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As of Wednesday, the total number of Covid-19 cases detected in South Africa stands at 665,188, with 1,906 new cases identified.
The country has also reported 88 more deaths from Covid-19: 2 from the Eastern Cape, 18 from KwaZulu-Natal, 11 from Gauging, 22 from Limpopo, 9 from North West, 13 from Mpumalanga and 13 from the Western Cape. This brings the total number of deaths from Covid-19 to 16,206.
“We extend our condolences to the loved ones of the deceased and we thank the health workers who treated the deceased patients,” said Health Minister Zweli Mkhize.
Source: Department of Health
J&J Covid-19 Vaccine Trial Advances to Advanced Stage
Johnson & Johnson said Wednesday that it was entering the final stage of Phase 3 of its Covid-19 vaccine clinical trial following positive results in previous stages.
The trial will seek to enroll up to 60,000 volunteers at more than 200 sites in the US and around the world, said the company and the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), which are providing funding.
With the move, J&J becomes the 10th manufacturer globally to conduct a Phase 3 test against Covid-19, and the fourth in the US.
The company, which is developing the vaccine nonprofit through its Janssen subsidiary, said it anticipated that the drug would be ready for emergency approval in early 2021 if it is shown to be safe and effective.
“As COVID-19 continues to impact the daily lives of people around the world, our goal remains the same: to harness our company’s global reach and scientific innovation to help end this pandemic,” said Alex. Gorsky, president of the company. and CEO.
Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, added: “Four COVID-19 vaccine candidates are in Phase 3 clinical trials in the United States just over eight months after SARS was identified. CoV-2 “.
“This is an unprecedented feat for the scientific community that has been made possible by decades of progress in vaccine technology and a coordinated strategic approach in government, industry and academia.”
The United States has given J&J about $ 1.45 billion in funding under Operation Warp Speed.
The vaccine is based on a single dose of a cold-causing adenovirus, modified so that it can no longer replicate, combined with a part of the new coronavirus called spike protein that it uses to invade human cells.
J&J used the same technology in its Ebola vaccine, which received marketing approval from the European Commission in July.
The company said it was prepared to publish the results of an earlier stage of the trial imminently on a medical preprint site.
Preclinical tests in rhesus macaque monkeys that were published in the journal Nature showed that it provided complete or near complete protection against virus infection in the lungs and nose.
Like several other phase 3 trials that are underway, its main goal is to test whether the vaccine can prevent symptomatic Covid-19.
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