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COVID-19 tracker 19 April 2021

J&J vaccine concerns suspend SA vaccinations

Shireen Darmalingam

Vaccine update:

  • The SA health regulator has asked the SA government to lift the pause on the use of the J&J vaccine, provided certain conditions are met.
  • Some of those conditions would include diligent screening and monitoring of participants at high risk of blood-clotting.
  • 292,623 healthcare workers have been vaccinated to date.
  • Globally, over 894 million doses have been administered across 155 countries at a rate of 16,6 million doses a day.
  • Around 50% of Americans 18 years and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
  • Still, the seven-day average stands at over 60,000 new infections per day.
  • US health authorities will make a decision whether to resume the use of the J&J vaccine by Friday.
  • The Africa CDC has called on India to lift export restrictions on vaccines as soon as possible. 
  • The CDC also noted that it could not predict when the second batch of doses for African countries would arrive, and warned of further delays to the vaccination campaign on the continent. 
  • The African Union is expected to launch a partnership to manufacture vaccines at 5 research centres to be built over the next 5 years. 
  • More than 60 former heads of state and several other global leaders have called on US President Biden to back a waiver of intellectual property rules for vaccines. 
  • A waiver could boost vaccine manufacturing and accelerate the response to the pandemic in poorer countries.
  • Based on the current vaccine production rate, most poor nations will likely have to wait until at least 2024 to achieve mass immunization.

 Cases update: Global

  • New infections increased to a record 5.2 million last week. 
  • Cases have surpassed 142.01 million, while the death toll has surpassed 3.03 million; recoveries are at 120.55 million.
  • The US has 32.40 million cases, accounting for 23% of global cases; the US death toll is 581,061. 
  • India has 15.06 million cases and 178,793 deaths; Brazil has 13.94 million cases and 373,442 deaths.
  • Hong Kong has banned flights from India, Pakistan and the Philippines for 14 days from tomorrow. 
  • Australia and New Zealand have had their first quarantine-free flights since the pandemic began. 

Cases update: Africa

  • Africa’s Covid-19 cases are at 4.46 million; fatalities are at 118,202.
  • Morocco has 505,811 reported cases, Nigeria 164,233, Ghana 91,709, Kenya 151,653. 

Cases update: South Africa

  • SA currently has the 20th highest caseload, at 1.566 million; 1,089 new cases were reported yesterday.
  • Covid-19 deaths rose by 25 yesterday, to 53,736; 1.49 million people (or 95%) have recovered from the virus.
  • Gauteng has the highest number of confirmed cases, at 419,591 (accounting for 26.8% of the total); 10,524 deaths have been reported. 
  • The Western Cape has 285,247 (accounting for 18.2% of the total) and 11,527 deaths, while KwaZulu-Natal has 335,743 (accounting for 21.4% of the total) and 10,335 deaths.
  • The Eastern Cape has 195,850 cases (accounting for 12,5% of the total) and 11,444 deaths.
  • 10.33 million tests have been conducted since 5 March 2020; 31,425 tests were conducted yesterday.

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