Inside Covid-19: Wits gets second global vaccine trial – this time Novavax; Vitality enhancements for over 65s. Ep 73

In Episode 73 of Inside Covid-19 there’s a focus on vaccines – first with Wits professor Shabir Madhi whose unit was selected by US drug company Novavax to run a critical 2b trial of its coronavirus vaccine. Courtesy of a $15m donation from the Gates Foundation, Wits will conduct a 2,900 person trial of the Novavax vaccine; it began a similar trial for the promising Oxford University vaccine seven weeks ago. We’ll also hear from our partners at Bloomberg why the civilized world isn’t banking on Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine which was announced last week. Also tonight, Discovery’s Vitality creates fresh incentives to encourage its 65-plus members to adopt lifestyle habits to better prepare them in the fight against Covid-19. – Alec Hogg

In today’s Covid-19 headlines:

• South Africa’s Wits University added a second global vaccine trial today as is called for 2,900 volunteers to assist in testing the Novavax drug. Seven weeks ago, Wits started the local trial of the Oxford University vaccine. US-based Novavax said it selected South Africa for what it calls “this important Phase 2b clinical trial” because it has been one of the hardest hit countries. The company says the Wits trial has the potential to provide an early indication of the vaccine’s efficacy along with additional data. Lots more on this fascinating story coming up with our in-depth interview with the vaccine trial leader, Wits Prof Shabir Madhi, who was quoted in the Wall Street Journal this afternoon saying the trial will generate evidence of how the vaccine would work in the African context.
• While the search for a Covid-19 vaccine intensifies, South African infections continue to fall with active cases dropping to barely 100,000 on Sunday down sharply from the peak of 175,000 at the end of last month. This is the lowest number of active infections since July 5, and sees South Africa drop further down the global list, from a recent 4^th place to the current 10^th. The country is also 10^th on new daily infections; 7^th on daily deaths and 13^th on total mortalities, at 11,839. Globally, the total number of new cases has edged up recently and after escalating sharply between March and end June, has been steady around 250,000 a day for the past month and a half. A total of 22m people have been infected with the virus; 14.6m of whom have recovered and 775,000 died.