Global vaccinations top 1 billion

Vaccine update:

• More than 1 billion doses have been administered across 172 countries at a rate of 19.2 million doses a day.
• The US administered 3 million vaccine doses yesterday and is on track to reach herd immunity by mid-June.
• The EU is expected to allow US tourists who have been fully vaccinated to travel to the bloc in the summer.
• Africa’s vaccination drive has been adversely impacted by supply problems as well as wider concerns over vaccine hesitancy.
• Export restrictions together with operational problems and low demand has resulted in only 1% of adults on the continent receiving their first dose compared to 13% globally.
• The European Commission has launched a EUR100 million initiative to support the roll-out vaccination campaigns on the continent to ensure that no one is left behind, including those in hard-to-access humanitarian crisis settings.
• SA will resume the use of the J&J vaccine on Wednesday for healthcare workers following the confirmation that there have been no reported cases of blood-clotting.  
• The general rollout of the vaccines is expected to commence on 17 May.

Cases update: Global

• Cases have surpassed 147.81 million, while the death toll has surpassed 3.12 million; recoveries are at 125.37 million.
• The US has 32.82 million cases, accounting for 23% of global cases; the US death toll is 586,152. 
• India has 17.31 million cases and 195,123 deaths; Brazil has 14.34 million cases and 390,925 deaths.
• India has added more than a million cases in the past three days; the government has extended a lockdown in Delhi until next Monday.
• The US and EU has offered to help in curbing the spread of the virus.
• The US is considering offering India unused doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and stepping up financing aid for the production of the vaccine.
• France plans to supply India with “significant support in terms of oxygen” in the coming days.
• Italy has banned people who have been in India in the last 2 weeks from entering the country.

Cases update: Africa

• Africa’s Covid-19 cases are at 4.54 million; fatalities are at 120,433.
• Morocco has 509,363 reported cases, Nigeria 164,719, Ghana 92,166, Kenya 156,787.
• Experts have attributed the increase in both cases and deaths on the continent to the emergence of new variants of the virus that are more transmissible.
• There is concern that these variants can’t be easily tracked as the testing required to identify them isn’t readily available.

Cases update: South Africa

• SA currently has the 20th highest caseload, at 1.575 million; 1,101 new cases were reported yesterday.
• Covid-19 deaths rose by 23 yesterday, to 54,148; 1.50 million people (or 95%) have recovered from the virus.
• Gauteng has the highest number of confirmed cases, at 421,880 (accounting for 26.8% of the total); 10,604 deaths have been reported. 
• The Western Cape has 286,109 (accounting for 18.2% of the total) and 11,585 deaths, while KwaZulu-Natal has 336,297 (accounting for 21.3% of the total) and 10,369 deaths.
• The Eastern Cape has 195,979 cases (accounting for 12,5% of the total) and 11,517 deaths.
• 10.53 million tests have been conducted since 5 March 2020; 22,469 tests were conducted yesterday.

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