National

Zim Covid fight gets lift as Masiyiwa initiative secures Johnson & Johnson vaccine deal

Published

4 years ago

August 4, 2021

BY OWN CORRESPONDENT

Zimbabwe is set to get more than five million Covid-19 vaccines in the coming few weeks after the African Union (AU), African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) and Unicef secured 400 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The country last month approved the emergency use of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine in addition to other registered vaccines from India, Russia and China, as government ramps up efforts to inoculate more than 10 million people Zimbabwe to get herd immunity.

Like many African countries, Zimbabwe is in the throes of a third wave of infections, after the country registered 112,435 cumulative cases and 3,676 deaths, while over 2.5 million had been vaccinated by Tuesday this week, according to official data.

Experts said the AU, Unicef and AVAT partnership, which seeks to ensure seamless procurement and delivery of vaccines to AU Member States, will help boost efforts to mitigate the impact of the pandemic as less than two percent of people on the continent are fully vaccinated so far.

“We are building a platform for deeper collaboration that will pave the way to a more robust African response to the pandemic and move the continent towards recovery, leveraging the opportunities to strengthen health systems and support the manufacturing sector for job creation,” said Vera Songwe, United Nations under-secretary-general and executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa.

African Union special envoy Mr Strive Masiyiwa, who has been instrumental in securing the vaccines, said the coming on board of Unicef will assist in thwarting a third wave of the deadly coronavirus pandemic that is raging across the continent.

“We are pleased to have Unicef as a strategic partner in the delivery of these vaccines to our member states, as they are extremely experienced in handling and managing vaccines, and a strong and well-established relationship with all AU member states,” said Masiyiwa, who is also the Econet Group founder and chairman.

Established by African leaders, AVAT has spearheaded African efforts on fair equitable access and distribution of vaccines, negotiating vaccine acquisition with pharmaceutical companies to at least 60 per cent of the African population with safe and efficacious vaccines to achieve “herd immunity” by 2022.

“Since the pandemic began, Africa CDC has worked with Covax to ensure that African Union Member States get fair access to Covid-19 vaccines.

“At this critical moment where widespread vaccination is more urgent than ever, we must do all to vaccinate at least 60 per cent of the African population by 2022,” said Nkengasong, Africa CDC director.

The procurement of these vaccine doses has been made possible with the support of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), which provided a US$2 billion Advance Procurement Commitment (APC) Guarantee facility to Johnson and Johnson on behalf of the AU member states.

The bank also made available direct financing to AU Member States which require funding to pay for the vaccines.

In April 2021, Afreximbank made a down payment of US$330 million to Johnson and Johnson on behalf of the AU member states, as part of the commitment under the Agreement.

“As the financial and ransaction advisers to AVAT on the Johnson & Johnson Agreement, we are pleased to formally welcome Unicef to the partnership and look forward to a fruitful collaboration for efficient delivery of vaccines to African countries,” said Professor Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank.

Access to vaccines is the surest way out of the Covid-19 pandemic. Emerging new variants suggest that global recovery will remain elusive if Africa is left behind. Speed and scale in vaccine distribution are imperative for economic recovery.

The AVAT and Unicef partnership will also work to increase procurement and manufacturing on the continent as part of a broader strategy for sustainable health systems and job creation in Africa.

The pandemic has highlighted Africa’s pharmaceutical manufacturing vulnerabilities.

Prior to the pandemic, the continent was only able to manufacture less than two percent of the total medicines needed.

“Access to Covid-19 vaccines has been unjust and unfair, with people in Africa bearing the brunt of this inequality. This cannot continue,” said Unicef executive director Henrietta Fore.

“Unicef is a staunch partner of the African continent with a long history of delivering vaccines everywhere they are needed.

“We are pleased to join this partnership with the African Union and AVAT to maximize supply and access to vaccines.”

The distribution of the J&J vaccines to countries through AVAT Advanced Purchase Agreement is expected to commence this month.

National

Tragic attack in Madlambuzi: Five dead as suspected mental patient goes on rampage

Published

2 days ago

August 22, 2025

VicFallsLive

BY WANDILE TSHUMA

Police in Madlambuzi, Matabeleland South Province has are a suspected mental patient, Phamani Sibanda, following a violent rampage that left five people dead and two others injured on Wednesday.

According to the police statement, Sibanda (43) allegedly attacked seven people in the village using a Mopani log, a blunt object, and an unknown sharp weapon, targeting anyone who crossed his path.

The victims of this tragic attack have been identified by their next of kin:

Elliot Khupe, 101, a male adult from Bellas Village
Butho Tshuma, 97, a female adult from Bellas Village
Constance Sibanda, 66, a female adult from Bellas Village
Tiffan Surprise Ndlovu, 6, a female juvenile from Bellas Village
Catra Matsika, 72, from Central Village

In addition to the fatalities, two other women, aged 90 and 41, sustained injuries and are currently receiving treatment at Madlambuzi Clinic and Plumtree District Hospital.

The ZRP has underscored the pressing need for community awareness regarding mental health issues. “We implore the public to promptly refer mental patients to medical institutions for treatment and to actively monitor their behavior to prevent such violent incidents,” the statement elaborated. It encouraged community members to report any concerns to the National Complaints Desk at (0242) 703631 or via WhatsApp at 0712 800197, or to approach the nearest police station.

National

US suspends visa processing in Zimbabwe, embassy says

Published

3 days ago

August 21, 2025

VicFallsLive

BY REUTERS

The United States has stopped processing most visas in Zimbabwe until further notice, its embassy in the capital Harare said on Wednesday, citing unspecified concerns with the government.

“We have paused routine visa services in Harare while we address concerns with the Government of Zimbabwe,” the embassy said in a post on X. It said the move was not a travel ban and that current visas would remain valid.

The government of the Southern African country did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The pause took effect on August 7, according to a notice on the U.S. State Department’s website, which said it applied to all visa services with the exception of most diplomatic and official visas.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has restricted travel from a number of African countries, saying it is working to prevent visa overstaying and misuse.

Zimbabwe had a visa overstay rate of 10.57% in 2023, according to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security report.

Starting this week, the U.S. will require visa applicants from Zambia and Malawi to pay bonds of up to $15,000 for some visitor visas. The Trump administration has also paused visa processing in Niger.

Harare resident Angella Chirombo said her 18-year-old son had received a scholarship to do his bachelor’s degree at Michigan State University and had been waiting for a visa interview when the pause hit.

“He was supposed to be in school already. I paid for everything else and was waiting for the visa so I could buy tickets,” she told Reuters.

She said other parents were considering booking interviews at other U.S. embassies in Southern Africa, but that she wouldn’t be able to afford the travel.

“Now they are saying we can go to Zambia and Namibia. I don’t even have money right now and I don’t know where to get this money. They are so many students that have been affected.”

National

Landmark HIV trial begins in Zimbabwe

Published

6 days ago

August 18, 2025

VicFallsLive

BY PAUL SIXPENCE

ZIMBABWE became the first site for the administration of a new investigational HIV vaccine. The first doses of the IAVI C114 clinical trial were administered in late July 2025 at the Mutala Trust clinical site in Harare, CITE reports.
“This is a landmark moment for South Africa, Zimbabwe, and the continent. It shows the power of true partnership,” said Dr. Tariro Makadzange, clinical trial lead, Mutala Trust.

“We are edging closer to an HIV vaccine, made possible by global collaboration, with clinical trials conducted in Africa, for Africa, and for the world.”

The development of the vaccine is a partnership that brings together Zimbabwe’s Mutala Trust, ReiThera, the Ragon Institute, International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and African researchers who are co-leading every phase of the trial.

In phase one of the trial, the vaccine candidate, Gorilla Adenovirus Vectored HIV Networked Epitopes Vaccine (GRAdHIVNE1) will be administered to 120 adults between the ages of 18 and 50 years including 48 people living with HIV who are virally suppressed on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Besides Zimbabwe, two other clinical trial sites are located in Cape Town and Durban, South Africa.

Trial sites were chosen on the basis of their high HIV burden and to ensure that the vaccine candidate is tested within communities affected by the epidemic.

This phase of the trial will assess the safety and ability of the vaccine candidate to provoke an immune response in the human body in persons living with HIV and those who are HIV negative.

“The IAVI C114 trial is testing a new vaccine candidate known as GRAdHIVNE1. The trial represents the first time this vaccine is being tested in humans and is aimed at assessing the safety of the vaccine and its ability to stimulate the immune system,” said Dr. Vincent Muturi-Kioi, HIV Vaccines Product Development Team Lead, IAVI.

In a statement, IAVI further advised that “trial participants will receive either one or two doses of the investigational vaccine or a placebo and will be monitored over a period of 19 months for safety and immune responses.” Results of the trial are likely to be available in 2027.

In the past, several HIV vaccine trials have been conducted but none proved effective in preventing HIV acquisition. The novelity of this vaccine candidate lies in that, it uses a harmless viral vector to deliver small parts of HIV “derived from critical structural regions of HIV that are less likely to mutate” with an expected likelihood to trigger an immune response.

“GRAdHIVNE1 uses a harmless virus (a vector for the vaccine derived from a non-replicating gorilla adenovirus) to deliver small, conserved parts of HIV (called epitopes) to the body’s immune system. These targets are derived from critical structural regions of HIV that are less likely to mutate, making them good targets for killer T cells in the immune system (CD8+ T cell responses) — a type of immune defense thought to be important for long-term protection against HIV. The viral vector was selected based on its ability to stimulate this type of response. Should the vaccine be successful in stimulating the desired response, it could be tested in future trials to assess its efficacy,” Dr. Vincent Muturi-Kioi further explained.

The initiation of this clinical trial demonstrates the power of partnerships at a time when the world is witnessing funding cuts towards global public health research. The IAVIC114 clinical trial is sponsored by IAVI. The vaccine candidate, GRAdHIVNE1, was developed by ReiThera and the Ragon Institute with funding from the GatesFoundation. African researchers will be leading

SOURCE| CITE