BAKKACIMA BLOG

  Reports says that four(4) people have died of Ebola in Guinea’s southeastern region of Nzerekore, the first resurgence of the disease in five years. One of the victims in Guinea was a nurse who fell ill in late January and was buried on February 1, National Health Security Agency chief Sakoba Keita told local media. “Among those who took part in the burial, eight people showed symptoms: diarrhoea, vomiting and bleeding,” he said. “Three of them died and four others are in hospital.”

  COVID-19 vaccines made by  Johnson & Johnson(J&J) and Novavax  have also been shown to offer weaker protection against B.1.351 (also known as 501.V2), the SARS-CoV-2 variant that now causes the vast majority of all infections in South Africa, than against older variants. The vaccines’ efficacy against mild disease in South Africa was 57% for J&J and 49% for Novavax—lower than in any other country they were tested. The stakes are high globally for this particular vaccine because its makers, AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, hope it will be widely used in developing countries; they project they can produce 3 billion doses this year for about $3 each, far more product at a far lower price than any other vaccine shown to offer protection against COVID-19. Madhi and the research team had planned to report the results on 8 February, but the  Financial Times  ran a story two days earlier based on a leaked copy of the findings. Madhi and his ...