South Africa, already badly beaten by the Covid-19 pandemic with cases of both the highly transmissible Delta and Beta variants, has a new Covid strain. Local scientists have identified a new variant that has a concerning number of mutations, but the so-called C.1.2. strain has not yet been labelled as a variant of concern.
The variant, which was first found in May and flagged last week by the KwaZulu-Natal Research and Innovation and Sequencing Platform in a preprint study that has yet to be peer-reviewed, caught scientists’ attention because its mutation is almost twice as fast as observed in other global variants, reports AFP.
According to the report C.1.2. has so far been detected in all nine provinces, and in other parts of the world including other African countries, Oceania, China, Mauritius, New Zealand and Britain.
And while NICD researcher Penny Moore said they “have considerable confidence that the vaccines that are being rolled out in South Africa will continue to protect us against severe illness and death”, anti-vaxxers are taking to the streets to publicly proclaim their refusal of the vaccine. But a former anti-vaxxer who was hellbent on refusing to sign up for the jab, Lerato Moletsane now says the virus humbled her. As she blames fake news for her hesitancy to get the vaccine, the Daily Maverick dissects the disinformation and anti-vaxxer media coverage in the time of Covid-19.
At last count, South Africa had recorded 81,830 deaths.
In other parts of the world, investors dumped the stock of vaccine maker Moderna as Japan investigates the deaths of two people who received the company’s Covid-19 shots, and in the US talk show host Marc Bernier, who had characterised himself as “Mr. Anti-Vax” on his weekday WNDB radio show, died after a three-week fight against the virus.
Let’s not forget, we’re all in this fight together. Keep safe!
SA Business
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Global Business
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Markets
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Opinion
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