COMMENT In a year that’s already had its fair share of headline-grabbing moments, it’s probably understandable that many people missed the news earlier this month that the AU had secured 300-million doses of Covid-19 vaccine. That’s a reflection of much of the way in which the pandemic in Africa has been covered. While the pages...Read More
Pfizer has been accused of “bullying” Latin American governments in Covid-19 vaccine negotiations and has asked some countries to put up sovereign assets, such as embassy buildings and military bases, as a guarantee against the cost of any future legal cases, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism can reveal. In the case of one country, demands...Read More
COMMENT It may not have been a leading headline, but one notable aspect of the 34th summit of the African Union (AU) assembly, held from 6-7 February, was its focus on the response to Covid-19. Although the election of the leadership of the AU Commission attracted much of the media attention, the gravity of the...Read More
Senam Agbesi has been trying to make the best of lockdown in London. “I’ve done lots of Zooms, lots of walks,” he told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. The 34-year-old National Health System manager believes he could get the vaccine this month, because he is starting a new job that would involve visiting hospitals regularly. ...Read More
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has filed court papers in the Western Cape high court demanding that the government clearly explain how it will handle the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination to millions. The first batch of the vaccine arrived in South Africa on Monday, and its rollout is expected to kick off in the next...Read More
COMMENT In October 2020, diplomats from South Africa and India approached the World Trade Organisation (WTO) with a revolutionary proposal. Together, the two countries argued that countries should be allowed to ignore any patents related to Covid-19 vaccines, for the duration of the pandemic. In other words: everyone should be allowed to manufacture the vaccine,...Read More
The crippling second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic is officially underway in South Africa, characterised by full hospitals in both public and private healthcare, and high daily “confirmed cases” and deaths. Daily recorded cases are averaging anything between 15 000 and 20 000, while the daily death average is between 400 and 600. The minister...Read More
The Covid-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc — millions in South Africa and globally are being infected and dying. Vaccinating a significant part of the population is the only realistic way to defeat the pandemic. Achieving this will require international co-operation and solidarity. Unity in action across all sectors of our society is now paramount. We...Read More
COMMENT On December 19, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on live television. This kicked off a high-paced national vaccination campaign that has seen more than a million Israelis, some 12 percent of the country’s population, receive the jab in less than two weeks – the highest rate in the world....Read More
More than 600 journalists have died of Covid-19 since March 1 last year, a press freedom organisation said, calling for media workers to have priority access to vaccines. The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), which tracks the deaths of journalists around the world, said that of the 602 media workers known to have died from the...Read More
