Global Coronavirus Updates, 13 August: Russia calls international concern over vaccine 'groundless'

Thu Aug 13 11:32:20 CAT 2020

Global Coronavirus Updates, 13 August: Coronavirus: Russia calls
international concern over vaccine 'groundless'

Russia has dismissed mounting international concern over the safety of its
locally developed Covid-19 vaccine as "absolutely groundless".

On Tuesday, it said a vaccine had been given regulatory approval after less
than two months of testing on humans.

But experts were quick to raise concerns about the speed of Russia's work,
and a growing list of countries have expressed scepticism.

Scientists in Germany, France, Spain and the US have all urged caution.

"It seems our foreign colleagues are sensing the specific competitive
advantages of the Russian drug and are trying to express opinions that...
are absolutely groundless," Russia's Health Minister Mikhail Murashko told
the Interfax news agency on Wednesday.

He added that the vaccine would be available soon.

"The first packages of the medical vaccine... will be received within the
next two weeks, primarily for doctors," Mr Murashko said.

Russian officials have said they plan to start mass vaccination in October.

The announcement on Tuesday was made by President Vladimir Putin, who said
the vaccine had passed all the required checks and his daughter had already
been given it.

But the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was in talks with Russian
authorities about undertaking a review of the vaccine, which has been named
Sputnik-V.

It is not among the organisation's list of six vaccines that have reached
phase three clinical trials, which involve more widespread testing in
humans.

What has the reaction been?

The progress Russia says it has made on a coronavirus vaccine has been met
with scepticism by health officials and media outlets in the US and Europe.

On Wednesday, Germany's health minister expressed concern that it had not
been properly tested.

"It can be dangerous to start vaccinating millions... of people too early
because it could pretty much kill the acceptance of vaccination if it goes
wrong," Jens Spahn told local media.

"Based on everything we know... this has not been sufficiently tested," he
added. "It's not about being first somehow - it's about having a safe
vaccine."

Coronavirus vaccine: How close are we and who will get it?

Elsewhere in Europe, Isabelle Imbert, a researcher at the French National
Centre for Scientific Research in Marseille, said promising a cure too early
could be "very dangerous".

"We do not know the methodology or the results of their clinical trials,"
she told Le Parisien.

And in the US, the country's top virus expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, said he
doubted Russia's claims.

"I hope that the Russians have actually definitively proven that the vaccine
is safe and effective," he told National Geographic. "I seriously doubt that
they've done that."

The vaccine is yet to complete a larger study involving thousands of people

Meanwhile the Moscow-based Association of Clinical Trials Organizations
(Acto), which represents the world's top drug companies in Russia, urged the
health ministry to postpone approval until after phase-three trials.

Acto executive director Svetlana Zavidova told the Russian MedPortal site
that a decision on mass vaccination had been carried out after combined
first- and second-phase tests on 76 people, and that it was impossible to
confirm the efficacy of a drug on this basis.

But some countries have reacted more positively to Moscow's announcement.

In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte offered to test the vaccine
himself.

"I believe the vaccine that you have produced is really good for humanity,"
he said. "I will be the first one to be experimented on."

And Israel said it would enter negotiations to buy it if it is found to be a
"serious product".

What do we know about the vaccine?

 <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-53621708> Russian scientists said
early-stage trials of the vaccine had been completed and the results were a
success.

The Russian vaccine uses adapted strains of the adenovirus, a virus that
usually causes the common cold, to trigger an immune response.

In July Russian scientists announced that early-stage trials of a vaccine
developed by the Gamaleya Institute had been completed

But the vaccine's approval by Russian regulators comes before the completion
of a larger study involving thousands of people, known as a phase-three
trial.

Experts consider these trials an essential part of the testing process.

Despite this, Mr Murashko said on Tuesday the vaccine had "proven to be
highly effective and safe", hailing it as a big step towards "humankind's
victory" over Covid-19.-BBC

Zimbabwe COVID19 Update

New era for Health Ministry. 18 more die of Covid-19   

Zimbabwe's health delivery system is being reformed and restructured, new
Health and Child Care Minister Vice President Constantino Chiwenga said
yesterday, promising a new era in healthcare.

The Vice President was recently mandated by President Mnangagwa the
additional task of taking charge of the Health Ministry, currently under the
spotlight because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Eighteen more deaths due to Covid-19 have been recorded between Thursday
last week and Tuesday this week after tests during post-mortems, taking the
total death toll to 122.

In its daily report yesterday, the Ministry of Health and Child Care said
the patients died in the community and on admission to the casualty ward at
Parirenyatwa Hospital and other hospitals. Almost all the deaths - 10 men
and six women - were in Harare with one man each from Manicaland and
Midlands. Mutare and Gweru have been seen as the epicentres of the pandemic
in these two provinces.

Yesterday, 75 new infections were confirmed, all local except a single
returning resident from South Africa, taking the total to 4 893 confirmed
cases with 3 740 of these being infected within Zimbabwe.

Of the local infections, Harare accounts for 1 595 with 71 deaths, Bulawayo
for 1 103 with 23 deaths, Midlands for 334 with six deaths and Manicaland
for 195 with 10 deaths. Mashonaland East, which includes a belt of
settlements, such as Ruwa, right on Harare's eastern border, now has 197
local cases and one death.

There have been 1 620 confirmed recoveries but with the Harare total on just
76 there is still a large group of people who are now well but who have yet
to enter the official statistics as cured.

South Africa has now recorded 10 751 deaths from 566 109 cases but with 426
125 recoveries.

Besides dealing with Covid-19, nurses are also on industrial action in some
parts of the country in protest over working conditions.

Speaking for the first time following his appointment to head the ministry,
Vice President Chiwenga, who was speaking at Hippo Valley estates during a
tour of winter maize being grown on newly cleared and irrigated land, said a
new era had dawned.

"Things will never be the same again. We are restructuring and reforming our
health delivery system. We want to rebuild the structures from village to
referral level. Things will never be the same again, but we must work
together."

The clean-up of the country's health sector was being done together with the
Health Services Board and other ministries such as Finance and Economic
Development.

"We have already identified the problems and we do not want a repeat of what
was happening before," he said.

Turning to Covid-19 cases that continue to rise in the country, he urged
Zimbabweans to adhere to what health experts say and was concerned that
infections continued to spike in Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru and Mutare, the
country's biggest cities.

"I am the Minister of Health (and Child Care) and we are faced with a
pandemic. We are getting daily updates on Covid-19 and Mr Covid-19 kills.
The current state of affairs should not remain like this."

Community and political leaders, including Parliamentarians, had to take the
lead in the fight against Covid-19 in their areas if the battle against it
was to be won.

President Mnangagwa appointed Vice President Chiwenga as new Health Minister
after firing Dr Obadiah Moyo after he was arrested on allegations of
involvement in a dubious procurement deal now cancelled.-

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