In South Africa, the University of the Witwatersrand
in partnership with the University of Oxford has begun what is said to be the continent’s first COVID-19 vaccine trial. The pilot will involve 2,000 people, including 50 who have HIV, according to AlJazeera. Volunteers will be administered the Ox1Cov-19 vaccine developed by the
University of Oxford to test for its efficacy and safety. Depending on the outcomes of the trials, the vaccine is still not expected to be made public until mid next year.
According to the Africa Center for Disease Control, drug testings are also ongoing in Nigeria, Egypt, Zambia and Tunisia mostly for therapeutics. Drugs like the popular anti-malarial, Chloroquine are being tested. Herbal cures from Madagascar, referred to as COVID Organics have sparked arguments and disapproval from a lot of quarters. With clinical trials yet to ascertain the efficacy and safety of the purported cure, countries like Nigeria have received a batch of the medication with the government saying testing will be conducted before any approvals for public use.
Our guest on this week’s
My Life in Tech, Abimbola Adebakin,
shares some
insights around drug manufacture, clinical trials, and how tech-enabled solutions are improving how last-mile users access medication among others.
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