This past week, two provinces warned of a resurgence in new Covid-19 cases. Meanwhile, the High Court has rejected a bid to extend the R500-caregiver grant. And Aspen may manufacture a potential Covid-19 vaccine in Port Elizabeth.
Maverick Citizen’s Coronavirus Daily Digest has changed format to a Coronavirus Weekly Digest. Each Friday morning, the digest will summarise highlights from the previous week’s news about the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa.
Aspen might make a Covid-19 vaccine in South Africa
Multinational firm Johnson & Johnson has selected Aspen as one of the companies to manufacture its potential Covid-19 vaccine. The provisional agreement will see Aspen manufacturing the vaccine at its plant in Port Elizabeth. The vaccine candidate is in late-stage clinical trials in eight countries, including South Africa. As Sasha Planting writes, it’s early days but word on vaccine efficacy is expected in the first quarter of 2021. Even if the trial is successful, the agreement is still subject to a technology transfer and the finalisation of some terms. The facility already has the capacity to produce more than 300 million doses of the vaccine a year.
High Court rejects bid to extend R500-caregiver grant
The Pretoria High Court has…