Omicron may spread more easily

In a virtual briefing, led by Health Minister Joe Phaahla, Prof Salim Abdool Karim former co-chair of the Health Minister’s Covid advisory committee, said he is expecting SA will top 10 000 cases per day by the end of the week, and see pressure on hospitals within the next two to three weeks because of the rapidity of transmission.

Aspen close to new deal to produce vaccines in SA

Bloomberg News reported on November 30, that Aspen is in “advanced discussions” for a licensing agreement to allow it to produce and sell a Covid-19 vaccine in Africa. The company previously said it was in talks with Johnson & Johnson about a licence that would mean that it could make its own-branded Covid-19 vaccine. Currently, Aspen has an agreement with Johnson & Johnson to package and fill vials of its vaccine at a plant in Gqeberha.

Big business urges jab mandates as fourth wave builds

Business for SA (B4SA) warned that SA must urgently accelerate its Covid-19 vaccination rate with compulsory workplace jabs and restricted access to public places as it enters its fourth wave of infections, reported Business Day (30Nov 2021)

'OPINION | Mandatory vaccination is not about coercion' - Business Day ( 30 Nov 2021)

“Mandatory vaccination” has a draconian air about it, where people are vaccinated against their will and in contravention of their right to bodily autonomy,” wrote Martin Kingston, chair of B4SA in Business Day (30 Nov 2021).

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