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covid 19 vaccineslatest news & developments

UK eyes up Covid-19 vaccine donations to slash £140m of foreign aid

The UK is set to count its excess Covid-19 vaccines as part of its aid budget, taking money away from other projects

File photo by Madelene Cronjé

Children between 12 and 17 are now eligible for second vaccine shot

Those 12 years and older who are severely immunocompromised can get a Pfizer booster dose at least 28 days after their second jab

Citizens receive Covid-19 vaccine at the Gautrain Sandton Station pop-up vaccination site on September 10, 2021 in Johannesburg, South Africa.  According to reports Gauteng health department has instituted Covid-19 pop-up vaccination sites to meet the demand and to reach as many people as possible. (Photo by Sharon Seretlo/Gallo Images via Getty Images)

Covid-19 vaccines still protect against severe illness from the Omicron variant

The vast majority of hospital admissions in Gauteng are of unvaccinated people, data from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases shows

The US and South African medicines regulators have faced legal challenges regarding information used to review and approve Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine. (Guillem Sartorio/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

New Covid-19 variant is a concern as cases show a sharp increase in Gauteng

Some 22 positive cases of the B.1.1.529 variant have been confirmed in South Africa, as Covid-19 cases increase in Gauteng, the North West and Limpopo

The ABCs of DIY vaccines: Why tech transfer is a big thing

A new World Health Organisation initiative is helping nations make their own vaccines, reducing their dependency on imports.

Activists from Fix The Patent Laws Campaign shout slogans while holding crosses and a ceremonial coffin during their march to urge the government to reform the intellectual property laws to enable improved access to many medicines for Covid-19 coronavirus, cancer, mental health, Tuberculosis (TB) and other illnesses in Pretoria. (Photo by Phill Magakoe / AFP)

Campaign against patent laws ‘causing barriers’ to life saving Covid-19, TB, HIV and cancer drugs

The Fix The Patent Laws Campaign wants Trade Minister Ebrahim Patel to publish amendments to the Patent Act to make all medication affordable

If ivermectin had dramatic results in combating Covid-19, it should perform well in any well-conducted, unbiased scientific study, but this is not the case. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Advocates for ivermectin use severely flawed data

If ivermectin had dramatic results in combating Covid-19, it should perform well in any well-conducted, unbiased scientific study, but this is not the case

Mandatory vaccination involves, at a glance, the constitutional rights to bodily integrity, privacy, to protection against unfair discrimination and to freedom of thought, religion, conscience and opinion. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Covid-19 vaccine mandates: A constitutional balancing act

South Africa’s laws allow the government to implement mandatory Covid vaccinations but, if it chooses this path, it must do so responsibly

Local residents wearing protective face masks wait at a bus stop in the Imizamo Yethu township area of Hout Bay, in Cape Town, South Africa, on Friday, July 24, 2020. South Africas surging coronavirus infections and the resumption of rolling blackouts are clouding the outlook for the economy. Photographer: Dwayne Senior/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Restrictions eased as South Africa moves to lockdown level 2

As national lockdown regulations ease, President Cyril Ramaphosa urges South Africans to vaccinate

Security companies, community policing forums and the police have drawn up contingency plans to stop looting and public violence. (Guillem Sartorio/AFP)

Vax passports: Business takes cues from government

The private sector, labour and government have been thrashing out ways to increase vaccinations and to restart the economy

Vaccine hesitancy, inequality hinder SA’s vaccine roll-out

‘Red light’ as numbers getting vaccinated dips because most don’t people don’t have medical aid or are victims of misinformation — and health department needs to ‘improve user…

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Born before 1986? Here’s how to get a Covid vaccine without an appointment

We look at who can get a Covid vaccine under phase two of South Africa’s national roll-out, what happens when you walk into a site and how the cost of shots are covered

South Africa’s vaccine roll-out is happening – slowly. Only 3% of eligible adults have been fully vaccinated. KwaZulu-Natal is leading the pack with the Eastern Cape hot on its heels. (Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Covid-19 vaccinations: How are the provinces doing?

South Africa’s vaccine roll-out is happening – slowly. Only 3% of eligible adults have been fully vaccinated. KwaZulu-Natal is leading the pack with the Eastern Cape hot on its…

Minister of Police Bheki Cele receives a dose of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine administered by a healthcare worker during their vaccination drive at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto on July 5, 2021. (Photo by Phill Magakoe / AFP)

Police bosses get their Covid-19 jabs as countrywide roll-out broadens

Police minister Bheki Cele and national commissioner Khehla Sitole receive their Covid-19 vaccines as inoculation starts for law enforcement

The US and South African medicines regulators have faced legal challenges regarding information used to review and approve Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine. (Guillem Sartorio/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

South Africa not yet at risk from newly emerged ‘Delta Plus’ mutation, say scientists

Scientists are collecting information on the new Delta Plus Covid-19 mutation, a sublineage of the Delta variant that is causing infections to rise globally

The US and South African medicines regulators have faced legal challenges regarding information used to review and approve Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine. (Guillem Sartorio/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Rise of the variants: What you need to know about the Delta variant in SA

SA’s lockdown regulations are tightening to better curb the spread of Covid-19, amid concerns that the Delta variant could drive a surge of infections

A local analysis found early evidence of promising protective effects of the Pfizer vaccine in South Africa — even among those who had received only  one dose. (Photo by Dinendra Haria/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The EVDS will schedule your appointments six weeks apart. Here’s why

South Africa has doubled the interval for the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. We take a look at what other countries have done and the evidence for the move

As South Africa’s Covid infections surge, the number of jabs can’t increase, yet

Hospitals are under strain, nurses are burning out and infections are on the rise, but there are limited Covid-19 vaccine doses available

A nurse draws the Pfizer vaccine from a vial at the Hillbrow Community Health Centre. The government’s electronic vaccination data system excludes those who cannot register online to receive the vaccine. (Photograph by Ihsaan Haffejee)

Blinded by the glow of the ‘First World’ gaze

The government’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout plan blatantly ignores the realities of life for the majority of South Africans. Sadly, this lack of insight and sense was to be expected

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How to vax a nation – A dummy’s guide to getting a Covid jab

You can only get in line for a Covid-19 vaccine if you register. Here’s how to do it