For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Thabi Madiba.

Making headlines: South Africa to host vaccine technology transfer hub; Gauteng records 69% of new Covid-19 cases in the country; And, World Bank announces partnership to fast-track vaccine acquisition in Africa

 

South Africa to host vaccine technology transfer hub

South Africa has welcomed the opportunity to host a vaccine technology transfer hub and to build on the capacity and expertise that already exists on the continent as Africa struggles to obtain Covid-19 vaccine doses.

President Cyril Ramaphosa welcomed the establishment of the first messenger RNA technology transfer hub for Covid-19 vaccines in South Africa in a briefing held with French President Emmanuel Macron and World Health Organisation director-general Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus.

Ramaphosa said that the ability to manufacture vaccines, medicines and other health-related commodities on the continent would help put Africa on a path to self-determination.

 

Gauteng records 69% of new Covid-19 cases in the country

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases said almost a quarter of the 36 858 Covid-19 tests conducted in the last 24 hours were positive.

The NICD said 9 160 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed, with 69% in Gauteng. Hospital admissions increased by 341 in the past 24 hours.

At the time of the update, 9 503 people were in hospital for treatment associated with the virus.

A further 93 Covid-19 related deaths were reported, bringing the total fatalities to 58 795.

 

And, World Bank announces partnership to fast-track vaccine acquisition in Africa

The World Bank and the African Union have announced a partnership to fast track vaccine acquisition on the continent and avoid a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Africa is seeing a surge in Covid-19 cases, an increase driven by new variants of the virus and slow vaccination rates.

The new partnership will support the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team initiative with resources to allow countries to purchase and deploy vaccines for up to 400-million people across Africa. 

This will also boost the AU’s target to vaccinate 60% of the continent’s population by 2022.

 

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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