizen to access indoor bars and restaurants, cinemas, museums or gyms and will soon be required for travel and some jobs, such as teachers. Those who refuse will be suspended.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106925954-1628770083288-gettyimages-1234547209-AFP_9KQ7C8.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-411444" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106925954-1628770083288-gettyimages-1234547209-AFP_9KQ7C8.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106925954-1628770083288-gettyimages-1234547209-AFP_9KQ7C8-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106925954-1628770083288-gettyimages-1234547209-AFP_9KQ7C8-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>Members of the ‘No Vax’ take part in a demonstration against the introduction of a mandatory “green pass” in the aim to limit the spread of the Covid-19, at the Piazza del Popolo in central Rome on August 7, 2021. ALBERTO PIZZOLI | AFP | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



De Matteo, and many others who are also concerned about encroachment on civil liberties, recognizes the need to protect the health of the community. But he says that for him “there are many doubts both about the nature of the virus and about the vaccine.” He also regrets negative stereotypes attributed to people that object to Covid vaccines.



“In Italy, many people are organizing peaceful demonstrations — people from all walks of life and economic backgrounds who care about everyone’s freedom, dignity and health — but they are labeled as conspiracy theorists,” he said.



Vaccine skepticism and outright anti-vaccination sentiment have become rife since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, coinciding with disinformation and misinformation on social media that can ultimately endanger lives. Clinical trials, peer-reviewed by international medical journals, have shown that vaccination reduces the spread of the virus and contributes to reducing deaths and severe illness.



Medical professionals, such as Dr. Scott Gottlieb, have repeatedly spoken of the benefits of vaccination. Gottlieb, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, also told CNBC last month that people who have previously been infected with the coronavirus would still benefit from receiving Covid vaccines.



French yoga teacher Amel Lamloum told CNBC back in January that she didn’t see the advantages of having the Covid vaccine, given her young age (30) and good health.



Speaking to CNBC again Thursday, Lamloum said she still had not received the vaccine and was even more reluctant to do so now, given what she saw as “blackmail” by the French government to do so.



“I really think society has changed and that there is no justice anymore,” she said, adding that she no longer trusted the government and had prepared herself to adjust how she lived.



“Many, many people will not get the vaccine, for sure, and we will have to live in a side society and we are ready for it, we are ready for everything.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Why the reluctance?</h2>



For millions of people who have been happy and willing to receive a Covid vaccine, the rollout of vaccination programs has offered protection against a highly transmissible virus. It’s also allowed a return to much-missed freedoms, from seeing loved-ones and socializing to shopping and traveling.



But others across the U.S. and Europe see vaccination programs with ambivalence or worse.



Some have been critical of the speed of Covid vaccine development, distrusting clinical data on the efficacy and long-term safety credentials of Covid vaccines. Others have questioned why they need a shot when Covid can be a mild or asymptomatic illness for many people, especially the young.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/who-says-it-urgently-needs-7-7-billion-to-help-poorer-nations-survive-delta-covid-variant/">WHO says it urgently needs $7.7 billion to help poorer nations survive delta Covid variant</a></h3>



Public bodies like the World Health Organization have repeatedly reaffirmed the importance of vaccinating as many people as possible against Covid to curb the spread of the disease and allow a return to a normal societal functioning. Covid vaccines have been proven in extensive clinical trials involving hundreds of thousands of people to be safe and highly effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalization and death.



What’s less certain for experts is how long immunity lasts and whether future Covid variants could undermine vaccine efficacy. Many governments are weighing up the merits of booster vaccines too but for now, the main priority is to encourage vaccine uptake among the completely unvaccinated.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Who is most vaccine resistant?</h2>



Public confidence in vaccines, or the flipside of vaccine hesitancy, differs wildly from country to country and is often informed by the public’s trust in government and health care systems. France, for example, is renowned for a high rate of vaccine hesitancy, while vaccine uptake in the U.K. has traditionally been high.



One survey showed vaccine opposition highest in Russia, followed by the U.S., according to a global poll of 15 countries carried out by data intelligence company Morning Consult in July and August. With 43,054 interviews conducted in the U.S. alone, the percentage of people unwilling or uncertain about getting a Covid vaccine stood at 30%.



Young adults have a lower vaccine rate in every country that was tracked except in China, the poll also found, although that data could also reflect the speed and breadth of vaccination programs; some young adults are yet to be fully vaccinated in a number of countries polled.



Adults in the U.S. appear to be the most consistent when it comes to vaccine skepticism; the share of vaccine skeptics in the U.S. has remained at 30% for the past four weeks, Morning Consult said, and that share has only fallen by 4 percentage points since it began tracking in mid-April.



“Over that same time period, in the other 14 countries tracked, the share of skeptics has dropped by an average of 13 points, more than triple the decline in skepticism seen in the U.S.. No other country has seen a smaller decline,” Morning Consult noted.



The top reasons given for uncertainty over vaccines were concerns over side effects and worries that clinical trials had been conducted too fast.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Europe curbs</h2>



Back in Europe, parts of the leisure sector are being affected directly by the new rules. In Belgium, for instance, some soccer clubs are opening separate spectator stands for those who are unvaccinated. In the U.K., only the fully vaccinated will soon be able to enter a nightclub.



A number of countries have gone further, introducing types of Covid vaccination “passes” or “passports” at the national level, prompting criticism from some quarters.



France has introduced a “health pass,” meaning that individuals have to prove they are fully vaccinated, recently tested negative, or have recently recovered from the virus if they want to access cafes, restaurants, cinemas, museums and theaters. The pass has proved controversial, stoking protests attracting thousands of people who say the pass restricts civil liberties.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106925928-1628767702160-gettyimages-1234349556-3051506.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-411445" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106925928-1628767702160-gettyimages-1234349556-3051506.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106925928-1628767702160-gettyimages-1234349556-3051506-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106925928-1628767702160-gettyimages-1234349556-3051506-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>Charleroi, one of the Belgian soccer clubs introducing separate stands for unvaccinated fans. VIRGINIE LEFOUR | AFP | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Germany looks to be heading in a similar direction, aiming to encourage vaccine uptake by ending free, government-paid Covid tests while requiring anyone who’s not fully vaccinated (excluding children) to present a negative Covid test in order to access indoor spaces and events.



“Tests are therefore becoming a prerequisite, for example, for access to hospitals, old people’s and nursing homes, indoor catering, events and celebrations, but also for visits to the hairdresser or the cosmetic studio. The same applies to indoor sports or accommodation, for example in hotels and guest houses,” the government said on Tuesday.



Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer, genetic testing start-up Tempus, health-care tech company Aetion Inc. and biotech company Illumina. He also serves as co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ and Royal Caribbean’s “Healthy Sail Panel.”

106925952-1628769806824-gettyimages-1234570376-pitton-notitle210807_npXkx

‘Breaking society apart’: Unvaccinated people are angry as they face more Covid restrictions

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106921772-1628084601228-gettyimages-1234445243-AFP_9JW2F6.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-411416" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106921772-1628084601228-gettyimages-1234445243-AFP_9JW2F6.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106921772-1628084601228-gettyimages-1234445243-AFP_9JW2F6-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106921772-1628084601228-gettyimages-1234445243-AFP_9JW2F6-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>A paramedic prepares doses of AstraZeneca vaccine for patients at a walk-in COVID-19 clinic inside a Buddhist temple in the Smithfield suburb of Sydney on August 4, 2021. Saeed Khan | AFP | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



A new study has given more details about the “rare but devastating” blood clotting complications associated with the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.



In a peer-reviewed paper published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine, scientists from the Massachusetts Medical Society analyzed the first 220 cases of the condition reported in the United Kingdom.



The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine — now one of the most widely used Covid vaccines in the world — was rolled out in the U.K. in January, making it the first country to administer the shot.



A very small number of people who have been inoculated with the AstraZeneca vaccine have suffered blood clots. The condition, described by health authorities as “extremely rare,” is characterized by blood clots accompanied by low platelet levels.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/african-union-drops-astrazeneca-vaccine-which-covax-will-supply/">African Union drops AstraZeneca vaccine, which COVAX will supply</a></h3>



The Massachusetts Medical Society’s study used data from 294 patients who presented to U.K. hospitals between March 22 and June 6. Of those, 170 definite and 50 probable cases of the rare clotting — which scientists referred to as vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis — were identified.



All of those patients had been given their first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot, and went to the hospital with symptoms between five and 48 days after their vaccination. The median time between patients receiving their vaccination and going to the hospital was 14 days, the findings showed.



The overall mortality rate for VITT in the study was 22%.



Researchers also found that 41% of patients presenting with VITT had no diagnosed underlying health issues. Of those who reported a past or current illness, the study found that no conditions or medications were prevalent that “would be unexpected in the general population.”



“Against the backdrop of a successful vaccination program in the United Kingdom, VITT has emerged as a rare but devastating complication,” the study’s authors said in their report. “We have found that it often affects young, otherwise healthy vaccine recipients and that it is associated with a high mortality.”



“In our cohort, 85% of the patients were younger than 60 years of age, despite the predominance of (Oxford/AstraZeneca) vaccination in older adults,” scientists noted.



As a precaution, the U.K. has been offering people under the age of 40 an alternative to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine since May.



People identified as having suffered with VITT were aged between 18 and 79, with the median age being 48, the study showed.



Up to and including July 28, an estimated 24.8 million first doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine had been administered in the U.K., with an estimated 23.6 million second doses received.



As of July 28, government figures show that for every million first or unknown doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot, 14.9 people developed rare blood clotting with low platelet levels. That fell to 1.8 cases per million following a second dose of the vaccine.



The overall case fatality rate for that period was 18%, the government data showed, with 73 deaths. Six of those occurred after the second dose.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/nigeria-to-limit-first-doses-of-astrazeneca-due-to-supply-concerns/">Nigeria to limit first doses of AstraZeneca due to supply concerns</a></h3>



At the end of last month, AstraZeneca published a study which found the rate of VITT after the first dose of its vaccine was 8.1 per million, which decreased to 2.3 per million after a second dose.



Up until July 28, 411 suspected cases of VITT had been reported in the U.K., according to official data.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-benefits-vs-risks"><a></a>Benefits vs. risks</h2>



In a statement on Thursday, AstraZeneca said the research published in the New England Journal of Medicine was drawn from “a small sample size.”



“Recent real-world evidence drawn from millions of individuals shows that AstraZeneca’s vaccine has a comparable safety profile with other vaccines and that incidences of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia are extremely rare and treatable,” said a spokesperson.



The spokesperson added that there was “a far greater risk” of rare blood clotting events through contracting Covid-19.



&nbsp;“Vaccines remain&nbsp;the&nbsp;most effective protection against Covid-19&nbsp;and are the best route out of this pandemic,” they said.



Both the U.K. and the EU’s medicines regulators have identified possible links between the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and rare blood clots.



In April, the company said it would comply with regulatory requests in the U.K. and Europe to update its Covid vaccine labels. However, it stressed the WHO had said “a causal relationship is considered plausible but is not confirmed.”



The U.K.’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has consistently said that the benefits of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine continue to outweigh the risks for the vast majority of people.



Multiple health authorities, including the WHO, the European Medicines Agency and the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis have agreed that the benefits of administering the vaccine outweigh the risks.

106921772-1628084601228-gettyimages-1234445243-AFP_9JW2F6

Blood clots associated with AstraZeneca vaccine are ‘rare but devastating,’ study says

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106924832-1628619126096-gettyimages-1234272551-AA_28072021_420646.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-411374" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106924832-1628619126096-gettyimages-1234272551-AA_28072021_420646.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106924832-1628619126096-gettyimages-1234272551-AA_28072021_420646-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106924832-1628619126096-gettyimages-1234272551-AA_28072021_420646-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>Director general of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on July 28, 2021. Jaber Abdulkhaleg | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



The World Health Organization is calling for $7.7 billion that officials say is urgently needed to help low-income countries survive the delta Covid variant by providing vaccines, oxygen and medical care.



The funding will go toward WHO’s Access to Covid-19 Tools, or ACT, Accelerator program, which delivers critical medical supplies across the globe to combat the coronavirus, Dr. Bruce Aylward, senior advisor to WHO’s director-general, said at a Q&amp;A with WHO officials livestreamed Tuesday on its social media accounts.



Aylward said the funds are needed to partially cover a $16.8 billion shortfall that impedes the WHO’s ability to fight the pandemic in developing nations that have little or no access to vaccines.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-new-kinds-of-loans-and-bonds-could-fill-28-bln-covid-funding-gap-who">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2020/update-1-new-kinds-of-loans-and-bonds-could-fill-28-bln-covid-funding-gap-who/">New kinds of loans and bonds could fill $28 bln COVID funding gap: WHO</a></h3>



“Besides the moral issue — people should not die if the technology is available somewhere else, you know, the technology should help humanity as a whole — there’s also the issue that we can’t sort out this pandemic one country at a time,” said Dr. Mariangela Simao, the WHO’s assistant director-general for access to medicines, vaccines and pharmaceuticals.



“That’s the reality,” she continued. “We need to help countries move more together. Otherwise, we’re going to live with this virus much longer than we need to.”



WHO officials have set a goal of vaccinating at least 10% of the global population by the end of September, at least 40% by the end of this year and 70% by the middle of next year. Some nations across the world have yet to start their vaccination campaigns, while wealthier countries such as the U.S. and Israel have already fully vaccinated more than half of their populations.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/africa-needs-at-least-20-million-covid-vaccine-doses-in-the-next-six-weeks-who-says/">Africa needs at least 20 million Covid vaccine doses in the next six weeks, WHO says</a></h3>



Aylward said people in poorer nations who have a fever or other symptoms don’t have the testing supplies to know whether it’s from Covid or other diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis, pneumonia or HIV. In addition to providing vaccine doses, Aylward said, the funding will also cover Covid testing, oxygen treatments and masks.



Wealthy nations have spent trillions of dollars mitigating the impact of the pandemic, he said. “Your economy is telling you you have to vaccinate the world, and of course we didn’t listen,” he said.



The WHO previously said that it urgently needed $7.7 billion to run the ACT Accelerator, requesting an additional $3.8 billion at that time to purchase 760 million Covid vaccine doses for delivery next year, Reuters reported.



“This is the defining moment of our time,” Aylward said. “At some point, we will look back and that’s going to be the question: In these defining moments, how did you act?”

106924832-1628619126096-gettyimages-1234272551-AA_28072021_420646

WHO says it urgently needs $7.7 billion to help poorer nations survive delta Covid variant

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="533" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/MPOUKB6U6NPG3G5ETXZLVV2NHE.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-411370" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/MPOUKB6U6NPG3G5ETXZLVV2NHE.jpg 800w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/MPOUKB6U6NPG3G5ETXZLVV2NHE-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/MPOUKB6U6NPG3G5ETXZLVV2NHE-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/MPOUKB6U6NPG3G5ETXZLVV2NHE-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption>A medical worker injects the AstraZeneca&#8217;s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine to a woman at the Nationa Hospital in Abuja, Nigeria March 31, 2021. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



ABUJA, Aug 10 (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria will restart COVID-19 inoculations on Aug. 16 after taking delivery of 4 million doses of Moderna vaccine, with shipments of Johnson &amp; Johnson shots also due imminently, the head of the primary healthcare agency said on Tuesday.



Nigeria has so far vaccinated only a tiny fraction of its population of 200 million, largely due to a lack of supply. The latest data, in June, showed that 2 million people had received one dose and 700,000 had received two.



The rollout of vaccines was halted on July 9 because supplies had run out.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-africa-needs-at-least-20-million-covid-vaccine-doses-in-the-next-six-weeks-who-says">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/africa-needs-at-least-20-million-covid-vaccine-doses-in-the-next-six-weeks-who-says/">Africa needs at least 20 million Covid vaccine doses in the next six weeks, WHO says</a></h3>



The Moderna doses, which arrived in Nigeria from the United States last week, were being prepared for rollout, said Faisal Shuaib, executive director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency.



In particular, he said labels with barcodes were being prepared that would allow for efficient record-keeping of administered doses.



&#8220;We want to call on all Nigerians to remain assured that the vaccines that we have are safe and will be deployed next week,&#8221; Shuaib told reporters.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="http://Just give us the vaccines, WHO pleads, as poor countries go wanting">Just give us the vaccines, WHO pleads, as poor countries go wanting</a></h3>



Since the start of the pandemic, Nigeria has recorded about 175,000 cases of COVID-19 and over 2,000 deaths, but the real figures could be much higher as testing is patchy.



The highly contagious Delta variant has recently been detected in the country and authorities have warned infections are rising.



(Reporting by Camillus Eboh, writing by Estelle Shirbon, editing by Giles Elgood)

MPOUKB6U6NPG3G5ETXZLVV2NHE

Nigeria to resume COVID vaccinations on Aug. 16

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106923919-1628515232274-gettyimages-1231238348-AFP_93B3A6.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-411348" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106923919-1628515232274-gettyimages-1231238348-AFP_93B3A6.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106923919-1628515232274-gettyimages-1231238348-AFP_93B3A6-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106923919-1628515232274-gettyimages-1231238348-AFP_93B3A6-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>Nurses watch a computer screen in Bogota, Colombia on February 18, 2021. JUAN BARRETO | AFP | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



LONDON — People who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 are highly protected against severe infection, hospitalization and death caused by the virus. But coronavirus cases among the fully vaccinated — so-called “breakthrough” Covid cases — are still being seen among those who have had two doses.



This is happening for a number of reasons, experts note.&nbsp;



For a start, none of the vaccines being deployed in the U.S. or Europe are 100% effective at preventing infection.



In addition, new Covid strains such as the highly infectious delta variant — which is now prevalent around the world —have complicated the efficacy picture. There is also incomplete data into how long immunity from Covid lasts following vaccination.



The alarm was raised over breakthrough Covid cases when preliminary data in Israel — which had one of the fastest vaccination programs in the world — published in late July found that the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine was just 40.5% effective at preventing symptomatic disease.



The analysis, which was carried out as the delta variant became the country’s dominant strain, still found that having two doses of the shot provided strong protection against severe illness and hospitalization, however, the country’s Health Ministry reported.



The data also appeared to show a waning effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot too, with the vaccine only 16% effective against symptomatic infection for those individuals who had two doses of the shot back in January. For people that had received two doses by April, the efficacy rate (against symptomatic infection) stood at 79%, however.



But a study in England carried out from April to May found that, after two doses, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 88% effective against symptomatic disease caused by the delta variant.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/more-infectious-covid-19-variants-account-for-most-uae-cases-authority-says/">More infectious COVID-19 variants account for most UAE cases, authority says</a></h3>



Comparing the results is tricky, however, given differences in the nature of the vaccination programs in both countries (Israel gave all its adult population the Pfizer vaccine, for example, while in the U.K. there are several vaccines in use, with the Pfizer-BioNTech shot predominantly given to younger people) as well as differences in the study dates, Covid testing regimes and age groups.



Like the Israeli data, the English data also concluded that after two doses the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine is 96% effective against hospitalization from the delta variant. Similarly, it found that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was 92% effective in preventing hospitalization after two doses.



Initial vaccine efficacy data following clinical trials, released by Pfizer and BioNTech last year, showed that the vaccine was 95% effective against infection from strains of the virus that were circulating at the time.



Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick’s Medical School in the U.K., told CNBC that cases of Covid in fully vaccinated people are a reminder that “no vaccine is 100% effective.”



“There will always be a proportion of individuals who will still remain susceptible to infection and illness,” he said Monday.



“There are also two other factors that impact vaccine effectiveness: (1) waning immunity — we still don’t know how long vaccine-induced protective immunity lasts. This is very likely to be a factor in those elderly and more vulnerable individuals who were vaccinated early in the vaccine rollout program,” he noted.



The second factor, he added, related to “breakthrough infections in vaccinated individuals due to the more infectious delta variant” which added weight to the case for booster vaccination programs, he said. As yet, the jury is still out on booster programs with a decision yet to be made in the U.S. and U.K.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-breakthrough-cases-by-number"><a></a>Breakthrough cases by number</h2>



It’s difficult to know the full extent of “breakthrough” Covid cases but figures collected by NBC News has found that at least 125,000 fully vaccinated Americans have tested positive for Covid and 1,400 of those have died. Still, the 125,682 “breakthrough” cases in 38 states found by NBC News represented less than 0.08% of the 164.2 million-plus people (and counting) who have been fully vaccinated since the start of the year, or about one in every 1,300.



That is, the number of cases and deaths among the vaccinated is very small compared to the number among the unvaccinated. Health officials, particularly in the States, are urging unvaccinated people to come forward for Covid immunization.



Andrew Freedman, a reader in infectious diseases at the U.K.’s Cardiff Medical School, told CNBC that “breakthrough” cases were to be expected.



“The vaccines are very good at protecting against severe infection, hospitalization and death but they’re les effective at protecting completely against infection and we know that many people who have been fully vaccinated are still getting delta infections with, in most cases, mild symptoms,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Monday.



“What we don’t know is whether giving an additional booster will actually increase protection and reduce delta variant infections,” he noted.



It must be emphasized that studies show that fully vaccinated people are much less likely to suffer from a Covid infection — or to contract the virus in the first place.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/delta-variant-is-one-of-the-most-infectious-respiratory-diseases-known-cdc-director-says/">Delta variant is one of the most infectious respiratory diseases known, CDC director says</a></h3>



New research from the U.K. released last Friday showed that double vaccinated people were three times less likely than unvaccinated people to test positive for the coronavirus.



Analyses of PCR test results in the REACT-1 study — a major coronavirus monitoring program in Britain led by Imperial College London — also suggested that fully vaccinated people may also be less likely than unvaccinated people to pass the virus on to others, due to having a smaller viral load on average and therefore likely shedding less virus.



Professor Paul Elliott, director of the REACT program from Imperial’s School of Public Health, said the findings highlighted both the advantages and limitations of Covid vaccines.



“These findings confirm our previous data showing that both doses of a vaccine offer good protection against getting infected. However we can also see that there is still a risk of infection, as no vaccine is 100% effective, and we know that some double vaccinated people can still become ill from the virus,” he said.



Steven Riley, a professor of infectious disease dynamics at Imperial, said that so-called “breakthrough infections” in fully vaccinated people needed to be studied further, particularly as parts of the world contend with the spread of the delta variant.



“The delta variant is known to be highly infectious, and as a result we can see from our data and others’ that breakthrough infections are happening in fully vaccinated people. We need to better understand how infectious fully vaccinated people who become infected are, as this will help to better predict the situation in the coming months, and our findings are contributing to a more comprehensive picture of this.”

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Fully vaccinated people are still getting infected with Covid. Experts explain why

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="540" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/13383716683_f88451543d_k-820x540.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-408816" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/13383716683_f88451543d_k-820x540.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/13383716683_f88451543d_k-300x198.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/13383716683_f88451543d_k-121x80.jpg 121w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/13383716683_f88451543d_k-768x506.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/13383716683_f88451543d_k-1536x1012.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/13383716683_f88451543d_k.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Photo: via Flickr</figcaption></figure>



BRUSSELS, Aug 5 (Reuters) &#8211; Senegal&#8217;s Institut Pasteur of Dakar (IPD) has reached a deal with U.S. company MedInstill for the bottling of COVID-19 shots, an EU document shows, marking a step to becoming a fully-fledged maker of coronavirus vaccines for Africa.



The European Union is a major financial backer of the project which aims to enable IPD to manufacture 300 million COVID-19 vaccines a year and reduce Africa&#8217;s reliance on imported vaccines. IPD, however, has yet to secure a partnership with a COVID vaccine patent holder to produce shots.



African countries have so far received a tiny portion of COVID-19 shots produced globally, as wealthy nations have bought most of the output. South Africa&#8217;s Aspen Pharmacare, which produces the Johnson &amp; Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, is Africa&#8217;s only COVID vaccine producer at present.



&#8220;IPD plans in a first phase to work on fill &amp; finish and only later to carry out full production,&#8221; the internal EU document seen by Reuters said.



&#8220;At the moment, partnerships have been signed with U.S. firm MedInstill for the fill &amp; finish, and with Belgian company Univercells for the development of the active substance,&#8221; the document, which was produced by the EU diplomatic delegation in Dakar, said.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-africa-demands-local-production-of-covid-vaccines">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/africa-demands-local-production-of-covid-vaccines/">Africa demands local production of COVID vaccines</a></h3>



MedInstill declined to comment on the deal. IPD did not respond to a request for comment.



Backers of the IPD project announced last month that a new plant in Senegal to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines would produce 25 million doses per month by the end of 2022.



The EU document seen by Reuters said the plant is expected to begin production at the end of the second quarter of next year.



The deal with Univercells was first reported by Reuters in June.



The EU document said that the key decision on what type of COVID-19 vaccine will be produced at IPD has not yet been made. It lists as a major risk for the whole project the difficulties linked to the selection of the vaccine technology.



Two options are being assessed more closely at the moment, it says. The first is a partnership with BioNTech for the production in Senegal of the mRNA vaccine that the German firm has developed with U.S. giant Pfizer.



The second is a new partnership deal with Univercells for the production of a viral vector shot, which the Belgian firm is developing with Italy&#8217;s ReiThera. Or alternatively the production of an mRNA vaccine, which Univercells is trying to develop through its unit Quantoom Biosciences.



BioNTech declined to comment and Univercells did not respond to requests for comment.



The document says that &#8220;in theory&#8221; other holders of COVID-19 vaccine patents could be interested in making their shots in Senegal, citing AstraZeneca and Johnson &amp; Johnson .



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/africa-needs-at-least-20-million-covid-vaccine-doses-in-the-next-six-weeks-who-says/">Africa needs at least 20 million Covid vaccine doses in the next six weeks, WHO says</a></h3>



Only vaccines that have already been approved by a major drugs regulator, such as the European Medicines Agency, or are pre-qualified by the World Health Organization can be chosen for production in Senegal, the EU document says. Univercells&#8217; potential vaccines are still being trialled and have no authorisation yet.



Senegal&#8217;s Institut Pasteur is the only facility in Africa currently producing a vaccine &#8211; a yellow fever shot &#8211; that is pre-qualified by the WHO, which requires manufacturers to meet strict international standards.



There are currently fewer than 10 African manufacturers that produce vaccines against any disease, in Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.



The EU has said it wants to back the development of vaccine production hubs in at least three African countries, including Senegal and South Africa. 



(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; additional reporting by Patricia Weiss in Frankfurt and Carl O&#8217;Donnell in New York and Alessandra Prentice in Dakar; Editing by Susan Fenton)

vaccine

Africa’s COVID vaccine project takes a step forward with bottling agreement -document

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04acjohnson22-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-401605" width="820" height="547" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04acjohnson22-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04acjohnson22-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04acjohnson22-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04acjohnson22.jpg 1000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Toronto,,Ontario,,Canada,-,February,14,,2021,:,A,Health Photo: via Flickr</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, Aug 5 (Reuters) &#8211; African Union officials said on Thursday that the body had begun shipping COVID-19 vaccine doses acquired through a Johnson &amp; Johnson deal, but they raised alarm at the pace of total deliveries to a region where only 1.5% of people are vaccinated.



The AU&#8217;s COVID special envoy Strive Masiyiwa said the start of the J&amp;J shipments marked a step forward for the continent of more than 1.3 billion people, but he called Africa&#8217;s situation regarding vaccine deliveries a &#8220;crisis&#8221;.



&#8220;We were supposed to have received, by now, 320 million doses,&#8221; he told a virtual news conference. &#8220;We didn&#8217;t get them.&#8221; As of Monday, African nations had received a total of 103 million COVID vaccine doses, John Nkengasong, head of Africa&#8217;s disease control body, told the same news conference.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-africa-needs-at-least-20-million-covid-vaccine-doses-in-the-next-six-weeks-who-says">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/africa-needs-at-least-20-million-covid-vaccine-doses-in-the-next-six-weeks-who-says/">Africa needs at least 20 million Covid vaccine doses in the next six weeks, WHO says</a></h3>



Masiyiwa said the reasons for this could be debated, but noted that the global vaccine-sharing facility known as COVAX had told the AU in January that it planned to ship 320 million doses to African states by August.



&#8220;The WHO (World Health Organisation) yesterday at a meeting informed us that the actual shipments were less than 13 million.&#8221; he said. &#8220;That&#8217;s 10% percent of what we were told we would get.&#8221;



The global partnership COVAX was intended to get shots in arms of people in poor countries whose governments were unable to afford and negotiate deals for vaccines early on. It has been plagued by delays including the halt of vaccine shipments from India amid a catastrophic surge of cases there. The United Nations-backed COVAX has said it has also struggled with funding shortages and bureaucratic hurdles in its effort to independently purchase doses.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/jj-in-deal-to-supply-covid-19-vaccine-to-african-union-member-states/">J&amp;J in deal to supply COVID-19 vaccine to African Union member states</a></h3>



Africa remains in the grip of a third wave of the pandemic, Nkengasong said on Thursday, and in the past four weeks the continent has recorded a 2% increase in cases and a 6% increase in deaths.



The pace of inoculations in poor countries, including all of Africa, has exposed vast global inequalities. On Thursday the WHO called for a halt on COVID-19 vaccine boosters, which some higher income countries are considering, until at least the end of September, citing the widening gap between vaccinations in wealthy and poor countries. 



(Reporting by Maggie Fick; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

Toronto,,Ontario,,Canada,-,February,14,,2021,:,A,Health

African Union says J&J vaccine shipments begin, warns of slow pace of deliveries

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="504" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/VEKSCTM4ERJNFDZX7ZKNEJZP2A-820x504.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-411208" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/VEKSCTM4ERJNFDZX7ZKNEJZP2A-820x504.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/VEKSCTM4ERJNFDZX7ZKNEJZP2A-300x184.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/VEKSCTM4ERJNFDZX7ZKNEJZP2A-146x90.jpg 146w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/VEKSCTM4ERJNFDZX7ZKNEJZP2A-768x472.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/VEKSCTM4ERJNFDZX7ZKNEJZP2A-1536x945.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/VEKSCTM4ERJNFDZX7ZKNEJZP2A-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/VEKSCTM4ERJNFDZX7ZKNEJZP2A-130x80.jpg 130w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>A woman holds a small bottle labelled with a &#8220;Coronavirus COVID-19 Vaccine&#8221; sticker and a medical syringe in this illustration taken October 30, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



Aug 4 (Reuters) &#8211; The World Health Organization is calling for a moratorium on COVID-19 vaccine boosters until at least the end of September, its head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday.



The move was to enable that at least 10% of the population of every country was vaccinated, WHO Director-General Tedros said.



The call to stop COVID-19 vaccine boosters is the strongest yet from the UN agency as the gap between inoculation rates in wealthy and poor countries widens.



&#8220;I understand the concern of all governments to protect their people from the Delta variant. But we cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it,&#8221; Tedros added.



High-income countries administered around 50 doses for every 100 people in May, and that number had since doubled, according to WHO. Low-income countries have only been able to administer 1.5 doses for every 100 people, due to lack of supply.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-just-give-us-the-vaccines-who-pleads-as-poor-countries-go-wanting">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/just-give-us-the-vaccines-who-pleads-as-poor-countries-go-wanting/">Just give us the vaccines, WHO pleads, as poor countries go wanting</a></h3>



&#8220;We need an urgent reversal, from the majority of vaccines going to high-income countries, to the majority going to low-income countries,&#8221; said Tedros.



Some countries have begun to use or started weighing on the need for booster doses.



Germany said on Monday it will in September start to offer a booster shot to vulnerable people. The United Arab Emirates will also start providing a booster shot to all fully vaccinated people considered at high risk, three months after their second vaccine dose, and six months for others.



Last week, Israeli President Isaac Herzog received a third shot of coronavirus vaccine, kicking off a campaign to give booster doses to people aged over 60 in the country.



The United States in July signed a deal with Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech to buy 200 million additional doses of their COVID-19 vaccines to help with pediatric vaccination as well as possible booster shots.



U.S. health regulators are still assessing the need for a booster dose.



(Reporting by Manas Mishra and Dania Nadeem in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

m_FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a medical syringe and a small bottle labelled “Coronavirus COVID-19 Vaccine

WHO calls for moratorium on COVID-19 vaccine booster doses

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106913464-1626783928878-gettyimages-1233680604-AVDjune7.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-410942" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106913464-1626783928878-gettyimages-1233680604-AVDjune7.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106913464-1626783928878-gettyimages-1233680604-AVDjune7-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106913464-1626783928878-gettyimages-1233680604-AVDjune7-140x80.jpeg 140w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>In this Photo illustration a World Health Organization(WHO) logo seen displayed on an Android phone. Avishek Das | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



World Health Organization officials said they are still trying to understand why the delta variant is more transmissible and potentially makes people sicker than the original coronavirus strain.



“We’re really trying to get a better handle on why the delta variant is more transmissible,” said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’S technical lead on Covid-19, said at a press briefing Friday. “There are certain mutations in the delta variant that, for example, allow the virus to adhere to a cell more easily. There is some laboratory studies that suggest that there’s increased replication in some of the modeled human airway systems.”



New data is emerging around the world on the highly transmissible strain in recent weeks as scientists try to better understand the new threat. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned lawmakers Thursday that new research indicates the delta strain is more contagious than swine flu, the common cold and polio. It is as contagious as chickenpox. It also appears to have a longer transmission window than the original Covid-19 strain and may make older people sicker, even if they’ve been fully vaccinated.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-governments-urged-to-boost-cash-grants-to-end-pandemic-fuelled-child-labour">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/governments-urged-to-boost-cash-grants-to-end-pandemic-fuelled-child-labour/">Governments urged to boost cash grants to end pandemic-fuelled child labour</a></h3>



The warning on Thursday was made in a confidential document that was reviewed by CNBC and authenticated by the federal health agency.



“The virus itself, as it starts, is a dangerous virus. It’s a highly transmissible virus. The Delta variant is even more so,” Van Kerkhove said. “It’s doubly more transmissible than the ancestral strains.”



WHO officials expect other dangerous variants to also emerge as countries struggle to distribute the life-saving vaccines to their populations.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="http://Delta variant is one of the most infectious respiratory diseases known, CDC director says">Delta variant is one of the most infectious respiratory diseases known, CDC director says</a></h3>



“They become more fit the more that they circulate and so the virus will likely become more transmissible because this is what viruses do they evolve, they change over time,” Van Kerkhove said.



She said it’s imperative that nations follow public health measures, like practicing social distancing and wearing masks, while nations distribute more vaccines around the world, especially in those with the lowest rates of immunization.



We need “about 70% coverage globally, to really slow down the transmission and reduce the risk of emergence of new variants,” according to Dr. Bruce Aylward, senior advisor to the director-general at WHO.



Still, with current trends, health experts are not optimistic. “This will not be the last virus variant that you hear us talking about,” Van Kerkhove said.

106913464-1626783928878-gettyimages-1233680604-AVDjune7

WHO officials try to figure out why delta is so much more dangerous than earlier Covid strains

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-1127605847-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-410750" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-1127605847-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-1127605847-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-1127605847-120x80.jpg 120w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-1127605847-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-1127605847-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-1127605847-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Albert Bourla, chief operating officer and chief executive officer of Pfizer Inc., listens during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on drug pricing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019. Top executives from seven of the world&#8217;s biggest drug companies are testifying before Congress to talk about drug costs, a long-awaited session that could kickstart legislation to rein in prices.&nbsp;Photographer: Zach Gibson/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



The effectiveness of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine steadily declines over time, dropping to about 84% for vaccinated people about four to six months after getting their second dose, according to CEO Albert Bourla.



The comments, made on Wednesday on CNBC’s “The Exchange,” are based on the findings of a&nbsp;new company-funded study&nbsp;that has yet to be peer reviewed. It comes as the drugmaker clashes with U.S. health officials over the need for a third COVID vaccine dose to boost immunity protection.



The study found the vaccine’s effectiveness was strongest, at 96.2%, between one week and two months after receiving the second dose. It declined an average of 6% every two months, according to the study, which signed up more than 44,000 people across the U.S. and other countries. The efficacy after “four to six months was approximately 84%,” Bourla said.



“We have seen also data from Israel that there is a waning of immunity and that starts impacting what used to be what was 100% against hospitalization. Now, after the six month period, is becoming low 90s and mid-to-high 80s,” Bourla said.



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“The good news is that we are very, very confident that a third dose, a booster, will take up the immune response to levels that will be enough to protect against the delta variant,” the executive added, referring to the highly contagious virus strain that’s dominant in the U.S. and other countries around the globe. It’s not uncommon for vaccines to decline in effectiveness over time, Bourla stressed, adding there’s precedent for three-dose vaccines for other diseases.



Pfizer plans to formally submit data to U.S. regulators about the benefits of a third Covid vaccine dose by mid-August, Bourla said.



Earlier this month, when Pfizer first announced its plans, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention&nbsp;issued a joint statement&nbsp;that pushed back on the company, saying “Americans who have been fully vaccinated do not need a booster shot at this time.” &nbsp;



The CDC and the World Health Organization don’t recommend COVID booster shots at this time.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/pfizer-biontech-vaccine-appears-effective-against-mutation-in-new-coronavirus-variants-study/">Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine appears effective against mutation in new coronavirus variants -study</a></h3>



Dr. Kate O’Brien, WHO’s director of immunization, vaccines and biologicals,&nbsp;said Wednesday&nbsp;the organization is still researching whether a booster shot is needed to increase protection.



“We’re very clear on this, there’s not enough information to provide a recommendation at this point,” O’Brien said in a Q&amp;A interview posted on the organization’s social media accounts. “Again, this is a very hot topic, and there’s a lot of research going on to be able to provide an evidence-based recommendation.”



The results of Pfizer-backed study surfaced a day after the CDC&nbsp;reversed course on its prior guidance&nbsp;and recommended fully vaccinated Americans who&nbsp;live in areas with high COVID infection rates&nbsp;begin to wear face masks indoors again.



Coronavirus cases have jumped nationwide in recent weeks, a surge public-health officials attribute to the delta variant. While officials say the majority of COVID hospitalizations and deaths are in unvaccinated people, the delta variant is so contagious that vaccinated individuals can transmit the virus as easily as unvaccinated people, even in asymptomatic cases, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Tuesday.

Drugmaker CEOs Testify Before Senate Finance Committee On Drug Pricing

Pfizer’s CEO says COVID vaccine effectiveness drops to 84% after six months

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="553" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/VFE4GSQ4ORLO3E35R2ISOGSV3I-820x553.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-410676" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/VFE4GSQ4ORLO3E35R2ISOGSV3I-820x553.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/VFE4GSQ4ORLO3E35R2ISOGSV3I-300x202.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/VFE4GSQ4ORLO3E35R2ISOGSV3I-119x80.jpg 119w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/VFE4GSQ4ORLO3E35R2ISOGSV3I-768x518.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/VFE4GSQ4ORLO3E35R2ISOGSV3I-1536x1036.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/VFE4GSQ4ORLO3E35R2ISOGSV3I-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Vials with Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine labels are seen in this illustration picture taken March 19, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



WASHINGTON, July 28 (Reuters) &#8211; The U.S. government on Wednesday will ship nearly 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to two of the most populous African countries &#8211; Nigeria and South Africa &#8211; as the continent battles a third wave of infections, White House officials said.



Four million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine will go to Nigeria and 5.66 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine to South Africa, the officials said.



The South Africa shipment is the single largest sent by the United States since it began sending vaccine shots overseas, one of the officials said. The latest shipments bring the total number of U.S. vaccine doses sent to Africa to 16.4 million.



The urgently needed help comes as amid growing concern about <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/key-african-rates-to-hold-steady-as-vaccination-lags-restrain-recovery/">vaccination rates in Africa, which lag</a> far behind those of advanced economies.



As of last week, African countries had administered just 60 million vaccine doses to a population that numbers over 1.3 billion, in part due to restrictions on shipments from vaccine-producing countries like India.



Experts worry that the highly contagious Delta variant could pose another setback, if countries begin requiring booster shots for fully-vaccinated individuals, a move that would slow shipments of urgently needed vaccines to developing countries.



The White House said equitable global access to safe and effective vaccines was essential to ending the pandemic.



&#8220;We are working to get as many safe and effective vaccines to as many people around the world as fast as possible,&#8221; one of the White House officials said.



With the latest shipment to Nigeria and South Africa, the United States will exceed the 80 million vaccine doses that U.S. President Joe Biden had pledged in May to donate to countries around the world, one of the officials said.



<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/biden-to-donate-500-million-pfizer-doses-urge-others-to-join-in/">Biden in June also announced plans to buy and donate 500 million Pfizer vaccine doses</a> to 92 low- and lower middle income countries and the African Union, but those shipments will begin next month, the official said. 



(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

FILE PHOTO: Picture illustration of vials with Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine labels

U.S. to ship 4 mln COVID-19 vaccine doses to Nigeria, 5.66 mln to South Africa

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-1232982978-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-410375" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-1232982978-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-1232982978-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-1232982978-120x80.jpg 120w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-1232982978-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-1232982978-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-1232982978-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), listens during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, May 19, 2021. Any mandates in the U.S. to require people to be vaccinated against Covid-19 will be set at the local level by companies and institutions such as colleges, the CDC said this week. Photographer: Greg Nash/The Hill/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



The delta COVID variant is one of the most infectious respiratory diseases ever seen by scientists, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.



The variant is highly contagious, largely because people infected with the delta strain can carry up to 1,000 times more virus in their nasal passages than those infected with the original strain, according to new&nbsp;<a href="https://virological.org/t/viral-infection-and-transmission-in-a-large-well-traced-outbreak-caused-by-the-delta-sars-cov-2-variant/724" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data</a>.



“The delta variant is more aggressive and much more transmissible than previously circulating strains,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters at a briefing Thursday. “It is one of the most infectious respiratory viruses we know of, and that I have seen in my 20-year career.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-coronavirus-right-now">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-coronavirus-right-now-6/">What you need to know about the coronavirus right now</a></h3>



The delta variant has spread quickly through the U.S., accounting for more than 83% of sequenced cases in the U.S. right now, up from 50% the week of July 3.



The seven-day average of new cases is up about 53% from last week, currently at 37,674 new cases per day. Hospitalizations are up 32% from last week at about 3,500 per day and deaths have also increased 19% in the same time frame to about 240 per day.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="392" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/106915569-1626989513553-image_5-820x392.jpg" alt="native" class="wp-image-410376" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/106915569-1626989513553-image_5-820x392.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/106915569-1626989513553-image_5-300x143.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/106915569-1626989513553-image_5-140x67.jpg 140w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/106915569-1626989513553-image_5-768x367.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/106915569-1626989513553-image_5.jpg 1316w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Chart shows current data on Covid-19 in the United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</figcaption></figure>



“This virus has no incentive to let up, and it remains in search of the next vulnerable person to infect,” Walensky said.



The virus is ripping through U.S. counties with low vaccination rates, while counties with high vaccination rates are seeing lower rates of new cases.



Three states, Florida, Texas and Missouri, with low vaccination rates accounted for 40% of all new cases nationwide, White House COVID czar Jeff Zients said. Florida alone accounted for 1 in 5 of all new cases in the U.S. for the second week in a row.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/most-fully-vaccinated-people-who-get-covid-delta-infections-are-asymptomatic-who-says/">Most fully vaccinated people who get COVID delta infections are asymptomatic, WHO says</a></h3>



In hospitals around the country, 97% of people admitted with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/category/coronavirus/">COVID</a>&nbsp;symptoms are unvaccinated, and 99.5% of all COVID deaths are also among the unvaccinated.



In the past week, the five states with the highest case counts had higher rates of people getting newly vaccinated compared with the national average.



“We are at yet another pivotal moment in this pandemic, with cases rising again and some hospitals reaching their capacity in some areas, we need to come together as one nation,” Walensky said.

CDC Director Walensky Testifies Before Senate Appropriations Subcommittee

Delta variant is one of the most infectious respiratory diseases known, CDC director says

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="540" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/13383716683_f88451543d_k-820x540.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-408816" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/13383716683_f88451543d_k-820x540.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/13383716683_f88451543d_k-300x198.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/13383716683_f88451543d_k-121x80.jpg 121w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/13383716683_f88451543d_k-768x506.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/13383716683_f88451543d_k-1536x1012.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/13383716683_f88451543d_k.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Photo: via Flickr</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, July 22 (Reuters) &#8211; Global pharmaceutical firms should license production of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa rather than just do piecemeal contract deals, an African Union special envoy said on Thursday.



AU coronavirus envoy Strive Masiyiwa was speaking a day after <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/pfizer-biontech-strike-south-africa-covid-19-manufacturing-deal-with-biovac/">Pfizer and BioNTech announced a &#8220;fill and finish&#8221; deal with South Africa&#8217;s Biovac Institute</a> under which it will carry out the final stages of vaccine manufacturing where the product is processed and put into vials.



Pfizer and BioNTech will handle drug substance production at their facilities in Europe. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has called the arrangement &#8220;restrictive&#8221; and said much more is needed to support vaccine independence in Africa.



&#8220;We want to make clear to all suppliers &#8230; if you want a long-term future with us now, you produce from Africa,&#8221; Masiyiwa said.



Africa, which is battling a third wave of infections, has administered just 60 million vaccine doses in a population of 1.3 billion due to restrictions on shipments from vaccine producing nations like India.



Many African nations rely on global vaccine sharing scheme COVAX or donations from countries like China and India.



&#8220;For regions left behind in the vaccine race to be self- sufficient, they need access to all of the components of vaccine production,&#8221; said Lara Dovifat, manager at MSF&#8217;s access campaign, which is seeking equitable vaccine access.



Matshidiso Moeti, the head of the World Health Organization in Africa, called for local production of vaccines so Africa can tackle future outbreaks.



&#8220;We are looking beyond this crisis,&#8221; she told a news conference.



Johnson &amp; Johnson, whose vaccine is administered through a single shot, also has a &#8220;fill and finish&#8221; deal with South Africa&#8217;s Aspen Pharmacare.



<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/africa-to-start-receiving-400-mln-jj-covid-19-vaccine-doses-next-week/">J&amp;J is on track to supply members of the African Union with 400 million vaccine doses </a>by September next year, Masiyiwa said.



Around 6 million doses will be delivered to 27 nations that have paid their share through the end of August, Masiyiwa said, with another 18 finalising loans from the World Bank and other global lenders before they make payment.



Deliveries will rise to an average of 10 million a month from September, increasing to 20 million in January until the order is fulfilled by September next year.



The balance of Africa&#8217;s vaccine requirements will come from donors including COVAX, Masiyiwa said, adding that local production is the real answer.



&#8220;If you want land we will give you. If you want to own everything 100%, we don&#8217;t mind, just produce from the African continent,&#8221; he told the firms.



(Writing by Duncan Miriri Editing by Giles Elgood)

Africa demands local production of COVID vaccines

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04acjohnson22-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-401605" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04acjohnson22-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04acjohnson22-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04acjohnson22-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04acjohnson22.jpg 1000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Toronto,,Ontario,,Canada,-,February,14,,2021,:,A,Health</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, July 22 (Reuters) &#8211; Africa, battling a severe third wave of COVID-19 infections, will start to receive the first batch of 400 million doses of vaccines from Johnson &amp; Johnson next week, the African Union&#8217;s special envoy on COVID said on Thursday.



Only about 60 million doses have been administered among a total population of 1.3 billion so far on the 55-nation continent.





J&amp;J doses will be used to immunise half of the estimated 800 million people in need of the vaccine on the continent, <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2018/strive-masiyiwa-optimistic-about-mnangagwa-calls-for-removal-of-sanctions/">Strive Masiyiwa</a>, who is also coordinator of the AU task force on vaccine acquisition, told an online news conference.



Around 6 million doses will be delivered to 27 nations that have paid their share through the end of August, Masiyiwa said, with another 18 finalising loans from the World Bank and other global lenders before they make payment.



Deliveries will rise to an average of 10 million a month from September, increasing to 20 million in January until the order is fulfilled by September next year, he added.



Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/jj-in-deal-to-supply-covid-19-vaccine-to-african-union-member-states/">J&amp;J in deal to supply COVID-19 vaccine to African Union member states</a>



The balance of the vaccine requirements for the continent will come from COVAX, the global vaccine-sharing scheme for poorer nations, as well as bilateral donations from developed nations like the United States, Masiyiwa said.



J&amp;J, whose vaccine is administered through a single shot, will ship the doses from a facility in South Africa through its partnership with Aspen Pharmacare, the special envoy said.



Masiyiwa called on pharmaceutical companies to produce vaccines in Africa under licensing arrangements, not under contract manufacturing, which critics say prevents countries having vaccine independence.



&#8220;We want to be treated the same way as they produce in India,&#8221; he said. 



(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Africa to start receiving 400 mln J&J COVID-19 vaccine doses next week

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1229877394-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-392963" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1229877394-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1229877394-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1229877394-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1229877394-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1229877394-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1229877394-1110x740.jpg 1110w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>NETHERLANDS &#8211; 2020/11/29: In this photo illustration, a man holds a syringe with a fake Covid-19 vaccine with the Pfizer logo in the background. (Photo Illustration by Robin Utrecht/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



July 21 (Reuters) – Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE on Wednesday said they had struck a deal for South Africa’s Biovac Institute to<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/pfizer-biontech-strike-south-africa-covid-19-manufacturing-deal-with-biovac/"> process and distribute over 100 million</a> doses a year of their COVID-19 vaccine for the African Union beginning in 2022.



The deal is to &#8220;fill and finish&#8221; the vaccine, the final stages of manufacturing where the product is processed and put into vials. It does not cover the complicated processes of mRNA drug substance production, which Pfizer and BioNTech will do at their own facilities in Europe.



The agreement comes as Pfizer and BioNTech try to sway World Trade Organization (WTO) members from supporting a waiver on some intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines.



It will make Biovac &#8211; a joint venture between the South African government and private sector partners &#8211; one of the few companies in Africa processing and distributing COVID-19 shots, and the first to do so using the mRNA technology.



South African pharmaceutical company Aspen has a &#8220;fill and finish&#8221; deal with Johnson &amp; Johnson for its viral vector COVID-19 vaccine.



African countries have some of the lowest vaccination rates worldwide, and many are dependent on global vaccine sharing scheme COVAX, which has struggled to deliver.



Morena Makhoana, CEO at Cape Town-based Biovac, told Reuters the aim was to start producing shots &#8220;towards the second half of 2022&#8221; and then ramp up to maximum output of around 100 million doses a year by early 2023.



On-site development and equipment installation would begin immediately, Pfizer and BioNTech said.



Makhoana said Biovac would modify its plant by expanding next to the filling line and investing in new freezers, as the vaccine needs to be stored at -70 degrees Celsius.



South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, whom the African Union has named its &#8220;Champion on COVID-19,&#8221; called the agreement a breakthrough in efforts to overcome vaccine inequity.



He added it entailed a shared investment of 200 million rand ($13.6 million) in the coming six months.



WTO members have been in talks for months on waiving drug firms&#8217; intellectual property (IP) rights for COVID-19 vaccines. Many developing countries including South Africa and India support the waiver, but several wealthy countries remain opposed, saying it would deter research that allowed COVID-19 vaccines to be produced so quickly.



&#8220;Weakening IP rules will only discourage the type of unprecedented innovation which brought vaccines forward in record time and make it harder for companies to collaborate,&#8221; Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in remarks prepared for a WTO summit later on Wednesday.



The World Health Organization last month chose a consortium including Biovac for a &#8220;tech transfer hub&#8221; in South Africa, part of efforts to give poor and middle-income countries the knowledge and licences to produce COVID-19 vaccines.



Biovac has partnered with Pfizer since 2015 to manufacture and distribute its Prevnar 13 pneumonia vaccine, although it is still awaiting regulatory approval, Makhoana said.



&#8220;Having an existing relationship always helps,&#8221; he said on his company&#8217;s expanded ties with Pfizer.



($1 = 14.6900 rand) 



(Reporting by Michael Erman, Wendell Roelf and Alexander Winning Editing by Richard Pullin and Mark Potter)

In this photo illustration, a man holds a syringe with a

Pfizer/BioNTech strike South Africa COVID-19 manufacturing deal with Biovac

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/106460708-1585165953635gettyimages-1207933754.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-410202" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/106460708-1585165953635gettyimages-1207933754.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/106460708-1585165953635gettyimages-1207933754-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/106460708-1585165953635gettyimages-1207933754-140x80.jpeg 140w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a daily press briefing on COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, at the WHO headquaters in Geneva on March 11, 2020. Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



The world is in the early stages of another wave of Covid-19 infections and death, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros&nbsp;Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday.



Speaking to International Olympic Committee members in Tokyo, Tedros said the global failure to share vaccines, tests and treatments is fueling a “two-track pandemic.” Countries that have adequate resources like vaccines are opening up, while others are locking down in a bid to slow the virus’ transmission.



Vaccine discrepancies around the world are masking a “horrifying injustice,” he added.



“This is not just a moral outrage, it’s also epidemiologically and economically self-defeating,” Tedros said, adding that the longer the pandemic drags on, the more socioeconomic turmoil it will bring. “The pandemic is a test and the world is failing.”



He warned that “19 months into the pandemic, and seven months since the first vaccines were approved, we are now in the early stages of another wave of infections and deaths.” Tedros added that the global threat of the pandemic will remain until all countries have a handle on the disease.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-celebration-of-hope"><a></a>A celebration of hope</h2>



The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/20/tokyo-olympics-covid-still-threatens-event-days-before-it-begins.html">Tokyo Games are set to open Friday</a>&nbsp;after being postponed last year due to the pandemic.



Rising Covid-19 cases in Tokyo have overshadowed the Olympics, which&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/08/japan-olympics-committee-bans-spectators-following-state-of-emergency.html">banned all spectators from the games</a>&nbsp;this month after Japan declared a state of emergency.



Cases around the Japanese capital have risen by more than <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/07/18/national/japan-coronavirus-july-18/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">1,000 new infections daily in recent days</a>. Nationwide, Japan has reported more than 848,000 Covid cases and over 15,000 deaths amid a relatively slow vaccine rollout.



The first&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/olympics/tokyo-2020-first-covid-19-case-reported-olympic-village-days-n1274269" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">positive Covid-19 case</a>&nbsp;hit the athlete’s village over the weekend and, so far,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-2020-tokyo-olympics-health-tokyo-coronavirus-pandemic-3d7dcb39c13fabdd8cdf9ecd1b2ee3ef" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">more than 70 cases</a>&nbsp;have been linked to the Tokyo Games.



On Wednesday, Tedros said the games are a celebration of “something that our world needs now, more than ever — a celebration of hope.” While the pandemic may have postponed the games, he said it has not “defeated them.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Vaccine discrepancies</h2>



Tedros criticized the vaccine discrepancies between wealthy and low-income countries. He said 75% of all vaccine doses — more than 3.5 billion shots — have been administered in just 10 countries while only 1% of people in poorer nations have received at least one shot.



“Vaccines are powerful and essential tools. But the world has not used them well,” he said, adding that instead of being deployed widely, the shots have been concentrated in the “hands and arms of the lucky few.”



The global health body has called for a massive worldwide push to vaccinate at least 70% of the population in every country by the middle of next year.



“The pandemic will end when the world chooses to end it. It’s in our hands,” Tedros said. “We have all the tools we need: we can prevent this disease, we can test for it, and we can treat it.”



He called on the world’s leading economies to step up by sharing vaccines and funding global efforts to make them more accessible as well as incentivizing companies to scale up vaccine production.



Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032.

106460708-1585165953635gettyimages-1207933754

WHO chief warns that the world is going into the ‘early stages of another wave’

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="580" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/vaccine-5873170_1280-820x580.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-408136" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/vaccine-5873170_1280-820x580.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/vaccine-5873170_1280-300x212.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/vaccine-5873170_1280-113x80.jpg 113w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/vaccine-5873170_1280-768x543.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/vaccine-5873170_1280.jpg 1280w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Vaccine Photo: via Flickr</figcaption></figure>



GENEVA, July 16 (Reuters) &#8211; Nearly 50 African countries are to receive 25 million COVID-19 vaccine doses donated by the United States, with the first shipments to Burkina Faso, Djibouti and Ethiopia in coming days, U.S. officials and the Gavi vaccine alliance said on Friday.



U.S. President Joe Biden has pledged to share 80 million U.S.-made vaccines with countries around the world to protect the most vulnerable and stem transmission of the coronavirus.



&#8220;In partnership with the African Union and COVAX, the United States is proud to donate 25 million COVID-19 vaccines to 49 African countries. The Biden Administration is committed to leading the global response to the pandemic by providing safe and effective vaccines to the world,” Gayle Smith, the U.S. State Department&#8217;s coordinator for COVID-19 recovery and global health, said in the statement.



Nearly a million doses of the Johnson &amp; Johnson vaccine will be delivered to Burkina Faso, Djibouti and Ethiopia in coming days, the statement said.



The remainder will be shipped in coming weeks, it added.



Africa recorded a 43% jump in COVID-19 deaths last week as infections and hospital admissions have risen and countries face shortages of oxygen and intensive-care beds, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.



African Union Special Envoy Strive Masiyiwa said the U.S. donation to 49 countries was appreciated &#8220;especially at this moment when we are witnessing the third-wave in a number of African countries”.



WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is Ethiopian, has called for vaccinating at least 10% of the most vulnerable in every country &#8211; including health workers and the elderly &#8211; by September.



The COVAX dose-sharing programme has so far shipped 121 million doses to 136 mostly low and middle income countries, far short of its original targets, due to supply constraints since India suspended vaccine exports. It is run by the Gavi vaccine alliance and the WHO. 



(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Frances Kerry)

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