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This year marks the 40th anniversary of the International Code for the Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. This was a landmark policy framework designed to stop commercial interests from discouraging breastfeeding and hence endangering the health and nutrition of the world’s infants and young children. It was driven by research that showed human milk can meet […]
Spry and gray-haired, many dressed in their Sunday best or colorful African prints—and all sporting masks—dozens of South Africans aged 60 and over gathered at a government health clinic outside Johannesburg to get their COVID-19 shots. Some looked at vaccine notifications on their mobile phones, others clutched pieces of paper, as the line moved along […]
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Research by South African scientists suggests that antibodies triggered by exposure to the country’s dominant coronavirus variant can prevent infection by other versions of the virus, the scientists said on Wednesday. The findings in laboratory studies offer hope that COVID-19 vaccines based on the B.1.351 (also known as 20H/501Y.V2) variant first identified […]
South Africa suspended the start of its AstraZeneca inoculation programme over concerns the shot does not work on a new variant, with WHO experts due to meet Monday to discuss the vaccine already facing questions about its efficacy for over-65s. A trial showed the vaccine provides only “minimal” protection against mild to moderate COVID-19 caused […]
News that the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine has shown about 60% efficacy on HIV-positive patients and that it seems to work against the variant of the virus now dominant in South Africa is being welcomed with relief in the country, but further studies are urged. Results from a small Novavax Inc. study in South Africa suggest […]
South Africa’s COVID-19 spike has taken the country to more than 1 million confirmed cases on Sunday and President Cyril Ramaphosa called an emergency meeting of the National Coronavirus Command Council. The country’s new variant of the coronavirus, 501.V2, is more contagious and has quickly become dominant in many areas of the resurgence, according to […]
South Korea ramped up coronavirus restrictions on Sunday to try to contain a growing outbreak, as many countries around the world battled worrying surges in infections. The pandemic has killed more than 800,000 people globally, and continues to unleash destruction with areas such as Western Europe detecting spikes in infections not seen for many months. […]
South Africa will launch clinical trials of a US-developed coronavirus vaccine with 2,900 volunteers this week, the second such study in the African country worst hit by the disease, lead investigator Shabir Madhi said Tuesday. Known as NVX-CoV2373, the vaccine was developed by US biotech company Novavax from the genetic sequence of SARS?CoV?2, the virus […]
The COVID-19-related hesitancy to seek medical care at a hospital may be disproportionately affecting African American stroke patients, according to new research published today in Stroke. In the study, “African Americans are Less Likely to Present with Strokes During COVID-19 Pandemic—Observations from the Stroke Belt,” neurology specialists in South Carolina analyzed trends in interactive videoconferencing […]
Ten days after South Africa reported its first case of COVID-19 on 5 March 2020, the government moved quickly to declare a national state of disaster. Within days a National Coronavirus Command Council had been formed, travel restrictions imposed and schools closed. A national lockdown was announced on 23 March. This remains in force though […]