Free State Health MEC Montseng Tsiu on Wednesday received the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. The buoyant Tsiu, who is a professional nurse, took the vaccine alongside Dr David Motau, who is the Head of the Department of Health in the Free State. “MEC Tsiu and HOD, Dr Motau, felt the need to take the […]

The South African government halted the roll-out of the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine this week following a study led by Wits vaccinologist Shabir Madhi, which found that it did not protect against mild to moderate Covid-19 in a local trial on account of the variant of the virus, 501Y.V2, that is dominant here. A pre-print of […]

Size does count, and the Covid-19 pandemic has confirmed it. Thanks to the networks of scientists across the world who are running big clinical trials, we can better decide which medicines should be used. Large well-designed clinical trials show us which medicines work and which don’t against Covid-19. The trials of ivermectin have been poorly […]

The South African Government will go ahead with its planned phase one of vaccination, targeting healthcare workers – using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine instead of an AstraZeneca jab. Updating the country on the latest developments, Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, said the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been proven effective against 501Y.V2, while necessary […]

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is expected to decide on the emergency use listing of the AstraZeneca vaccine, for the two sites in India and the Republic of Korea, which will produce it for COVAX. The announcement comes after results showed that the two-dose regimen of the University of Oxford’s AstraZeneca vaccine offers minimal protection […]

In a promising sign that a corner has been turned, South Africa has recorded its lowest number of new coronavirus infections in a 24-hour period, since November 2020. The number of new cases – 1 379 – represents a 9% positivity rate as positive cases continue to decrease. There have now been 1 477 511 […]

The Western Cape province will officially begin its COVID-19 vaccine rollout programme by no later than Monday 15 February, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde announced in a statement. “We anticipate delivery of the Western Cape’s share of South Africa’s first batch of vaccines at our Cape Medical Depot within the next 5 to 10 days […]

The novel Coronavirus has claimed more than 45 000 lives since the first case was reported in March last year. This is after 398 more COVID-19 related deaths were reported on Wednesday, pushing the death toll to 45 344. Of the latest fatalities, 138 are from KwaZulu-Natal, 97 in Gauteng, 67 in the Western Cape, 46 in […]

The first shipment of one million doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine for South Africa is officially on its way to SA. The South African Government today posted photos of the shipment, from Serum Institute of India (SII), as it left the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, India, on Sunday. The Government posted […]

In June 2020, the first Ivermectin news that received public attention was a report that Ivermectin inhibited the replication of SARS-COV-2 in monkey kidney cells (1)… writes Justin Ward. This sparked considerable interest in the drug and over the next six months, many studies were completed including randomized controlled trials (RCT) as well as prospective […]

“Emotionally, we are not coping. Seeing death at this rate every day is not normal,” says Mosima Doreen Mabeba, a nurse working in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a provincial hospital in Limpopo. Many health professionals are battling to cope emotionally with the surge in Covid-19 cases. Some feel they are not getting adequate […]

Late last year the Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa (NGS-SA) led by the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP) identified a rapidly spreading new variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The new variant, called 501Y.V2, raises critical questions – including whether current vaccines and treatments will still be effective. With […]

A doctor in the Eastern Cape has developed a relatively simple device that could save the lives of many! The local doctor from Frere Provincial Hospital will be featured on Carte Blanche this Sunday. Presenter Derek Watts says: “While South Africa focuses primarily on the vaccine rollout, another vital element – oxygen – is somewhat […]

South Africa’s COVID-19 death toll has topped 30 000 after 434 people sadly succumbed to the respiratory disease in the last 24 hours. According to Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, this brings the cumulative number of COVID-19 related deaths to 30 011 since the outbreak. Of the latest fatalities, 133 were recorded in the Eastern Cape, […]

“We call on the Department of Health to act urgently, transparently and decisively now to obtain vaccines and to implement vaccination, so as to reduce death and illness, and bring the pandemic under control.” So reads a letter started by Professor Heather Zar, a leading public sector paediatrician at Cape Town’s Red Cross Childrens Hospital […]

In South Africa’s latest Covid-19 update on Friday night, Health Minister Dr Zwelini Mkhize revealed that with 16,726 new cases reported on New Year’s Day, this represents a positivity rate of 33.4 %, SA’s highest daily positivity rate. Dr Mkhize said in a statement on 1 January 2021: “As of today, the total number of […]

South Africa has as of Wednesday recorded a staggering 17 710 new cases – bringing the country’s cumulative total of COVID-19 cases to 1 039 161, indicating a positivity rate of 33%. Several experts appeared on SABC this morning to discuss the status quo and the vaccine rollout. (Watch below.) “The positivity rate, being an […]

A new cohort of health workers is set to assist South Africa’s already constrained health system that is in the throes of a second COVID-19 wave, at the start of the New Year. Expressing concern by the rising numbers of healthcare professionals becoming infected with COVID-19, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced that the Department of […]

South Africa has breached the one million mark of COVID-19 cases in South Africa, after 9 502 new cases were reported on Sunday, bringing the cumulative total to 1 004 413 cases. A total of 214 COVID-19 related deaths were reported, with 123 in the Eastern Cape, 17 in Gauteng, 13 in KwaZulu-Natal, five in […]

The World AIDS Day commemoration of 2020 took place in the midst of a global pandemic. It served as another reminder that people are not only susceptible to pathogens, but to the political, social and economic inequities that determine vulnerability to infections. HIV remains a major global public health challenge and COVID-19 has added to […]

The South African government may have to review current lockdown restrictions and consider further measures to curb the exponential spread of the COVID-19 virus, says Health Minister, Dr Zwelini Mkhize. He warned that within days the number of daily positive cases recorded in SA will surpass that of the peak during the first wave. The […]

Only a massive global rollout of an effective vaccine can end the Covid-19 pandemic in the short term. The vaccine is being rolled out in the United Kingdom and United States. It’s expected to become available in Europe imminently. This is where things stand in South Africa. The Department of Health is playing its cards […]

The novel Coronavirus continues to spread rapidly amid the second wave of infections, with the country recording another 9 131 confirmed cases in the last 24 hours. This is after South Africa topped the 10 000 mark of new cases on Wednesday — for the first time since August. Meanwhile, 184 people succumbed to the respiratory […]

Epidemiologist and Chair of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 in South Africa, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, has been awarded the 2020 John Maddox Prize. Prof Karim was named joint winner with Dr Anthony Fauci from the US. President Cyril Ramaphosa was one of the first to congratulate Prof Karim, saying: “It is an honour […]

With some viruses, once you have been infected and have developed antibodies, you will be immune to that virus for life. Past infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, does not, as far as is known at this stage, guarantee protection against future infections. It’s not absolutely clear whether this virus may become dormant […]