Health

Most of Africa won't have new Covid-19 vaccines for a year – Quartz Africa

Published

4 years ago

August 8, 2020

Researchers have been warning for months that production constraints and hoarding could limit Covid-19 vaccine supplies. For most of Africa, this may mean not having access to the vaccines for up to a year after approval.

With the EU recently joining the scramble for potential Covid-19 vaccine and securing 300 million doses, this is becoming more likely.

Several wealthy countries have already negotiated bilateral deals with Covid-19 vaccine developers to secure vaccines for their citizens. The US has secured 100 million doses of a potential vaccine and the UK 90 million doses. While Brazil has a deal for 100 million doses, the country and other top emerging economies such as India, China, and Russia are making their vaccines. Though a Covid-19 vaccine trial is going on in South Africa there is no primary vaccine development currently in Africa.

Several stakeholders including the WHO have called for equitable access future Covid-19 vaccine in Africa. “Too often, African countries end up at the back of the queue for new technologies, including vaccines. These life-saving products must be available to everyone, not only those who can afford to pay”, says Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.

Though several pharmaceutical companies have made deal with governments and private funders to ramp up their vaccine production capacity and mass-produce Covid-19 vaccine in advance, not all of the vaccine candidates will be successful.

Currently, there are about ten Covid-19 vaccines on clinical trials but a study shows that the probabilities of success of clinical trials for an industry-sponsored vaccine program is 39.6%.

By the time successful vaccines are approved, they will become the most sought after medicine, requiring billions of doses to be made available quickly. But researchers are saying scaling up manufacturing quickly will be a big challenge due to inadequate funding and the diversity of the vaccine types being developed—hence the needed infrastructure.

As wealthy nations scramble for Covid-19 vaccine crowding out poorer countries, there are concerns that history is being repeated. During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, wealthy countries likewise scrambled for and hoarded vaccines. As a result, it took one year after vaccine approval for all 34 African countries that qualified for vaccine donation to receive it.

The recent show of “treatment nationalism” by the US, the UK, and India give a glimpse of what to expect with Covid-19 vaccines. The US bought the global supply of Remdesivir, the UK banned the export of Dexamethasone and India the export of Hydroxychloroquine—all these drugs have been reported as a treatment for COVID-19.

Most African countries have relied on WHO to assess vaccines. WHO funded two-thirds of the 2009 H1N1 vaccines that it delivered to Sub-Saharan Africa during the last pandemic but during the Ebola outbreak the organization was slow to respond due to lack of funds. This year the WHO division-leading the global Covid-19 response was found to be “chronically” underfunded.

However, the WHO is collaborating with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to ensure equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines through the COVAX Facilities.

The COVAX Facility, a mechanism for countries to pool buying power and collectively secure several vaccines gives African countries a chance for early access to vaccines. Under this facility, 300 million doses of potential vaccine have been secured—a relative a small amount. However, only Botswana, Mauritius, and Seychelles in Africa have shown interest publicly to purchase vaccines through the facility with their funds.

Though about 37 African countries are eligible for the Advance Market Commitment (AMC)—a mechanism within the facility that will support poor countries with vaccines, the number of doses that will be available is dependent on donations or development assistance. The AMC has so far raised only $600 million against an initial target of $2 billion to secure doses for 92 economies.

Locals barriers such as insecurity, lack of vaccine cold storages, large disenfranchised populations that usually hinder quick access to vaccines in Africa still exists and will affect Covid-19 vaccine access.

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Health

B.C. mayors seek ‘immediate action’ from federal government on mental health crisis

Published

12 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

VANCOUVER – Mayors and other leaders from several British Columbia communities say the provincial and federal governments need to take “immediate action” to tackle mental health and public safety issues that have reached crisis levels.

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim says it’s become “abundantly clear” that mental health and addiction issues and public safety have caused crises that are “gripping” Vancouver, and he and other politicians, First Nations leaders and law enforcement officials are pleading for federal and provincial help.

In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier David Eby, mayors say there are “three critical fronts” that require action including “mandatory care” for people with severe mental health and addiction issues.

The letter says senior governments also need to bring in “meaningful bail reform” for repeat offenders, and the federal government must improve policing at Metro Vancouver ports to stop illicit drugs from coming in and stolen vehicles from being exported.

Sim says the “current system” has failed British Columbians, and the number of people dealing with severe mental health and addiction issues due to lack of proper care has “reached a critical point.”

Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer says repeat violent offenders are too often released on bail due to a “revolving door of justice,” and a new approach is needed to deal with mentally ill people who “pose a serious and immediate danger to themselves and others.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024

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Health

Canada to donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to combat mpox outbreaks in Africa

Published

4 days ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.

It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.

Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”

Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.

Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.

A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.

On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.

Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”

But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”

“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.

Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.

Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.

Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.

“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.

“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.

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Health

How many Nova Scotians are on the doctor wait-list? Number hit 160,000 in June

Published

5 days ago

September 11, 2024

Anne Joseph

HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.

The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.

Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.

“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”

The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.

A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.

Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.

“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.

Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.

The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.

“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.

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