S.Africa to begin Covid vaccine rollout with Johnson & Johnson jab

As Africa struggles to stem vaccine inequity, biotechnology giants BioNTech and Moderna have announced plans to build factories on the continent.

An expert panel has just given the green light to vaccinate children aged 5 to 11 in Israel — the first country to offer booster shots. It has also tightened its green pass system to keep the economy and schools open.

German officers have detained 12 individuals suspected of involvement in the manufacture and sale of falsified COVID-19 vaccine passports. The counterfeits are believed to have been sold for up to €400 each.

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday (November 28) he was "deeply disappointed" after rich Western countries for their knee-jerk imposition of travel bans after hearing about the new variant. Ramaphosa also said the country faced a fourth wave of COVID-19 within weeks, as the new omicron variant was driving a rise in infections in the most populated province of Gauteng. He said authorities would not be considering economic lockdown restrictions for the time being, due to the availability of vaccines for those aged 12 and over.

How effective will vaccines be against the new variant? Hope rests on research centers and vaccine developers to keep up with the speed of the variant's spread around the world.

Can Europe learn from S Africa's omicron experience? Virologist Wolfgang Preiser speaks to DW

This is the 49-year-old man accused of setting South Africa's parliament building on fire, which completely destroyed its lower house National Assembly chamber. The chamber was destroyed after flare-up on the second day.

A Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine booster shot is 84% effective in protecting against being hospitalised by the Omicron variant for 1-2 months after it is received, the head of South Africa's Medical Research Council (SAMRC), Glenda Gray, said on Friday.

As German authorities reported a record number of new daily COVID cases, Chancellor Olaf Scholz told lawmakers a planned vaccine mandate was an essential element of his government's strategy to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

South African-American businessman Patrick Soon-Shiong was joined by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday to open a vaccine facility aimed at tackling a dearth of manufacturing capacity on the African continent

A panel of experts has said some of the blame for days of looting and arson last year, in which more than 300 people died, lies with the country's leadership.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is pushing for a vaccine mandate as part of Germany's COVID-19 containment strategy, and lawmakers in Parliament are debating compulsory vaccines. So how do German citizens feel about the prospect of a mandatory jab?