<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/106928093-1629121893682-gettyimages-1334142759-cg6a1626_2021081412940649.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-412006" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/106928093-1629121893682-gettyimages-1334142759-cg6a1626_2021081412940649.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/106928093-1629121893682-gettyimages-1334142759-cg6a1626_2021081412940649-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/106928093-1629121893682-gettyimages-1334142759-cg6a1626_2021081412940649-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>Kyndal Bolden, 15, holds the hand of her aunt as she receives a COVID-19 vaccination dose on August 14, 2021 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Mario Tama | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



LONDON — Looking at the Covid case data in the U.S., U.K. and the rest of Europe, you’d be forgiven for thinking that, despite 18 months of a global health crisis and advanced vaccination rollouts, we’re in just as bad a situation as we ever were.



Certainly the number of Covid cases being recorded daily in the West remains high, and even resembles earlier peaks at different points, or Covid waves, during the pandemic.



The current 7-day moving average of daily new cases stands at 153,246, an increase of 4.9% compared with the previous 7-day moving average (of 146,087). The current 7-day moving average is 123.6% higher than the value observed around a year ago, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In total, more than 40 million Covid cases have been counted in the U.S. since the pandemic began.



Case rates in the U.K. also remain high. As of Sept 6., the seven-day average of daily new cases was almost 39,000 and the number of daily cases has remained high as the week has progressed; almost 40,000 new cases were reported on Wednesday, and around 38,000 cases were recorded on Thursday, government data showed.



In the EU + EEA area (a total of 30 countries), in the seven days up to Sept. 5, 405,774 new cases were recorded, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, with Ireland, France, Sweden, Portugal, Greece and Bulgaria among the countries reporting the highest numbers of new cases per 100,000 population.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/long-covid-soon-there-could-be-a-test-to-show-if-you-have-it/">Long COVID? Soon there could be a test to show if you have it</a></h3>



The high numbers of cases remains attributable to the spread of the highly infectious delta variant, which usurped previous variants that themselves were more infectious than the original strain of Covid-19.



Nonetheless, the rise in cases has accompanied the advancement of vaccination programs in the West with the majority of adults in both the U.S. and Europe now fully vaccinated.



In the U.S., 62.4% of all people over 12 years of age are fully vaccinated, CDC data shows, while over 82% of over-65s are fully protected. In the U.K., 80.4% of the population over the age of 16 are fully vaccinated and in the EU/EEA, 70.4% of adults have received two doses of a coronavirus vaccine, ECDC data shows.



Crucially, the number of hospitalizations and deaths accompanying the high number of cases has remained lower (and for some countries, much lower) than at earlier points in the pandemic when vaccination rates were much lower, proving that the coronavirus vaccines in use in the West dramatically lower the chance of a severe infection, hospitalization and death. Hospitalizations in the U.S. remain high, data from Our World in Data show.



Yet none of the vaccines in use in the U.S. or Europe is 100% effective, meaning that some vaccinated people will get Covid (so-called “breakthrough cases”) and a small number of those will get sick. The predominant delta variant has also lowered the efficacy of the vaccines on offer and some new studies show the immunity provided by shots wanes over time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-are-cases-high"><a></a>Why are cases high?</h2>



CNBC asked epidemiologists based in Britain why cases remain so high given the relatively high vaccination rates in the West.



“The delta variant is highly contagious and this accounts for the continuing high number of cases now that we are mixing much more freely since most restrictions were eased,” Andrew Freedman, a reader in infectious disease at Cardiff University School of Medicine, told CNBC Thursday.



“Those catching Covid now are a mixture of unvaccinated, partially vaccinated and double vaccinated people.&nbsp;A large proportion of new infection are in (unvaccinated) children and adolescents,” he noted.



“We know that the vaccines are only partially effective at preventing people from catching the delta variant, but are much more effective at protecting against severe disease, hospitalisation and death.&nbsp; Fully vaccinated individuals are mostly getting only mild symptoms if they do catch it, although a small minority, especially older and more frail people, are still getting more severe illness.”



In the U.K., the latest data from the ZOE Covid study, which tracks Covid symptoms and infections in the community using the data from around a million people every week, estimates that in the fully vaccinated population, there are currently 17,674 new daily symptomatic cases in the U.K.



It noted, in its latest research published on Thursday, that “cases in this group had been rising steadily but have now stabilised, with last week’s figure being 17,342.”



Meanwhile, new Covid cases are the highest among those aged 0-18 and 18-35 year olds, many of whom are only partially vaccinated (two doses of a Covid shot are vital to achieve maximum protection), or unvaccinated.



Similar data pertains to the U.S. and the rest of Europe over the last month: CDC data shows that the highest number of cases has been counted among adolescents aged 16-17 (though age groups from 12-49 have all seen a sharp increase in cases). In the EU/EEA the highest number of cases is among the 25-49 year old age bracket closely followed by the 15-24s and a rising number of cases among children, age 5-14.



Epidemiologists and public health experts have long-expressed the view that Covid-19 is just something we’re going to have to get used to, that the virus will become endemic and cannot now be eradicated.



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Pursuing a so-called “zero Covid” strategy (aiming to eliminate all Covid cases) has been seen as a hopeless cause by most countries, although Australia and New Zealand have pursued such a strategy. Australia announced at the end of August that it was abandoning such a policy, however, given the spread of the highly infectious delta variant. New Zealand is maintaining its strategy, for now.



Danny Altmann, professor of immunology at Imperial College London, explained to CNBC that societies need to assess to what extent they will tolerate the virus.



“We’ve always said, and still maintain, that the vaccines are amazing and give enormous levels of protective neutralising antibodies,” he told CNBC Thursday. Even if clinical studies show that the delta variant reduces the efficacy of vaccines, Altmann noted “there’s so much protective headroom that ‘most’ people should be safe.”



“In a sense that’s how we’ve seen it play out — with the delta variant and without vaccination we’d now be at several thousand deaths per day, but we’re at ‘only’ a few hundred, so there’s tangible mitigation of severe disease,” he said.



“However, our protection seems less robust against delta than we’d predicted when you consider that in the U.K. there are around 40,000 cases per day including many of these breakthroughs &#8230; [and] people becoming significantly unwell though not hospitalised,” he said, noting that data from Israel on giving booster shots showed that additional jabs could re-boost antibody levels and combat breakthrough cases.



A lot of the debate around Covid currently, Altmann said, “comes back to that policy/philosophy debate about what we’re now trying to achieve.”



“The extremes of the argument are, either that, at least until we see what happens in autumn/winter, we’ve achieved our goal as relatively high vaccine rollout has meant that hospitals can just about cope &#8230; Or, the other view is that we’ll never have normality unless we strive for a zero-Covid strategy, which would need to encompass vaccination in our schools to stop spread there,” he noted.



Those calling for a zero-Covid strategy encompassed people who believed that “we’re sitting ducks in perpetuity for ever more cases, until we allow through a much more resistant variant to really scupper us,” Altmann said.

106928093-1629121893682-gettyimages-1334142759-cg6a1626_2021081412940649

Why are Covid cases so high when millions are fully vaccinated? Blame the delta variant, experts say

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="503" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/DW4SLE6GKFOBNM7H2XGJM223KU-820x503.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-411982" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/DW4SLE6GKFOBNM7H2XGJM223KU-820x503.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/DW4SLE6GKFOBNM7H2XGJM223KU-300x184.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/DW4SLE6GKFOBNM7H2XGJM223KU-147x90.jpg 147w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/DW4SLE6GKFOBNM7H2XGJM223KU-768x471.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/DW4SLE6GKFOBNM7H2XGJM223KU.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>A man receives a vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Masaka hospital in Kigali, Rwanda March 5, 2021. REUTERS/Jean Bizimana/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Sept 9 (Reuters) &#8211; Rich nations would do better to send vaccines to Africa to help fight the global COVID-19 pandemic rather than hoarding them for third-dose booster shots that scientific evidence does not back, the African Union&#8217;s (AU) top health official said on Thursday.



Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) director John Nkengasong told a news conference he was baffled some rich countries were disregarding World Health Organization (WHO) advice to hold off from booster shots until more people were fully vaccinated worldwide.



&#8220;The problem we have with the third doses is: we have not seen enough science behind them,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It is really confusing to me as to why we are moving towards a vast (administration)&#8230; of the booster dose.&#8221;



Wealthy countries such as Germany, France and Israel are planning to administer third shots, over concerns that immunity from the standard two-shot regimen is waning.



&#8220;We do not know at what point immunity drops to a level at which it stops offering (protection),&#8221; Nkengasong said. &#8220;Without (that science), you&#8217;ll surely be gambling.&#8221;



<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>



The global programme providing COVID-19 vaccines to poor countries is on course to fall nearly 30% short of its previous goal of 2 billion shots this year, the international organisations running it said on Wednesday.



The COVAX programme also urged rich countries that had met their domestic needs to forfeit volumes rather than administer third shots.



Nkengasong said such programmes in the West would make it hard for Africa to meet its target for vaccinating 60% to 70% of people, for which it needed at least 1.6 billion doses.



Currently only 3% of the continent were vaccinated, he said, while 145.4 million vaccine doses had been procured across the continent, of which three quarters had been administered.



In the meantime, the coronavirus continued to evolve, as it coursed though unvaccinated populations, he said: &#8220;Today it&#8217;s the Delta variant, tomorrow we just don&#8217;t know which variant will be out there.&#8221;



Africa has recorded 7.9 million cases, of which 201,000 have been fatal, he said. 



(Reporting by Tim Cocks; Editing by Edmund Blair)

DW4SLE6GKFOBNM7H2XGJM223KU

Give vaccines to Africa and ditch unproven third shot, AU 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/2021/09/106553902-15905961992020-05-03t000000z_392955759_rc24hg9p1seb_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-who-ryan.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-411927" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/106553902-15905961992020-05-03t000000z_392955759_rc24hg9p1seb_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-who-ryan.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/106553902-15905961992020-05-03t000000z_392955759_rc24hg9p1seb_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-who-ryan-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/106553902-15905961992020-05-03t000000z_392955759_rc24hg9p1seb_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-who-ryan-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>Executive Director of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) emergencies program Mike Ryan speaks at a news conference on the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Geneva, Switzerland. Denis Balibouse | Reuters</figcaption></figure>



Covid-19 is likely “here to stay with us” as the virus continues to mutate in unvaccinated countries across the world and previous hopes of eradicating it diminish, global health officials said Tuesday.



“I think this virus is here to stay with us and it will evolve like influenza pandemic viruses, it will evolve to become one of the other viruses that affects us,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Program, said at a press briefing.



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Officials at the global health agency have previously said vaccines do not guarantee the world would eradicate Covid-19 like it has other viruses. Several leading health experts, including White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci and Stephane Bancel, CEO of Covid vaccine maker Moderna, have warned that the world will have to live with Covid forever, much like influenza.



“People have said we’re going to eliminate or eradicate the virus,” Ryan said. “No we’re not, very, very unlikely.”



If the world had taken early steps to stop the spread of the virus, the situation today could have been very different, WHO officials said.



“We had a chance in the beginning of this pandemic,” Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead on Covid-19, said Tuesday. “This pandemic did not need to be this bad.”

106553902-15905961992020-05-03t000000z_392955759_rc24hg9p1seb_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-who-ryan

WHO says Covid will mutate like the flu and is likely here to stay

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/106913632-16267943792021-06-25t184217z_2101887965_rc2u7o9yru9z_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-who.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-411829" width="838" height="471" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/106913632-16267943792021-06-25t184217z_2101887965_rc2u7o9yru9z_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-who.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/106913632-16267943792021-06-25t184217z_2101887965_rc2u7o9yru9z_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-who-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/106913632-16267943792021-06-25t184217z_2101887965_rc2u7o9yru9z_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-who-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 838px) 100vw, 838px" /><figcaption>World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks during a bilateral meeting with Swiss Interior and Health Minister Alain Berset on the sidelines of the opening of the 74th World Health Assembly at the WHO headquarters, in Geneva, Switzerland May 24, 2021. Laurent Gillieron | Reuters</figcaption></figure>



The World Health Organization is monitoring a new coronavirus variant called “mu,” which the agency says has mutations that have the potential to evade immunity provided by a previous Covid-19 infection or vaccination.



Mu — also known by scientists as B.1.621 — was added to the WHO’s list of variants “of interest” on Aug. 30, the international health organization said in its weekly Covid epidemiological report published late Tuesday.



The variant contains genetic mutations that indicate natural immunity, current vaccines or monoclonal antibody treatments may not work as well against it as they do against the original ancestral virus, the WHO said. The mu strain needs further study to confirm whether it will prove to be more contagious, more deadly or more resistant to current vaccines and treatments.



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Mu “has a constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape,” the WHO wrote in its report Tuesday.



“Preliminary data presented to the Virus Evolution Working Group show a reduction in neutralization capacity of convalescent and vaccine sera similar to that seen for the Beta variant, but this needs to be confirmed by further studies,” it added.



The agency is monitoring four variants “of concern,” including delta, which was first detected in India and is the most prevalent variant currently circulating in the U.S.; alpha, first detected in the U.K.; beta, first detected in South Africa, and gamma, first detected in Brazil. A variant of concern is generally defined as a mutated strain that’s either more contagious, more deadly or more resistant to current vaccines and treatments.



It’s also keeping a close watch on four other variants of interest — including lambda, first identified in Peru — that have caused outbreaks in multiple countries and have genetic changes that could make them more dangerous than other strains.



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Delta was a variant of interest until the WHO reclassified it in early May after preliminary studies found it could spread more easily than other versions of the virus. That variant has since been blamed for a number of large outbreaks around the world, including in the United States.



The new variant, mu, was first identified in Colombia but has since been confirmed in at least 39 countries, according to the WHO. Although the global prevalence of the variant among sequenced cases has declined and is currently below 0.1%, its prevalence in Colombia and Ecuador has consistently increased, the agency warned.



The WHO said more studies are required to understand the clinical characteristics of the new variant.



“The epidemiology of the Mu variant in South America, particularly with the co-circulation of the Delta variant, will be monitored for changes,” the agency said.

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WHO says it is monitoring a new Covid variant called ‘mu’

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/106931696-1629727676310-gettyimages-1234821819-AFP_9LH8GR.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-411803" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/106931696-1629727676310-gettyimages-1234821819-AFP_9LH8GR.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/106931696-1629727676310-gettyimages-1234821819-AFP_9LH8GR-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/106931696-1629727676310-gettyimages-1234821819-AFP_9LH8GR-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>Juan Rodriguez (L) reacts while receiving Johnson &amp; Johnson’s Janssen Covid-19 vaccine administered by vocational nurse Christina Garibay at a Skid Row community outreach event where Covid-19 vaccines and testing were offered in Los Angeles, California on August 22, 2021. Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Covid-19 vaccines are still “stunningly effective” despite fears that immunity may dwindle over time, experts have said.



There have been some concerns about the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines after a number of recent studies indicated&nbsp;a growing number of so-called “breakthrough” Covid cases among the fully vaccinated. The studies have, however, shown that the fully vaccinated are still highly protected against severe infection, hospitalization and death caused by the virus.



Preliminary data published by the Israeli government&nbsp;in July showed that the&nbsp;Pfizer vaccine was just 16% effective&nbsp;against symptomatic infection for people who had received two doses in January.&nbsp;For people who had been fully vaccinated by April, the vaccine was 79% effective against symptomatic infection, suggesting that immunity gained through immunization depletes over time.



A piece of research funded by Pfizer, published in July, showed that the efficacy of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was strongest between one week and two months after receiving the second dose, coming in at 96.2%. It then, however, declined by an average of 6% every two months.&nbsp;Four to six months after a second dose, its effectiveness fell to around 84%.



In August, meanwhile, a U.K. study of more than one million fully vaccinated people found that protection from both the Oxford-AstraZeneca and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines faded over time.&nbsp;A month after receiving a second dose of the Pfizer vaccine, protection against the virus stood at 88%, the analysis showed. After five to six months, that protection fell to 74%.



Protection stood at 77% a month after being fully vaccinated with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, and fell to 67% after four to five months.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lessons-from-israel"><a></a>Lessons from Israel</h2>



Israel’s vaccination rollout was&nbsp;one of the fastest in the world. But despite this, the number of Covid-19 cases in Israel have been&nbsp;rising sharply since July.&nbsp;



In late July, Israel began offering everyone over the age of 60 a third vaccine dose.&nbsp;Its booster program has been rapidly expanded&nbsp;and third shots have been available to everyone over the age of 30 in the country since August.



Professor Eyal Leshem, an infectious disease specialist at Sheba Medical Center who has been treating Covid patients in Israel, told CNBC that while cases were rising despite a high vaccination rate, the rate of severe illness in the country remained “substantially lower.”



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“We attribute that to the fact that most of our adult population is vaccinated with two doses, and more than one million people have received the third booster dose,” he said on a phone call.



“The severe disease rates in the vaccinated are about one-tenth of those seen in the unvaccinated, which means the vaccine is still over 90% effective in preventing severe disease,” Leshem added. “People who received the booster dose are also at much, much lower risk of becoming infected, our short-term data shows.”



Richard Reithinger, an infectious disease expert and vice president of global health at U.S. based RTI International, told CNBC in an email that most of the developed vaccines for Covid-19 were “nothing short of stunningly effective, even with the newly emerging variants.”



“Irrefutable proof for that is how cases, severe disease requiring hospitalization and deaths dramatically dropped in countries that rapidly scaled-up vaccination coverage,” he said.



“In countries with very high vaccine coverage, such as Iceland with more than 90%, hardly any severe cases and deaths are being reported. Similarly, in countries with moderate to high vaccine coverage, like the U.S. and Canada, severe cases and deaths are almost exclusively seen in the unvaccinated.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Delta effect</h2>



An earlier English study, published in May, found that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 88% effective at preventing symptomatic disease from the delta variant. Against the alpha variant, once the dominant strain in the U.K., the vaccine was 93% effective at preventing symptomatic disease.



Meanwhile, the research found that two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine were 60% effective at preventing symptomatic disease from the delta variant, compared to a 66% efficacy rate against the alpha variant.



The data showed the importance of having two doses of these vaccines as the efficacy of both shots against symptomatic infection from the delta variant stood at just 33% three weeks after the first dose, the study found.



Reithinger told CNBC that if the virus continued to mutate, it did not necessarily mean it would become more resistant to existing vaccines however.



“The delta variant has been shown to be more transmissible than other variants, and vaccine effectiveness is slightly lower than for the alpha and beta variants. The kappa variant, which emerged in India around the same time, however, is not as transmissible,” he highlighted.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Are booster shots the answer?</h2>



Several more countries, including the U.S. and the U.K., are now offering — or planning to offer — third doses of Covid-19 vaccines to help boost immunity to the virus that may have depleted.



According to Gideon Schreiber, a professor at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science, booster shots may become a necessity.



“Unfortunately, it’s not even [going to be] annually, it will be twice annually,” he predicted. “The virus has a huge potential for new variants, many which will work to silence immunity — so there’s a chance that we’ll need further boosters in the future.”



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Schreiber added that Israel’s booster program appeared, so far, to be a big success. After a second dose, he told CNBC, people were four or five times less likely to become severely ill with Covid. But after a third dose, they were more than ten times less likely to become severely ill with the virus.



However, Reithinger argued that booster shots were not necessarily a logical step at this point in time.



“There is only limited data available that an immune response that was primed by available vaccines is waning after six to eight months,” he told CNBC via email. “Most of the data is on infection, rather than hospitalization or death. The data also doesn’t account for the use of non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as masking and social distancing, that in many contexts should continue to be used and adhered to.&nbsp;The only population groups for which the case for booster shots can be made is the immunocompromised.”



However, he said that booster shots may eventually become necessary if data prove the vaccines’ efficacy against severe disease and death wanes over time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Hope for a treatment?</h2>



Schreiber is currently supervising research on a therapeutic drug that would act as a “super-cork,” physically jamming itself into cell receptors that the virus attaches itself to. By working to block cells’ “entry ports” rather than attacking the virus itself, scientists are hoping to stay on top of any future mutations.



“It should work against future variants, because it’s not really going after the virus — the virus can change, but as long as the virus binds to it, it’s going to block it,” he told CNBC.



However, Schreiber said the drug wouldn’t be something that could be used on a wide scale.



“It’s too expensive, and there’s no need,” he said. “The way I see it is that it would be given to people who got Covid and were in a high-risk group. It also doesn’t have a long-term effect like a vaccine.”



The Sheba Medical Center’s Leshem argued that vaccinations were currently the best hope society had of finding a state of “equilibrium” with the virus, where the virus could circulate without severe repercussions.



“The best hope for people at risk is immunization, an effective vaccine, which we currently have, and may be improved through boosters, through mixing or through other methods,” he said.



“Despite very [intense] research, it’s very challenging to find effective treatments — viruses are not bacteria. So while we’ve developed good antibiotics that have dramatically changed the course of bacterial infection, we do not have such good antivirals for many of the viruses that infect humans.”



Pharmaceutical companies are also looking at new treatments to prevent Covid aside from vaccines.&nbsp; In mid-August, AstraZeneca published results from a phase three trial of an antibody therapy which was found to reduce the risk of developing symptomatic Covid-19 by 77%. There were no deaths or cases of severe illness among the 25 participants who contracted symptomatic Covid during the trial.&nbsp; A total of 5,172 people took part in the trial, 75% of whom had co-morbidities.



Reuters reported&nbsp;that AstraZeneca was seeking conditional approval for the therapy in major markets this year. The pharmaceutical giant would produce 1 to 2 million doses by the end of this year, the news agency said.



“What I really believe is that we really need a medicine,” Schreiber told CNBC. “There are many efforts in developing drugs, there is no reason not to believe it will not come in the near future. It will come and this basically, I think, will end the story.”



He added:“The virus keeps mutating — new variants will come, but the speed of technological advances is really amazing. So I say there’s no reason to despair.”

106931696-1629727676310-gettyimages-1234821819-AFP_9LH8GR

Are Covid vaccines becoming less effective?

<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>



Aug 31 (Reuters) &#8211; Johnson &amp; Johnson said on Tuesday its experimental vaccine failed to provide sufficient protection against HIV in sub-Saharan Africa to young women who accounted for a large number of infections last year.



The results from the mid-stage study are the latest setback to efforts to develop a vaccine to prevent HIV or human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS that had infected over 37 million people globally as of 2020.



&#8220;Although this is certainly not the study outcome for which we had hoped, we must apply the knowledge learned from the&#8230; trial and continue our efforts to find a vaccine that will be protective against HIV,&#8221; said Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).



Despite the discovery of effective treatments that can put the virus in remission, experts say an HIV vaccine is critical to eradicating the virus.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-south-africa-study-shows-high-covid-protection-from-j-j-vaccine">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/south-africa-study-shows-high-covid-protection-from-jj-vaccine/">South Africa study shows high COVID protection from J&amp;J vaccine</a></h3>



The mid-stage study testing the J&amp;J vaccine included 2,600 women participants across five Southern African countries, where women and girls accounted for over 60% of all new HIV infections last year.



Researchers found that 63 participants who received placebo and 51 who were administered the J&amp;J vaccine got HIV infection, resulting in a vaccine efficacy of 25.2%.



The vaccine was found to be safe with no serious side effects reported, but the study will not continue based on the efficacy data, J&amp;J said.



The trial of the vaccine was supported by the NIAID and the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation.



J&amp;J said it was studying the safety and efficacy of a different experimental HIV vaccine among men who have sex with men, and transgender persons. The trial, conducted in the Americas and Europe, is expected to be completed in March 2024. 



(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Shinjini Ganguli)

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

Johnson & Johnson’s HIV vaccine fails mid-stage Africa study

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/50714724492_b8ff8c0fc6_k-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-411748" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/50714724492_b8ff8c0fc6_k-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/50714724492_b8ff8c0fc6_k-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/50714724492_b8ff8c0fc6_k-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/50714724492_b8ff8c0fc6_k-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/50714724492_b8ff8c0fc6_k-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/50714724492_b8ff8c0fc6_k.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>German biotechnology company Biontech introduces new effective vaccine against Covid-19. Photo: via Flickr by Marco Verch</figcaption></figure>



Aug 27 (Reuters) &#8211; COVID-19 vaccine maker BioNTech said on Friday it was looking into building malaria and tuberculosis vaccine production sites in Rwanda and Senegal, narrowing its search for&nbsp;African locations.



The future malaria and tuberculosis vaccines would be based on the so-called messenger RNA technology, also used in its COVID-19 shot, the German drugmaker said.



BioNTech did not say when production was likely to start. In July it said it would seek to develop a vaccine for the mosquito-borne illness malaria, eyeing production in Africa, as it seeks to build on its success with Partner in COVID-19 shots.



In a meeting with Rwanda&#8217;s President Paul Kagame, Senegalese President Macky Sall and European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Berlin on Friday, BioNTech Chief Executive Ugur Sahin affirmed the German biotech firm&#8217;s intention to manufacture mRNA vaccines on the&nbsp;African continent, BioNTech said.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-pfizer-biontech-strike-south-africa-covid-19-manufacturing-deal-with-biovac">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/pfizer-biontech-strike-south-africa-covid-19-manufacturing-deal-with-biovac/">Pfizer/BioNTech strike South Africa COVID-19 manufacturing deal with Biovac</a></h3>



The sites would be near prospective vaccine hubs planned by the World Health Organization (WHO), the company added.



The project to develop manufacturing expertise on the&nbsp;African continent marks a longer-term attempt to avoid a repeat of healthcare inequalities brought to the fore by the coronavirus pandemic. The WHO has criticised a COVID-19 vaccine supply gap between industrialised nations and low-income countries, particularly in&nbsp;Africa.



Attempts to set up&nbsp;African production of COVID-19 vaccines have been limited so far.



Senegal&#8217;s Institut Pasteur of Dakar (IPD) this month reached a deal with U.S. company MedInstill for the bottling of COVID-19 shots. IPD, however, has yet to secure a partnership with a vaccine patent holder.



Pfizer and BioNTech last month struck a deal for South Africa&#8217;s Biovac Institute to process over 100 million doses a year of their vaccine for Africa. Biovac will carry out final production steps and bottling based on imported active substance in a process known as fill and finish.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/africas-covid-19-third-wave-stabilises-as-vaccine-levels-rise-who/">Africa’s COVID-19 third wave stabilises as vaccine levels rise – WHO</a></h3>



Johnson &amp; Johnson (J&amp;J) has enlisted&nbsp;South&nbsp;African drugmaker Aspen Pharmacare also for the fill and finish process based on imported vaccine substance.



Senegal&#8217;s Institut Pasteur is the only facility in&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;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&nbsp;African manufacturers that produce vaccines against any disease, in Egypt, Morocco, Senegal,&nbsp;South&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;and Tunisia.



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



(Reporting by Ludwig Burger, editing by Thomas Escritt and Susan Fenton)

50714724492_b8ff8c0fc6_k

BioNTech eyes Rwanda, Senegal for malaria, tuberculosis vaccine production

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="567" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/EQX3TO2DNZN7NKHNKZVTPL6J6A-820x567.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-411728" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/EQX3TO2DNZN7NKHNKZVTPL6J6A-820x567.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/EQX3TO2DNZN7NKHNKZVTPL6J6A-300x207.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/EQX3TO2DNZN7NKHNKZVTPL6J6A-130x90.jpg 130w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/EQX3TO2DNZN7NKHNKZVTPL6J6A-768x531.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/EQX3TO2DNZN7NKHNKZVTPL6J6A-1536x1062.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/EQX3TO2DNZN7NKHNKZVTPL6J6A-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>FILE PHOTO: China&#8217;s Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines produced by VACSERA Co. are seen in Cairo, Egypt July 8, 2021. Picture taken July 8, 2021. REUTERS/Shokry Hussien</figcaption></figure>



BRUSSELS/JOHANNESBURG/JAKARTA, Aug 26 (Reuters) &#8211; The World Health Organization&#8217;s pandemic programme plans to ship 100 million doses of the Sinovac and Sinopharm COVID-19 shots by the end of next month, mostly to&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;and Asia, in its first delivery of Chinese vaccines, a WHO document shows.



The Chinese shipments will help the sputtering global COVAX vaccine sharing programme which is far behind its pledge to deliver 2 billion doses this year following supply problems and export curbs imposed by major producer India.



It could also boost Beijing&#8217;s vaccine diplomacy efforts despite concerns over the efficacy of the Chinese shots, which have been turned down or paired with boosters from Western manufacturers by some of the recipient countries.



Of the 100 million Chinese vaccines, half will be provided by Sinopharm and half by Sinovac, with deliveries planned for &#8220;July to September 2021&#8221;, a WHO document dated July 29 says.



About 10 million Sinopharm shots had been shipped by mid-August, a spokesperson for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), which co-leads COVAX along with the WHO, told Reuters.



Sinopharm, Sinovac and China&#8217;s trade ministry did not respond to requests for comment about when the Chinese vaccines would be delivered.



The Chinese vaccines have been allocated to 60 countries, mostly in Africa, which is expected to receive a third of the 100 million doses.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/rpt-insight-top-scientists-question-the-need-for-covid-19-booster-shots/">RPT-INSIGHT-Top scientists question the need for COVID-19 booster shots</a></h3>



However, not all countries want the Chinese vaccines.



South&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;is listed by COVAX as one of&nbsp;Africa&#8217;s largest recipients of Chinese shots with an allocation of 2.5 million Sinovac doses, but a senior health official told Reuters the country was currently unable to accept the vaccines.



&#8220;There is not enough information on effectiveness against the Delta variant and there is no data on Sinovac in populations with HIV,&#8221; said Nicholas Crisp, a deputy director-general in the health department who is overseeing the vaccine rollout.



&#8220;We have not accepted the COVAX Sinovac because it is premature in our evaluation and planning process,&#8221; he told Reuters.



Sinovac did not immediately respond to a request for comment about&nbsp;South&nbsp;Africa&#8217;s stance.



Nigeria, the main recipient of Chinese shots in&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;under COVAX with an allocation of nearly 8 million Sinopharm doses, has approved that vaccine but has called it a &#8220;potential&#8221; option for the country&#8217;s inoculation campaign.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-boosters-to-chinese-shots">BOOSTERS TO CHINESE SHOTS</h2>



A GAVI spokesperson declined to comment on&nbsp;South&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;and Nigeria and noted that other countries had not been included in this round, with one of the reasons being that some had decided not to receive the Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines.



Officials from Kenya, Rwanda, Togo and Somalia, which are entitled to smaller COVAX shipments, said they had no concerns about the Chinese shots because they had been vetted by the WHO and more people needed to be inoculated as soon as possible.



COVAX&#8217;s allocation of Chinese vaccines comes after the WHO gave emergency approval to the Sinopharm shot in May and Sinovac in June. GAVI has secured a combined supply of up to 550 million vaccines from the two companies until next year.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/brazil-researchers-now-say-chinas-sinovac-vaccine-is-50-effective-lower-than-announced-earlier/">Brazil researchers now say China’s Sinovac vaccine is 50% effective — lower than announced earlier</a></h3>



Including the Chinese vaccines, the facility expects to deliver about 500 million doses by the end of September, its latest forecast shows. It has so far shipped 215 million vaccines, mostly AstraZeneca&#8217;s.



Ukraine is the only country in Europe on the COVAX list for Chinese shots and is set to receive about 160,000 Sinovac doses.



Asian countries are expected to receive more than 25 million Chinese vaccines, of which nearly 11 million Sinovac doses would go to Indonesia, making it the largest recipient of Chinese shots through COVAX. Other vaccines will go to countries in Latin America and the Middle East.



Indonesia has decided to give boosters, largely with the Moderna vaccine, to healthcare workers &#8211; who have mostly been immunised with Sinovac shots.



That mirrored similar moves in other countries that have deployed Sinovac shots, such as Brazil and Chile.



Healthcare workers are a small portion of those vaccinated in Indonesia, but the booster policy has been interpreted by many as a sign of decreasing confidence in Sinovac.



Asked why Indonesia was buying the vaccine, of which the country is a major recipient also through bilateral deals, an official at the Indonesian health ministry told Reuters: &#8220;Sinovac could assure us of the amount they could deliver.&#8221;



(Writing and reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; reporting by Alex Winning in Johannesburg, Stanley Widianto in Jakarta, Libby George in Lagos, Roxanne Liu in Beijing, Maggie Fick in Nairobi, Clement Uwiringiyimana in Kigali, John Zodzi in Lome and Abdi Sheikh in Mogadishu; Editing by David Clarke)

China’s Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines produced by VACSERA Co. are seen in Cairo

WHO begins shipping Chinese vaccines despite some misgivings

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106855058-1615966707432-gettyimages-1230548836-GERMANY_HOSPITAL.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-411724" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106855058-1615966707432-gettyimages-1230548836-GERMANY_HOSPITAL.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106855058-1615966707432-gettyimages-1230548836-GERMANY_HOSPITAL-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106855058-1615966707432-gettyimages-1230548836-GERMANY_HOSPITAL-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>A healthcare worker cares for a Covid-19 patient in the ICU ward at the Robert Bosch Hospital in Stuttgart, Germany, on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



The risk of rare blood clotting is significantly higher as a result of catching Covid-19, than it is from being vaccinated against the virus, a new study has found.



In a peer-reviewed study published in the British Medical Journal on Friday, researchers from Oxford University, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and several other British universities and hospitals analyzed data from more than 29 million people who had received their first dose of either the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine or the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The study’s authors were fully independent from the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine developers.



Scientists looked into rates of thromboembolic events – blood clots – and thrombocytopenia, a condition with low platelet counts. Rare blood clotting with low platelet levels has been associated with the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccination.



The paper compared rates of rare blood clotting after a first vaccination dose and following a positive Covid-19 test.



Researchers found that the risk of these adverse events was “substantially higher” following Covid-19 infection than it was after receiving either the Oxford-AstraZeneca or the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-data"><a></a>The data</h2>



In the eight to 28 days after a first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, researchers identified an increased risk of rare blood clotting events and low platelet counts. In the same time period after a first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the study found the risk of blood clots and strokes caused by restricted blood flow to the brain (ischaemic stroke) increased.



However, these risks were significantly lower than the risks posed by Covid-19 infection.



Researchers estimated that 107 out of 10 million people would be hospitalized or die from low platelet counts within 28 days of receiving a first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. By contrast, that number rose to 934 people per 10 million following a positive test for Covid-19.



<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>



Within 28 days of a first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, 66 people per 10 million were hospitalized or died from blood clots in the veins, compared to 12,614 per 10 million who had tested positive for the virus.



Meanwhile, an estimated 143 people per 10 million were hospitalized or died of ischaemic stroke in the 28 days after a first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, compared to 1,699 who had tested positive for Covid-19.



The risks also remained elevated for a longer period after contracting the coronavirus than it did following vaccination, the study concluded.



The study analyzed routinely collected electronic health records to evaluate the risk of hospital admission for blood clots and low platelet counts within 28 days of infection or vaccination.



The data used in the study was collected across England between Dec. 1, 2020 and April 24, 2021. Patients who were still in hospital by the end date of the study were excluded from the study.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Vaccine trials ‘unlikely’ to detect very rare side effects</h2>



All of the Covid-19 vaccines currently in use in the U.S. and U.K. have been tested in randomized clinical trials, which were unlikely to be large enough to detect very rare adverse events, researchers noted on Friday.



When rare events are uncovered, regulators perform a risk-benefit analysis to weigh the adverse effects against the benefits of receiving the vaccine, the study’s authors added.



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&nbsp;International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis&nbsp;have also agreed that the benefits of administering the vaccine outweigh the risks.



“People should be aware of these increased risks after Covid-19 vaccination and seek medical attention promptly if they develop symptoms, but also be aware that the risks are considerably higher and over longer periods of time if they become infected with SARS-CoV-2,” Julia Hippisley-Cox, professor of clinical epidemiology and general practice at the University of Oxford and lead author of the paper, said in a press release.



“This enormous study has shown that there is a very small risk of clotting and other blood disorders following first dose Covid-19 vaccination. Though serious, the risk of these same outcomes is much higher following SARS-CoV-2 infection,” Aziz Sheikh, professor of primary care research &amp; development at The University of Edinburgh and a co-author of the paper, added.



According to the U.K. government, symptoms to watch out for include a new, severe headache that is not relieved by usual painkillers, a headache that worsens when lying down or bending over, unexplained pinprick bruising or bleeding, shortness of breath and leg swelling.



The risk of rare blood clotting is significantly higher as a result of catching Covid-19, than it is from being vaccinated against the virus, a new study has found.



In a peer-reviewed study published in the British Medical Journal on Friday, researchers from Oxford University, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and several other British universities and hospitals analyzed data from more than 29 million people who had received their first dose of either the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine or the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The study’s authors were fully independent from the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine developers.



Scientists looked into rates of thromboembolic events – blood clots – and thrombocytopenia, a condition with low platelet counts. Rare blood clotting with low platelet levels has been associated with the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccination.



The paper compared rates of rare blood clotting after a first vaccination dose and following a positive Covid-19 test.



Researchers found that the risk of these adverse events was “substantially higher” following Covid-19 infection than it was after receiving either the Oxford-AstraZeneca or the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-data"><a></a>The data</h2>



In the eight to 28 days after a first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, researchers identified an increased risk of rare blood clotting events and low platelet counts. In the same time period after a first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the study found the risk of blood clots and strokes caused by restricted blood flow to the brain (ischaemic stroke) increased.



However, these risks were significantly lower than the risks posed by Covid-19 infection.



Researchers estimated that 107 out of 10 million people would be hospitalized or die from low platelet counts within 28 days of receiving a first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. By contrast, that number rose to 934 people per 10 million following a positive test for Covid-19.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/wrapup-1-astrazeneca-woes-grow-as-australia-philippines-african-union-curb-covid-shots/">FDA halts use of Johnson &amp; Johnson COVID vaccine due to rare blood-clotting issues in six women</a> </h3>



Within 28 days of a first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, 66 people per 10 million were hospitalized or died from blood clots in the veins, compared to 12,614 per 10 million who had tested positive for the virus.



Meanwhile, an estimated 143 people per 10 million were hospitalized or died of ischaemic stroke in the 28 days after a first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, compared to 1,699 who had tested positive for Covid-19.



The risks also remained elevated for a longer period after contracting the coronavirus than it did following vaccination, the study concluded.



The study analyzed routinely collected electronic health records to evaluate the risk of hospital admission for blood clots and low platelet counts within 28 days of infection or vaccination.



The data used in the study was collected across England between Dec. 1, 2020 and April 24, 2021. Patients who were still in hospital by the end date of the study were excluded from the study.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Vaccine trials ‘unlikely’ to detect very rare side effects</h2>



All of the Covid-19 vaccines currently in use in the U.S. and U.K. have been tested in randomized clinical trials, which were unlikely to be large enough to detect very rare adverse events, researchers noted on Friday.



When rare events are uncovered, regulators perform a risk-benefit analysis to weigh the adverse effects against the benefits of receiving the vaccine, the study’s authors added.



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&nbsp;International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis&nbsp;have also agreed that the benefits of administering the vaccine outweigh the risks.



“People should be aware of these increased risks after Covid-19 vaccination and seek medical attention promptly if they develop symptoms, but also be aware that the risks are considerably higher and over longer periods of time if they become infected with SARS-CoV-2,” Julia Hippisley-Cox, professor of clinical epidemiology and general practice at the University of Oxford and lead author of the paper, said in a press release.



“This enormous study has shown that there is a very small risk of clotting and other blood disorders following first dose Covid-19 vaccination. Though serious, the risk of these same outcomes is much higher following SARS-CoV-2 infection,” Aziz Sheikh, professor of primary care research &amp; development at The University of Edinburgh and a co-author of the paper, added.



According to the U.K. government, symptoms to watch out for include a new, severe headache that is not relieved by usual painkillers, a headache that worsens when lying down or bending over, unexplained pinprick bruising or bleeding, shortness of breath and leg swelling.

106855058-1615966707432-gettyimages-1230548836-GERMANY_HOSPITAL

Covid — not vaccinations — presents biggest blood clot risk, large study finds

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="563" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ADQOYSLRQBLPDMQ2VOQFC6BNRU-820x563.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-411716" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ADQOYSLRQBLPDMQ2VOQFC6BNRU-820x563.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ADQOYSLRQBLPDMQ2VOQFC6BNRU-300x206.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ADQOYSLRQBLPDMQ2VOQFC6BNRU-131x90.jpg 131w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ADQOYSLRQBLPDMQ2VOQFC6BNRU-768x527.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ADQOYSLRQBLPDMQ2VOQFC6BNRU-1536x1054.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ADQOYSLRQBLPDMQ2VOQFC6BNRU-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>FILE PHOTO: A health worker talks to her colleagues as they prepare to receive the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine under the COVAX scheme against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya March 5, 2021. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi</figcaption></figure>



KINSHASA, Aug 26 (Reuters) &#8211; A third wave of COVID-19 infections in Africa has stabilised and the continent&#8217;s slow vaccination drive has picked up pace, the World Health Organisation said on Thursday.



Some 248,000 new cases were reported in the past week, down from 282,000 in mid-July, while the number of vaccinations tripled to 13 million, Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO&#8217;s regional director, told an online news conference. 



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-africa-covid-19-deaths-near-100-000-after-second-wave">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/africa-covid-19-deaths-near-100000-after-second-wave/">Africa COVID-19 deaths near 100,000 after second wave</a></h3>



Africa, with a population of 1.3 billion, has experienced a third wave of infections since May, straining health systems in countries from South Africa to Tunisia, Zambia and Senegal, where vaccination rates are far lower than in Europe and North America.



COVAX &#8211; the donor scheme co-led by the WHO to purchase vaccines for poorer countries &#8211; initially hoped to vaccinate 20% of people in Africa this year, but it has been plagued by delays. The WHO now hopes to vaccinate 10% of people in Africa by the end of September, Moeti said.



&#8220;117 million doses are due to arrive in the coming month and up to 34 million additional doses will be needed to reach that target,&#8221; she said. 



(Reporting By Hereward Holland Editing by Edward McAllister and Raissa Kasolowsky)

FILE PHOTO: Kenya to kick off coronavirus vaccination campaign with COVAX shots in Nairobi

Africa’s COVID-19 third wave stabilises as vaccine levels rise – WHO

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106932163-1629794577944-gettyimages-1234731483-AFP_9LA466.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-411673" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106932163-1629794577944-gettyimages-1234731483-AFP_9LA466.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106932163-1629794577944-gettyimages-1234731483-AFP_9LA466-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106932163-1629794577944-gettyimages-1234731483-AFP_9LA466-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>A health worker vaccinates a man in Abidjan on August 17, 2021 during a roll-out of vaccinations against Ebola on August 17, 2021, after the country recorded its first known case of the disease since 1994. (Photo by Issouf SANOGO / AFP) (Photo by ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP via Getty Images) ISSOUF SANOGO | AFP | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



African countries have been “shortchanged” with regard to its access to Covid-19 vaccines, the president of African Development Bank said.



“Africa [has] for sure been shortchanged,&nbsp;if I can use that term, regarding access to vaccines globally,” Akinwumi&nbsp;Adesina told CNBC’s&nbsp;“Squawk Box Asia”&nbsp;on Tuesday.



“The vaccines are not getting here in time, in the right quantity and the right price,” he said, adding that saving lives is “all about timing.”



Only 2.48% of the continent has been fully vaccinated as of Aug. 23, according to Our World in Data, far behind other continents.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"> Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/world-bank-readies-covid-19-vaccine-funds-for-around-30-african-countries/">World Bank readies COVID-19 vaccine funds for around 30 African countries</a></h3>



In comparison, vaccination rates stand at 25.31% in Asia and 27.1% in South America, while Europe and North America’s inoculation rates are both above 40%, statistics in Our World in Data showed.



“If there’s any lesson … that we have learned from this, it is that Africa should not depend on the rest of the world for supplying it with critical vaccines, and also therapeutics,” he said.



The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said&nbsp;countries in the continent have received 123.4 million vaccines as of Aug. 18.&nbsp;The shots have been secured through bilateral agreements, the global Covax alliance that seeks to provide vaccines to poorer countries and the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) —&nbsp;a 10-member group that sources for vaccines for Africa.



Through AVATT, the African Union has procured 400 million vaccines for delivery over the next year or so, enough to inoculate a third of the population, said Adesina.



But that still falls far short of Africa’s population of more than 1.2 billion people.



Africa “should not be dependent on others, it should be self-sufficient,” he said.



To that end, the African Development Bank wants to invest in primary, secondary and tertiary health-care infrastructure, Adesina said. It also hopes to put $3 billion toward the pharmaceutical sector so that Africa can have vaccines and medicine for itself.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-economic-effect"><a></a>Economic effect</h2>



The pandemic has had a “very dramatic impact” on Africa, Adesina said, adding that GDP growth fell, fiscal deficits doubled and debt-to-GDP ratios increased in 2020.



But he said he expects growth to hit 3.4% this year, after contracting 2.1% in 2020.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">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>



“Africa still has fantastic fundamentals,” he said, pointing to rapid urbanization, good potential for consumer spending, and a large, young population.



The African Continental Free Trade Area is also “too big to ignore,” the bank president said.



According to the World Bank, the AFCFTA as it’s called,&nbsp;is the largest free trade area in the world measured by the number of countries participating.&nbsp;It seeks to&nbsp;connect over a billion people in 55 countries that have a combined GDP of $2.5 trillion.



“I expect Africa will rebound after this particular pandemic,” he said. “The fundamentals remain very strong.”

106932163-1629794577944-gettyimages-1234731483-AFP_9LA466

Africa has been shortchanged on Covid vaccines, African Development Bank says

GENEVA, Aug 25 (Reuters) &#8211; Nearly 1.3 billion people globally suffer from hypertension, a silent killer often driven by obesity that increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and kidney disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.



Hypertension can be easily diagnosed by monitoring blood pressure, and treated with low-cost drugs, but half of affected people are unaware of their condition which is left untreated, the WHO and Imperial College London said in a joint study published in The Lancet.



While hypertension rates have changed little in 30 years, the caseload has shifted to lower-income countries as wealthy nations have brought it largely under control, the study said.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-who-says-covid-19-deaths-surge-43-week-on-week-in-africa">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/who-says-covid-19-deaths-surge-43-week-on-week-in-africa/">WHO says COVID-19 deaths surge 43% week-on-week in Africa</a></h3>



&#8220;It is far from being a condition of affluence, it&#8217;s very much a condition of poverty,&#8221; Majid Ezzati, professor of global environmental health at Imperial College London, told a news briefing.



&#8220;Many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, parts of South Asia, some of the Pacific island nations, they are still not getting the treatments that are needed,&#8221; he said.



Some 17.9 million people died in 2019 from cardiovascular diseases, accounting for one in three global deaths, with hypertension a major factor, according to the WHO.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/who-calls-for-moratorium-on-covid-19-vaccine-booster-doses/">WHO calls for moratorium on COVID-19 vaccine booster doses</a></h3>



&#8220;We know that the treatment is cheap, it&#8217;s low cost medicines. But there is a need to include them in the UHC (universal health coverage) so this is not a cost for the patient, it has to be covered by the insurance system,&#8221; said Bente Mikkelsen, director of the WHO&#8217;s department of noncommunicable diseases.



Apart from genetic risk factors for hypertension, there are &#8220;modifiable risk factors&#8221; linked to lifestyle, Mikkelsen said.



These include unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, tobacco and alcohol consumption, uncontrolled diabetes, and being overweight, she said. Referring to obesity, she said: &#8220;This is really the tsunami of the risk factors&#8221;. 



(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Giles Elgood)

55e5562d23ca9

High blood pressure driven by obesity, poverty – WHO study

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106913619-16267937592020-01-29t000000z_1387970559_rc2spe9j1gzp_rtrmadp_0_china-health-who.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-411664" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106913619-16267937592020-01-29t000000z_1387970559_rc2spe9j1gzp_rtrmadp_0_china-health-who.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106913619-16267937592020-01-29t000000z_1387970559_rc2spe9j1gzp_rtrmadp_0_china-health-who-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106913619-16267937592020-01-29t000000z_1387970559_rc2spe9j1gzp_rtrmadp_0_china-health-who-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>RT: Maria Van Kerkhove, Head a.i. Emerging Diseases and Zoonosis at the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks during a news conference on the situation of the coronavirus at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, January 29, 2020. Denis Balibouse | Reuters</figcaption></figure>



A top World Health Organization official said Tuesday that misinformation about Covid-19 and vaccines is keeping people from getting the shots, driving an increase in cases around the world.



“In the last four weeks or so, the amount of misinformation that is out there seems to be getting worse, and I think that’s really confusing for the general public,” Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead on Covid, said during a Q&amp;A livestreamed on the organization’s social media channels.



Misinformation has become another risk factor that is “really allowing the virus to thrive,” she said.



Public health leaders have blamed conspiracy theories and misinformation for growing distrust of the vaccines around the world — so much so that in July U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy&nbsp;declared Covid misinformation a “serious public threat.” 



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-calls-to-tackle-vaccine-hesitancy-as-african-union-drops-astrazeneca">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/24/who-says-covid-misinformation-is-a-major-factor-driving-pandemic-around-the-world.html">Calls to tackle vaccine hesitancy as African Union drops AstraZeneca</a></h3>



Misinformation has become a growing problem in the outbreak, fueling vaccine hesitancy among a wary public, health officials say. They hope that the Food and Drug Administration’s formal approval of&nbsp;Pfizer’s Covid vaccine, which was announced Monday, will help push some people who have been on the fence about getting immunized to get the shots.



Three in 10 unvaccinated Americans said they would be more likely to get the vaccine once it is FDA-approved, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey conducted July 15-27. Some medical experts worry that some unvaccinated Americans used the lack of full FDA approval as a credible explanation for their hesitancy and will now look for other reasons to refuse to get the vaccine.



Most unvaccinated Americans think the Covid vaccines are more of a threat to their health than contracting the virus itself, according to Kaiser’s&nbsp;data. Americans least likely to receive a Covid-19 vaccine are mostly white, Republican and less likely to have a college degree, according to Kaiser’s data.



Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said misinformation about the vaccine is “one of the biggest challenges that we still face in getting the public vaccinated.”



“We’ve heard false claims that the Covid-19 vaccine causes infertility, contains microchips and causes Covid-19,” Marks said. “And worse, we’ve heard false claims that thousands of people have died from the vaccine. Let me be clear: These claims are simply not true.”



Misinformation about alternative treatments for Covid-19 has gone so far that the FDA and the Mississippi State Health Department put out advisories over the weekend to warn Americans not to ingest animal de-wormer Ivermectin.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/here-are-7-of-the-biggest-coronavirus-vaccine-myths-busted-by-experts/">Here are 7 of the biggest coronavirus vaccine myths busted by experts</a></h3>



The director of the WHO’s Latin America branch, the Pan American Health Organization, made a personal appeal to residents of Caribbean countries to&nbsp;“wake up” from the slumber of misinformation&nbsp;spreading throughout the islands and get vaccinated.



Misinformation has plagued public school board meetings across the country as school districts weigh mask and vaccine mandates for children and staff returning for the upcoming school year. Parents and community residents have shown up to public school board meetings to lambast education and public health officials for considering mask mandates, and videos of residents citing unproven and false claims about Covid and vaccines have gone viral on social media.



Vaccination could help us get Covid&nbsp;under control&nbsp;by the spring, according to the chief medical advisor to the president, Dr. Anthony Fauci.



“I would like to appeal to the people in the country who are not vaccinated to realize that we have the capability among ourselves to essentially cut down the time frame to getting to the end of this pandemic,” Fauci said during a press briefing Tuesday.&nbsp;“Get vaccinated and the time frame will be truncated dramatically.”

106913619-16267937592020-01-29t000000z_1387970559_rc2spe9j1gzp_rtrmadp_0_china-health-who

WHO says Covid misinformation is a major factor driving pandemic around the world

<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>



The Food and Drug Administration on Monday granted full approval to Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine – becoming the first in the U.S. to win the coveted designation and giving even more businesses, schools and universities greater confidence to adopt vaccine mandates.



Up until now, the mRNA vaccine, which will be marketed as Comirnaty, was on the U.S. market under an emergency use authorization that was granted by the FDA in December. Since then, more than 204 million of the Pfizer shots have been administered, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.



Federal health officials had been under mounting pressure from the scientific community and advocacy groups to fully approve Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine ever since the drugmakers submitted their application to the agency in early May. The companies submitted a Biologics License Application, which secures full approval, to the FDA on May 7 for patients age 16 and up.



FDA scientists evaluated “hundreds of thousands of pages” of vaccine data from 40,000 trial participants, according to the U.S. agency. The vaccine was found to be 91% effective in preventing Covid – slightly lower than the 95% efficacy rate trial data showed when the shot was authorized late last year and before the delta variant took hold in the U.S.&nbsp;



Pfizer’s vaccine met the agency’s “high standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality,” acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said in a statement. “While millions of people have already safely received COVID-19 vaccines, we recognize that for some, the FDA approval of a vaccine may now instill additional confidence to get vaccinated.”



The FDA held a media briefing Monday morning to discuss the approval.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-u-s-fda-gearing-up-for-rapid-review-of-potential-covid-19-booster-shots">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/u-s-fda-gearing-up-for-rapid-review-of-potential-covid-19-booster-shots/">U.S. FDA gearing up for rapid review of potential COVID-19 booster shots</a></h3>



Although more than 60% of the total U.S. population has had at least one dose of a Covid vaccine, many Americans say they are still hesitant about getting vaccinated, even as the highly contagious delta variant spreads. Full approval may convince some Americans that the shots are safe, doctors and epidemiologists say. In fact, a survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation found 3 in 10 unvaccinated adults said they would be more likely to get vaccinated if one of the vaccines receives full approval.



Full approval is “more psychological than anything else,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a voting member of the agency’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee. “I mean you already have more than 320 million doses administered that are out there. The vaccines already have an enormous safety and efficacy profile.”



U.S. approval is also likely to spur a new wave of vaccine mandates from corporate America. Major companies – from Walt Disney to Walmart – have already told some or all of their employees that they must get fully vaccinated against Covid this fall. Still, some private businesses may have felt hesitant about requiring the shots, before full approval, even though they had the legal authority to do so, said Dorit Reiss, a professor of law at UC Hastings College of the Law.



The Pentagon said it would make vaccinations mandatory for service members “no later” than the middle of September, or sooner if the FDA grants full approval earlier.



“You’re going to see the empowerment of local enterprises, giving mandates that could be colleges, universities, places of business, a whole variety and I strongly support that,” White House chief medical officer Dr. Anthony Fauci said Aug 8, when asked about full approval of the vaccines. “The time has come. &#8230; We’ve got to go the extra step to get people vaccinated.”



Pfizer’s shot is the first Covid vaccine to receive full regulatory approval in the U.S. Federal regulators had previously said they would work as quickly as possible to clear Pfizer’s vaccines.



The vaccine is still under emergency use authorization for children 12 to 15 as the company continues to collect data. Dr. Peter Marks, the FDA’s top vaccine regulator, said Monday the agency would move as “swiftly” as possible on approving the shot for kids under 12 once the company submits the data.



“Currently, there are still trials ongoing and so the agency has to wait for the company to submit the data for those trials,” he said during a briefing. “We certainly want to make sure that we get it right.”



Marks also addressed misinformation about the shot, including that it contains microchips and causes infertility.



“We’ve heard false claims that the Covid-19 vaccine causes infertility, contains microchips and causes Covid-19. And worse, we’ve heard false claims that thousands of people have died from the vaccine,” he said. “Let me be clear: these claims are simply not true.”



Standard vaccine reviews generally take several months to a year or more to determine whether they are safe and effective for use in the general public. But due to the pandemic, which has killed more than 628,000 Americans, the FDA permitted the use of the shots under an EUA.



In a public health emergency, the manufacturing and approval of vaccines can be streamlined through emergency authorizations. Former Health Secretary Alex Azar declared a public health emergency on Jan. 31, 2020. The health emergency has been renewed several times, most recently in late July. The FDA allowed the use of the shots with just two months of safety data under an EUA. It’s not the same as a Biologic License Application, or a request for full approval, which requires at least six months of data.



Before granting full approval, FDA scientists must painstakingly look through the companies’ clinical trial data, including for any discrepancies or safety concerns, said Offit, who is also director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/pfizer-submits-data-to-fda-for-authorization-of-covid-vaccine-booster-shot-for-general-population/">Pfizer submits data to FDA for authorization of Covid vaccine booster shot for general population</a></h3>



It’s a lot of data, Offit said. He previously said when Merck submitted its data from its 70,000-person rotavirus vaccine trial, the pages that were generated could have exceeded the height of the Sears Tower — a 1,450-foot skyscraper in Chicago that’s now known as Willis Tower.



“The FDA will do what it thinks it needs to do to make sure that the American public is safe,” he said.



Full approval is also very beneficial to companies that submit an application, former FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf said in a phone interview in May.



With it, Pfizer and BioNTech are now able to market the shots directly to U.S. consumers. Companies can’t promote their products under an EUA, he said. It also allows the shot to stay on the market once the pandemic is over and the U.S. is no longer considered in an “emergency.”



“The vaccines will still have to be administered under the supervision of a professional who’s qualified,” Califf said. “It’s not like they can send the vaccines to people’s homes. However, they can advertise on TV and promote their products under the watchful eye of the FDA.”



Pfizer and BioNTech have said they expect to generate billions from the vaccine. Under full approval, the companies could also decide to charge more for the vaccines, health experts say.



The companies have already raised the price of their vaccine in the European Union, according to the Financial Times. They are now charging $23 per dose, up from their previous price of $18.40, according to the report.



Pfizer and BioNTech also plan to ask the FDA to approve a third dose as a booster shot following full approval. Last week, the Biden administration said it was preparing to offer booster shots to all eligible Americans beginning the week of Sept. 20.



– CNBC’s Rich Mendez contributed to this report.

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

FDA grants full approval to Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid shot, clearing path to more vaccine mandates

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="518" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/LUK6X5R5MFKNJAT34QFMHY2PBA-820x518.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-411609" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/LUK6X5R5MFKNJAT34QFMHY2PBA-820x518.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/LUK6X5R5MFKNJAT34QFMHY2PBA-300x190.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/LUK6X5R5MFKNJAT34QFMHY2PBA-142x90.jpg 142w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/LUK6X5R5MFKNJAT34QFMHY2PBA-768x486.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/LUK6X5R5MFKNJAT34QFMHY2PBA.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>People queue outside a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination centre as the country opens vaccinations for everyone 18 years old and above in Cape Town, South Africa, August 20, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Aug 20 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africans formed queues hundreds of metres long to get their COVID-19 shots on Friday, after the government made vaccinations available to all adults in order to hasten a rollout beset by challenges and delays.



South Africa has been battered by three coronavirus waves, infecting at least 2.65 million people, killing 78,000 &#8211; by far the continent&#8217;s worst toll &#8211; and pummelling an already struggling economy with lockdowns and travel restrictions.



<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/south-africa-to-open-up-covid-19-vaccinations-to-18-35-year-olds-from-friday/">On Friday, authorities opened up vaccinations to 18 to 35 year-olds</a>. About 8% of South Africa&#8217;s population of 60 million is fully vaccinated, and 14% have received one shot.



&#8220;I just wanted to get it out the way. I&#8217;ve been waiting so long for it,&#8221; 23-year-old medical student Lisa Heyneke said, shortly after receiving her shot in Johannesburg.



South Africa&#8217;s campaign got off to a slow start, owing to bureaucratic hiccups, a failure to start early talks with pharmaceutical companies, and bad luck &#8211; it ditched a million AstraZeneca shots on evidence they may not work against its dominant variant, only for that evidence to be later overturned.



Like other African countries, it also been at the back of a queue favouring rich Western nations.



At Cape Town&#8217;s convention centre, the line of people was a mile long, while dozens of cars queued at a drive vaccination venue at converted car racing track in north Johannesburg.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-south-africa-targets-35-mln-people-vaccinated-against-covid-19-by-christmas">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/south-africa-targets-35-mln-people-vaccinated-against-covid-19-by-christmas/">South Africa targets 35 mln people vaccinated against COVID-19 by Christmas</a></h3>



Challenges remain such as vaccine hesitancy and the difficulty of getting vaccines out to remote areas, Mary Kawonga, chair of the COVID-19 Advisory committee for Gauteng, the province around Johannesburg, told Reuters at the venue.



On Thursday, a Johannesburg University survey showed vaccine acceptance improving to nearly three quarters of the population last month, compared with two thirds at the start of the year.



Donald Mgimeti, 45, was initially unsure. Then, in May, he was shocked by the death of a friend from COVID-19.



&#8220;It made me realise how serious this is,&#8221; he said, rolling down his sleeves after his jab.



(Additional reporting by Mike Hutchings in Cape Town Editing by Raisa Kasolowsky)

LUK6X5R5MFKNJAT34QFMHY2PBA

South Africans form long queues as COVID-19 jabs opened to all adults

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GettyImages-1229611954-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-392210" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GettyImages-1229611954-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GettyImages-1229611954-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GettyImages-1229611954-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GettyImages-1229611954-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GettyImages-1229611954-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GettyImages-1229611954-1110x740.jpg 1110w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>BRAZIL &#8211; 2020/11/13: In this photo illustration a medical syringe is seen with Johnson and Johnson company logo displayed on a screen in the background. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



BRUSSELS, Aug 19 (Reuters) &#8211; The European Commission said on Thursday it had reached a temporary agreement with South Africa to use a plant there to bottle Johnson &amp; Johnson COVID-19 vaccines that are being imported into the EU.



The deal highlights the complexity of producing vaccines with factories spread across the world and is likely to stir concerns about drugmakers&#8217; power in negotiating supply deals with countries.



On Wednesday the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters he was &#8220;stunned&#8221; by news that J&amp;J vaccines were being exported from South Africa to the EU, because the EU has already very high vaccination rates while in many African countries not even the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.



A spokesperson for the European Commission told reporters on Thursday the agreement with South Africa was reached after J&amp;J faced problems in producing vaccines in the United States at a factory belonging to its partner Emergent Biosolutions.



Under the deal, Aspen Pharmacare bottles the vaccine substance produced elsewhere, and then transfers the finished doses to South Africa and the EU.



<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>



A J&amp;J factory in Leiden, in the Netherlands, is a major producer of its vaccine substance for COVID-19 shots worldwide.



From September, J&amp;J will transfer all bottling operations for vaccines directed to the EU to Leiden, the EU spokesperson said.



J&amp;J was not immediately available for a comment.



The news of South Africa&#8217;s exports of vaccines to the EU was reported by the New York Times on Monday, confirming earlier public statements from South Africa&#8217;s President Cyril Ramaphosa and from the South African drugmaker Aspen Pharmacare, which bottles the J&amp;J vaccines.



The paper cited a confidential contract between J&amp;J and South Africa&#8217;s government and said the deal prevented the country, against its will, from imposing restrictions on vaccine exports.



Under its contract with the EU, J&amp;J had also negotiated a complex supply chain that involved U.S.-based firms despite opposition from EU countries, EU internal documents seen by Reuters show.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-closing-the-circle">CLOSING THE CIRCLE?</h2>



On Thursday the WHO softened its remarks on EU-South Africa deal. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, told a news conference the arrangement was &#8220;presumably&#8221; part of the investment in the development and production of vaccines in Africa.



The EU is leading global investments to create vaccine &#8220;hubs&#8221; in Africa, including South Africa and Senegal, to increase the continent&#8217;s ability to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/south-africa-study-shows-high-covid-protection-from-jj-vaccine/">South Africa study shows high COVID protection from J&amp;J vaccine</a></h3>



The Aspen plant does not appear among the manufacturing sites approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for J&amp;J vaccines, meaning the shots cannot be used in the EU, although they may be re-exported.



EMA was not immediately available for a comment.



The EU Commission did not respond to questions about what EU countries will do with J&amp;J doses imported from South Africa. EU nations are the owners of vaccines and decide how to use them.



Public EU data show that J&amp;J has delivered as of Thursday 21.5 million doses to the EU. It was supposed to ship 55 million already by the end of June.



Of the delivered doses, only 12.9 millions, or about 60%, have been administered in the EU, public data show, by far the lowest take-up among all EU-approved vaccines, which have a usage rate of at least 75%, and above 90% for the Pfizer/BioNTech shot.



Many EU countries have stopped using J&amp;J over health concerns. The EU has promised to donate at least 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to poorer nations, mostly in Africa, by the end of the year. 



(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; additional reporting by Promit Mukherjee in Johannesburg, Maggie Fick in Nairobi, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva and Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt; editing by David Evans)

In this photo illustration a medical syringe is seen with

EU says import of J&J COVID vaccines from South Africa is temporary

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106843911-16140302242021-02-22t201519z_231587328_rc2wxl98dvc9_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-usa-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-411479" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106843911-16140302242021-02-22t201519z_231587328_rc2wxl98dvc9_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-usa-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106843911-16140302242021-02-22t201519z_231587328_rc2wxl98dvc9_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-usa-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106843911-16140302242021-02-22t201519z_231587328_rc2wxl98dvc9_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-usa-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106843911-16140302242021-02-22t201519z_231587328_rc2wxl98dvc9_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-usa-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106843911-16140302242021-02-22t201519z_231587328_rc2wxl98dvc9_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-usa-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106843911-16140302242021-02-22t201519z_231587328_rc2wxl98dvc9_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-usa.jpeg 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Photo: via CNBC</figcaption></figure>



Pfizer and BioNTech said Monday they have submitted early stage clinical trial data to the Food and Drug Administration as part of their U.S. application seeking authorization of a Covid vaccine booster for everyone 16 and older — not just people with weak immune systems.



In a phase one trial, a booster dose of the vaccine generated “significantly higher neutralizing antibodies” against the original coronavirus strain as well as the beta and delta variants, the companies said in a press release. Participants in the trial received a third shot of the two-dose vaccine about eight to nine months after receiving their second shot, they said.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-u-s-fda-gearing-up-for-rapid-review-of-potential-covid-19-booster-shots">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/u-s-fda-gearing-up-for-rapid-review-of-potential-covid-19-booster-shots/">U.S. FDA gearing up for rapid review of potential COVID-19 booster shots</a></h3>



“The data we’ve seen to date suggest a third dose of our vaccine elicits antibody levels that significantly exceed those seen after the two-dose primary schedule,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement. “We are pleased to submit these data to the FDA as we continue working together to address the evolving challenges of this pandemic.”



The companies said late-stage trial results evaluating the third dose are expected shortly and will also be submitted to the FDA and other regulatory authorities worldwide.



The announcement from the drugmakers comes after federal health officials Friday approved administering Covid booster shots of Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines to Americans with weakened immune systems, which includes cancer and HIV patients and people who have had organ transplants.



U.S. new data suggests immune-compromised individuals don’t produce an adequate immune response after receiving two doses of a Covid vaccine.



Pfizer’s latest data looks at the booster’s safety and immune response in people with otherwise healthy immune systems.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/fda-advisory-panel-to-review-johnson-johnson-covid-19-vaccine-with-thumbs-up-expected/">FDA advisory panel to review Johnson &amp; Johnson COVID-19 vaccine with thumbs up expected</a></h3>



Federal health officials aren’t recommending booster doses for the general public at this time, but White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci has said everyone will “likely” need a booster shot at some point .



Covid vaccine makers, including Pfizer and Moderna, have repeatedly contended that everyone will eventually need a booster shot and potentially extra doses every year, just like for the seasonal flu.



Pfizer has cited data out of Israel, where country officials said last month the two-dose vaccine was just 39% effective against getting the disease, blaming the drop in performance on the highly contagious delta variant. When Pfizer submitted its original application to the FDA in December, it said its shots were about 95% effective in preventing Covid infections.



The vaccine is still considered highly effective against severe disease, hospitalizations and deaths, according to Israeli health officials.

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