France to join South Africa’s bid to increase support for Trips waivers at G7 meeting
1 Jun 2021
28 May 2021, South Africa, Pretoria: Emmanuel Macron (l), President of France, and Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, attend the launch meeting of the Initiative for the Future of Vaccines in Africa at the University of Pretoria. Photo: Christoph Soeder/dpa (Photo by Christoph Soeder/picture alliance via Getty Images)
France has made a commitment to support President Cyril Ramaphosa’s drive to persuade leaders at both the upcoming G7 and G20 meetings to agree to a waiver on the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (Trips) agreement for Covid-19-related pharmaceutical interventions.
Usually, the gap between designing a study and scaling it up to reach people on the ground takes years. Sisonke did it in a matter of 17 days – and rewrote history.
Usually, the gap between designing a study and scaling it up to reach people on the ground takes years. Sisonke did it in a matter of 17 days and rewrote history.
SA can now keep Pfizer jabs in a bar fridge for a month
24 May 2021
Vaccine roll-out will be easier now that Pfizer confirms the lifespan of its Covid-19 vaccine in a refrigerator is more than six times longer than first estimated . (Photo by Dinendra Haria/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
This extends the shelf life of the doses six-fold from five to 31 days and will help to speed up the country’s vaccine roll-out because the new storage conditions will result in simpler logistics, cheaper equipment and less waste.
In a circular issued on 21 May, the health department instructed vaccination sites to follow the new guidelines with immediate effect also with regards to batches that have already been distributed.
The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority has approved changes to the storage conditions for the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, allowing it to be stored in a refrigerator for a month. This extends the shelf life of the doses six-fold – from five to 31 days – and will help to speed up the country’s vaccine roll-out because it means simpler logistics, cheaper equipment and less waste.
In a circular issued on 21 May, the Health Department instructed vaccination sites to follow the new guidance with immediate effect, also with regards to batches that have already been distributed.
The updated storage conditions follow similar approvals last week by the European and American regulatory bodies – the European Medicines Authority (EMA) and the Food and Drug Administration – based on new data provided by Pfizer.