African countries are at the back of the queue for lifesaving Covid-19 vaccines, a consequence of years of depending on foreign pharmaceutical suppliers. However, the current pandemic provides the chance to reset the clock and develop domestic pharmaceutical production.
Initially, Africa appeared to escape the worst of the first wave that wreaked havoc across many industrialised economies. Now, infections have passed 3 million, according to the WHO Africa desk, with an average of more than 25,000 daily infections so far this year.
“I hope vaccines get rolled out quickly,” says Professor Shabir Madhi, professor of Vaccinology at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. “Covid-19 cases on the continent are rising rapidly, from Nigeria to South Africa...Malawi – where two cabinet ministers recently died – and even the Seychelles, which was more or less Covid-free before Christmas.”
South Africa has been especially hard hit. A mutant strain that local scientists said last week is 50 per cent more infectious, is ravaging the country. Hospitals are turning patients away, medical oxygen supply is stretched, and undertakers are struggling to cope with burials. More than 40,500 deaths related to Covid-19 have been reported so far.
The South African government has set a target to have two-thirds of its 60 million people inoculated, but it has yet to secure the 80 million doses scientists say would be needed to achieve this. The state has committed to purchasing 12 million doses through Covax, the global initiative to secure vaccines for poorer countries.
However, Prof Mahdi says that as a middle-income country, South Africa will pay $12-$13 per dose. Poorer countries will pay less, as will those who initially funded vaccine development, with a prevailing price of $3 per dose.
Dependence on an offshore logistics chain highlights the glaring lack of Africa-based pharmaceutical manufacturers. Previously, South Africa did have domestic drug making capabilities late into the 1990s, as did Nigeria and some other states on the continent. By the 2000s, all had closed and not a single country south of the Sahara produced vaccines locally.
“Vaccine manufacturing and continuous upkeep of good standard is a highly expensive exercise,” says Dr Morena Makhoana, the chief executive of Biovac, a vaccine development and manufacturing platform based in Cape Town. “All those facilities were state-owned and governments didn’t continue to invest in the upkeep. New technology also came up and governments were not able to keep up with the pace of an evolving industry.”
While the current pandemic is now at the centre of a pharmaceutical response, African countries require defences against a slew of nasty infections. Yellow fever, tuberculosis, malaria and HIV are among the most significant diseases that collectively take millions of lives each year.
Late last year Biovac, which is partly owned by the South African government, began manufacturing a six-in-one childhood vaccine that protects against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and hepatitis B, among others. More will follow, pushing the country towards self-sufficiency and making it better able to respond to disease outbreaks.
“By developing and manufacturing vaccines on the African continent, we will be able to better meet the local demand and limit overreliance on fully imported vaccines, which we’ve previously experienced,” says Dr Makhoana.
Another South African firm, Aspen Pharmacare, has also recently spent $200 million on a vaccine processing plant. Aspen has a contract with US pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson to package its upcoming vaccine for the US market. Aspen said it could potentially manufacture the vaccine under license in the future.
For now, Africa remains at the mercy of the global supply chain. Pharmaceutical producers such as India, Europe, the US and China have pledged to help, but will clearly prioritise their own populations.
China, for instance, has begun talks with various African heads of state over supplying Sinopharm, currently being administered in the UAE.
“The president of China has made it clear that he will first vaccinate his own people,” says Simon Agwale, chairman of the Africa Covid-19 Vaccine Manufacturing Initiative, in Lagos, Nigeria. “We have to therefore look to internal resources.”
Mr Agwale says that the main constraint is not financial, but logistics. “The question is, where are we going to get the vaccine from? Most of the vaccines now under production are already committed to the countries that developed and paid for them. Even if we had the money and resources to pay for them, where is the supply for Africa?”
Africa’s vulnerability could soon become a global concern. A rapidly adapting virus that runs rampant will soon make its way to the rest of the world.
“It’s not really practical to expect a country that is vaccinating its population is going to be safe if the rest of the world is not in that position,” says Dr Salim Abdool Karim, an epidemiologist and senior adviser to the government.
“These variants will in the course of time spread throughout the world. The virus has to adapt for its own survival, so it’s important we tackle this pandemic as a global community.”
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Speed: 0-100km/h 3.9 seconds
Price: Dh230,000
On sale: now
Fixtures
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Company%20profile
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Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Buy farm-fresh food
The UAE is stepping up its game when it comes to platforms for local farms to show off and sell their produce.
In Dubai, visit Emirati Farmers Souq at The Pointe every Saturday from 8am to 2pm, which has produce from Al Ammar Farm, Omar Al Katri Farm, Hikarivege Vegetables, Rashed Farms and Al Khaleej Honey Trading, among others.
In Sharjah, the Aljada residential community will launch a new outdoor farmers’ market every Friday starting this weekend. Manbat will be held from 3pm to 8pm, and will host 30 farmers, local home-grown entrepreneurs and food stalls from the teams behind Badia Farms; Emirates Hydroponics Farms; Modern Organic Farm; Revolution Real; Astraea Farms; and Al Khaleej Food.
In Abu Dhabi, order farm produce from Food Crowd, an online grocery platform that supplies fresh and organic ingredients directly from farms such as Emirates Bio Farm, TFC, Armela Farms and mother company Al Dahra.
Coal Black Mornings
Brett Anderson
Little Brown Book Group
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
