SA records 1 447 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday


The medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctors without Borders, has reiterated its call to wealthy nations and pharmaceutical corporations to provide solutions to ensure equitable access to coronavirus vaccines for poor countries.

Tshwane officials say indigenous fish at the Rietvlei Dam are under pressure from exotic species. The city started a research and survey project at Rietvlei Dam which will later be extended to all five municipal dams.

The US government on Saturday authorized Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, enabling millions more Americans to be vaccinated in the coming weeks and setting it up for additional approvals around the world.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 72,806,180 doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered in the country as of Saturday morning and it had distributed 96,402,290 doses.

Experts are closely monitoring South African health workers who have received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine - especially those who may get the coronavirus.

China will continue to advance its space programme with a series of launch missions in 2021 and promote the development of the commercial space industry during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025)...

Agricultural experts have warned livestock and game farmers about a possible outbreak of the Rift Valley fever which causes livestock and game to abort.

South Africa is rapidly and successfully rolling out the delivery of the early access Johnson and Johnson vaccine to healthcare workers through the Sisonke Programme.

The Unites States urged vaccine-sceptical Tanzania on Friday to review evidence on the drugs, saying they work and are one of the tools to fight off the COVID-19 pandemic.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) COVID-19 update with special guests: Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Dr Walter Kazadi Mulombo, WHO Representative in Nigeria.

In this week's Global COVID-19 Wrap, SABC News captures highlights from all corners of the globe, as the number of confirmed infections worldwide continue to rise.

Facebook Inc ended a one-week blackout of Australian news on its popular social media site on Friday and announced preliminary commercial agreements with three small local publishers.

University of KwaZulu-Natal Health Professor, Mosa Moshabela, says the healthcare sector may experience challenges in vaccinating all healthcare workers before the potential third coronavirus wave emerges.

Teachers will be vaccinated against COVID-19 from April this year. This was confirmed by Health Minister Zweli Mkhize during his briefing to the National Council of Provinces on government's vaccine acquisition and rollout strategy.

Department of Health Deputy Director-General Anban Pillay has stressed the importance of getting vaccinated against the coronavirus both as individuals and communities to achieve protection and population immunity.

Oxford University said on Thursday it was investigating a digital intrusion after a researcher said he had seen evidence that a laboratory researching COVID-19 had been hacked.

The US Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved storage and transportation of COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE at standard freezer temperatures for up to two weeks instead of ultra-cold conditions.

The Health Department has reported 1 676 new cases of coronavirus, taking the number of total infections to 1 509 124.

Pfizer and BioNTech say they are testing a third dose of their COVID-19 vaccine to better understand the immune response against new variants of the virus.

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the government is on track to finally introduce the draft coding and robotics curriculum in South African schools.

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has confirmed that it is probing a complaint about the tender that was awarded to a communications company in KwaZulu-Natal.

A new coronavirus variant that shares some similarities with a more transmissible and intractable variant discovered in South Africa is on the rise in New York City, researchers said on Wednesday.

Moderna Inc said on Wednesday it is working with US government scientists to study an experimental booster shot that targets a concerning new variant of the coronavirus and has raised its global COVID-19 vaccine production goal for this year by 100 million doses.

The Health Department has reported 1 862 new cases of coronavirus, taking the number of total infections to 1 507 448.

The government will roll out a free mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign for which money has been allocated in the medium term.

India announced an expansion of its COVID-19 vaccination programme on Wednesday but warned that breaches of coronavirus protocols could worsen an infection surge in many states.

The architect of Australia's laws forcing Google and Facebook to pay media companies for content claimed victory on Wednesday, though critics said last-minute changes to appease Facebook favoured Big Tech over smaller news outlets.

British National Historian Sir David Attenborough has told the United Nations Security Council that the world was perilously close to a tipping point, that will send global temperatures spiraling catastrophically higher.

The Health Department has recorded 998 new COVID-19 cases, taking the number of total infections to 1 505 586 in the last 24 hours.

Police say a 37-year-old woman has drowned after a car she was driving was allegedly swept away while attempting to cross a flooded bridge between Tshitavha and Vuwa, outside Louis Trichardt, in Limpopo.