Flash Briefing: AU secures 300 million vaccines; medical aid schemes and vaccination in SA; Brazil’s trial manipulation

By Melani Nathan 

• The African Union secured almost 300 million Covid-19 vaccine doses for the continent outside of the Covax programme. This is a step toward starting to inoculate more than 1.2 billion people with limited logistical and financial resources. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is also the AU chairman, is expected to give more detail on the vaccines, according to Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, deputy director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
• With South Africa in the eye of the Covid-19 storm, the pressure is on government to secure vaccines for mass vaccination. Earlier this week, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the roll out of vaccines would be in 3 phases, starting with health workers and moving on to people in crowded conditions, including prisons. BizNews asks the question: Where do the individuals on private medical schemes fit in to this schedule? Dr Lungi Nyathi, Managing Executive for Clinical risk and Advisory at Medscheme – part of the Afrocentric Group which has about 15 schemes and 4m people in its net answers that question and more. – Visit BizNews.com.
• According to The Wall Street Journal, SA’s BRICS partner China is NOT likely to be a credible supplier. BizNews’ content partner examines the World Health Organisation’s practice of approving vaccines which are merely 50% effective and how the Brazilian government’s institute, which tested the Chinese vaccine’s efficacy manipulated results to engineer a 78% success ratio. That was only corrected to 50% after other scientists challenged the process. Become a BizNews Premium subscriber and you will have full membership of WSJ.com to read this story and others.

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