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Two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine appear to provide 70 percent protection against hospitalisation from the Omicron coronavirus variant , according to an extensive real-world study in South Africa.

The analysis released on Tuesday by South Africa’s largest private health insurance administrator, Discovery Health, was based on more than 211,000 positive Covid-19 test results of adults from November 15 to December 7, about 78,000 of which were attributed to Omicron.

The 78,000 results are not confirmed Omicron cases, meaning the study is not able to draw conclusive findings about the new strain, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has labelled a “variant of concern”.

The discovery of Omicron was first announced in November by scientists in South Africa, and the country is the first to experience a surge in Covid-19 driven by the Omicron variant.

BREAKING [Thread]: 1. SA’s first real-world data on #Pfizer ’s #Covid19 jab’s protection @ #Omicron infection + hospitalisation via @Discovery_SA + @MRCza

Note: This is data from the 1st 3 weeks of the outbreak, so it might change – regard it as preliminary real-world data

Mia Malan (@miamalan) December 14, 2021

South African scientists have so far confirmed about 550 Omicron sequences, with the variant accounting for 78 percent of sequences from November, a higher share than the previously dominant Delta variant.

The discovery of a new strain of the coronavirus last month triggered alarm that it could cause another surge in global infections, and led many countries to impose travel restrictions on the southern Africa region.

South Africa’s daily infections have since risen to almost 20,000 in recent days.

Based on analysis by Discovery’s clinical research and actuarial teams, and in collaboration with South Africa’s Medical Research Council (SAMRC), the real-world study calculated that two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech offered 70 percent protection against hospitalisation during the recent surge in cases and 33 percent protection against infection.

The level of protection is high considering that the WHO renders a Covid vaccine effective if it provides 50 percent protection .

The study cites data gathered from the first three weeks of South Africa’s Omicron-driven wave and may change as time passes.

The researchers emphasised that its findings are preliminary and not peer-reviewed. South Africa is using the Pfizer-BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson vaccines in its Covid-19 immunisation campaign, with more than 20 million Pfizer doses administered so far.

It concluded that there was a higher risk of reinfection during the fourth wave than during previous waves and that the risk of hospitalisation among adults diagnosed with Covid-19 was 29 percent lower than during the country’s first wave early last year.

Children appeared to have a 20 percent higher risk of hospital admission with complications during the fourth wave than during the first, despite a very low absolute incidence, it said. Discovery cautioned that the study’s findings should be considered preliminary.

Glenda Gray, SAMRC president, said it was important that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine appeared to be offering good protection against severe disease and hospitalisation.

Two senior state officials have briefly appeared in court on charges of corruption and defeating the administration of justice.

Suspended head of the Mpumalanga human settlements department, Kebone Masange, and former acting Director of Public Prosecutions in Mpumalanga, Matric Luphondo, briefly appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Monday.

The case was transferred to the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria where the trial will be held from 23 May to 17 June 2022.

During their court appearance, the indictment and copies of the docket were handed to the accused.

The court also reminded the accused not to communicate or interfere with State witnesses, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said.

Masange, who was born in Zimbabwe, was arrested in September 2020 on charges of fraud, possession of fraudulent documents and contravention of the Immigration Act, News24 previously reported.

It is alleged that he was in the country illegally and used fraudulent documents in his application for the head of department position. Luphondo allegedly colluded with Masange to make the criminal charges against him disappear.

Mahanjana added: "The pair are facing three counts of corruption, five counts of defeating the administration of justice, two counts of corruption by a member of the NPA and one count of conspiracy to commit corruption.

"The matter was postponed to 3 February 2022 for pre-trial [proceedings] to ascertain readiness of the parties to proceed with the trial," Mahanjana said.

The Free State Department of Health "is alarmed by the rapid rise" of Covid-19 cases in the province.

It says cases have increased in the Mangaung, Lejweleputswa, Fezile Dabi, Thabo Mofutsanyana and Xhariep municipalities.

"The rapid rise in numbers precedes the projected fourth wave of infections, with Omicron emerging as a new variant of concern that is understood to be spreading faster than the previous variants," department spokesperson Mondli Mvambi said.

The province has recorded 173 348 cases, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).

On Monday, the province recorded 647 new cases - 5% of all the cases in the country. The provincial health department previously raised its concern about travellers transmitting the new variant in the province.

The Free State is connected to five national key roads and borders six other provinces.

"All users of these roads pass through the Free State and may bring infections to the Free State or acquire infections from the Free State to their provinces," Mondli Mvambi previously told News24.

To date, 1 564 126 vaccines have been administered in the Free State, with 993 025 people having received at least one dose of the vaccine.

"Healthcare workers, the working population, professionals and every member of the community have been warned by provincial health authorities to take all the necessary precautions to prevent the spread of Covid-19 through adherence to established non-pharmaceutical interventions and taking the vaccine," Mvambi said.

Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse has finalised her mayoral committee, with the DA only securing four seats on the 10-seat mayoral committee.

Phalatse's executive committee was announced on Monday following weeks of coalition negotiations between the DA and other political parties.

In an indication of how tough the negotiations were, the DA only managed to secure four seats.

The remainder of the six mayco seats have been divided among other political parties, with ActionSA securing three seats. The ACDP, Freedom Front Plus and the IFP each secured one seat.

The composition of the executive:

Finance - Julie Suddaby (DA)

Group Corporate and Shared Services - Leah Knott (DA)

Transport - Funzela Ngobeni (ActionSA)

Development Planning - Belinda Echeozonjoku (DA)

Housing - Mlungisi Providence Mabaso (IFP)

Economic Development - Nkuli Mbundu (ActionSA)

Health and Social Development - Franco De Lange (FF+)

Community Development - Ronald Winston Harris (ACDP)

Environment and Infrastructure Service Delivery - Michael Sun (DA)

Public Safety - David Thembe (ActionSA)

Phalatse said this was a multi-party majority coalition government with 136 seats in the council, enough to pass legislation.

In defending the decision to negotiate a coalition, Phalatse said all political parties involved had their interests, which influenced the direction of negotiations.

Phalatse said the coalition was a 10-party agreement, but that not all political parties had been awarded positions.

She said the city's council had over 10 chairperson positions, which were likely to be awarded to other political parties.

Johannesburg is the latest hung metro finalised after Ekurhuleni Mayor Tania Campbell appointed her committee on 11 December.

Tshwane remains the only metro in the province yet to finalise a coalition agreement.

ActionSA has bagged two mayoral committee positions in the City of Ekurhuleni.

Ekurhuleni Mayor Tania Campbell appointed Letta Charlotte Zitha as the health and social development MMC, and Victor Letlhogonolo Moseki was appointed to head the community safety portfolio.

Zitha and Moseki, who are ActionSA councillors, were appointed after Campbell's announcement on 11 December of her ten-member mayoral committee was short of two positions.

The other positions have been divided among councillors from the DA, IFP and Cope.

They are:

Finance – Graham Gersbach (DA)

Transport planning – Alco Ngobese (IFP)

Water, sanitation and energy – Senzi Sibeko (DA)

Infrastructure services – Themba Kalipa (Congress of the People)

Corporate and shared services – Ruhan Robinson (DA)

Human settlements – Mabekenyane Thamahane (DA)

City planning – Heather Hart (DA)

Environment and waste management – Andre du Plessis (DA)

Campbell said the committee would begin work to "charter a new path of renewed hope for the communities of Ekurhuleni".

"Together, as a multi-party coalition, we are dedicated to fast-tracking service delivery and infrastructure revitalisation across Ekurhuleni, she said.

The announcement comes after a long drawn-out coalition process in which the DA negotiated with a variety of political parties for roles in Tshwane, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni.

The DA saw its councillors' elected mayors in Gauteng's big metros but was set to govern without a majority unless it reached out to other parties.

A South African panel recommended the country gradually implement a basic income grant, beginning with the institutionalization of a monthly welfare payment introduced last year to offset damage wrought by the coronavirus pandemic.

“There is no alternative to a system of income support for income-compromised adults from the ages of 18-59 as a permanent part of the social protection framework,” Alex van den Heever, the chair of social security systems administration and management studies at the University of Witwatersrand and a member of the panel, said Monday. The panel was appointed by the Department of Social Development, the International Labour Organization and the United Nations-backed Joint Sustainable Development Goals Fund.

The monthly welfare payment of 350 rand ($21.82), which was reintroduced after civil unrest in July, is set to end in March.

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana last month resisted calls by civil-society groups for increased welfare spending and for the introduction of a basic income grant -- a policy business organizations say is unaffordable. The National Treasury has said it will only set aside additional funds for social relief if state finances improve by February.

While about 18 million South Africans, or a third of the population, receive welfare payments, most of those come in the form of old-age pensions and child support payments. South Africa is the world’s most unequal nation, according to the Thomas Piketty-backed World Inequality Lab.

Researchers at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) briefed the media on Friday on some of the organisation’s research, development and innovation (RDI) efforts aimed at addressing the HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis (TB) epidemics in South Africa.

CSIR researcher Dr Advaita Singh shed light on an innovative plant-based, highly potent anti-HIV antibodies research initiative.

“The CSIR’s plant-based anti-HIV antibodies research is aimed at developing a cost-effective pre prophylaxis vaccine which will passively immunise against HIV/AIDS, pre and post exposure. This initiative was inspired by the desire to empower young girls and women to protect themselves against the virus as studies have indicated that women are theoretically, at higher risk of HIV acquisition,” said Singh.

Working with the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), the CSIR is developing broadly neutralising antibodies against HIV-1, the most widespread human immunodeficiency virus, for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS.

CSIR scientists and their research partners were able to demonstrate the ability to engineer tobacco plants to produce unique glycosylation and rare sulfation post-translational modifications, a result that is not usually seen in plants. Glycosylation is a biochemical process during which a glycan – a large carbohydrate molecule – attaches to a protein, a lipid, or another organic molecule.

The glycoengineered Nicotiana benthamiana (a relative of the tobacco plant) expressed two broadly neutralising antibodies named CAP256-VRC26 08 and CAP256-VRC26 09. These two antibodies were originally isolated by collaboration Aids research centre CAPRISA and the NICD from a South African HIV positive patient during a trial conducted by CAPRISA.

The outcome showed that the antibodies from the CAP256 lineage were the most active, with high potency and broad specificity.

“We still have a number of steps to get through, as the research process commonly requires, before this technology is available in the market, however, the CSIR and its partners intends on making it accessible to patients through an industry partner once it is ready,” added Singh.

Another technology presented by the CSIR at the media briefing aims to provide rural areas with a diagnostic assay that will test for HIV and TB simultaneously using one device in the comfort of the patient’s home.

CSIR lab technician Kanyane Malatji provided insight into a multiplex HIV and TB point-of-care diagnostic test being developed for use in remote and rural areas.

“The effective management of patients infected with HIV and TB is restricted by separate diagnoses. The situation is exacerbated in remote areas where patients must either travel long distances to reach a healthcare facility or wait a long time before obtaining their TB diagnostic results. Therefore, through our multiplex HIV and TB point-of-care diagnostic assay, we hope to mitigate these challenges with the objective of improving treatment outcomes for patients in rural areas,” said Malatji.

The locally developed diagnostic test uses a solid surface that couples the HIV and TB antigens and makes use of a locally produced fluorescence detector.

“The benefits of this technology are that it offers a cost-effective solution with a low turnaround time of approximately 2 hours. Additionally, no laboratory infrastructure is required, the device is easy to use and can be performed at point-of-care without highly trained personnel,” added Malatji.

The CSIR’s multiplex HIV and TB point-of-care diagnostic assay is funded by government and the plant-based anti-HIV antibodies research work is funded by the Department of Science and Innovation and the South African Medical Research Council.

South Africa will offer booster doses of the Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Covid-19 vaccines as the Omicron coronavirus variant drives daily infections towards record highs.

Pfizer boosters will be available to people six months after they receive their second dose, with the first people becoming eligible late this month, the South Africa health department's deputy-director general, Nicholas Crisp, told a news conference.

J&J boosters, already available to health workers in a research study, will be rolled out to the general population soon, he added.

South Africa reported more than 22 000 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, a record during a fourth wave of infections driven by the Omicron variant but still below a peak of more than 26 000 daily cases during the third wave driven by the Delta variant.

Addressing the same news conference, Health Minister Joe Phaahla said there were positive signs from early hospital data showing that Omicron appears to be causing mainly mild infections.

Glenda Gray, president of the South African Medical Research Council, said there were far more unvaccinated people among current hospital admissions.

On the Pfizer vaccine, she said: "We are seeing this vaccine is maintaining effectiveness. It may be slightly reduced, but we are seeing effectiveness being maintained for hospital admissions and that is very encouraging."

Up to 70% of sampled Covid-19 cases in the last month were as a result of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

In a digital briefing on Friday, Health Minister Joe Phaahla said Omicron was fast becoming the dominant variant in South Africa, overtaking the Delta variant.

Omicron has now been identified in 57 countries around the world.

He added that the reproductive number of the virus (the number of people who are likely to be infected by one person) was 2.5 - higher than it was at any other point in the pandemic.

"Omicron has driven the resurgence in South Africa," Phaahla said.

He added that 90 000 cases had been reported in all provinces in just under a month. On Thursday, there were more than 22 000 new infections.

He also said that 70 % of the samples sequenced since November, showed Omicron as the dominant variant.

Phaahla added that so far, it appeared that patients who were admitted to hospital during the fourth Covid-19 wave experienced a less severe form of the disease.

He said, "Scientists have been conducting rapid research to better understand many aspects of the Omicron variant, including how well this variant transmits and whether it can escape some of our immunity."

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases' (NICD) Michelle Groome said during the briefing that the country's seven-day moving average was more than 13 000. This was being driven primarily by increased cases in Gauteng, especially among younger age groups.

"We've seen a dramatic increase - much higher than in the second or third waves," she said.

She added that there were slight increases in the hospitalisation rate, primarily due to admissions in Gauteng.

Dr Mathabo Mathebula, CEO of Pretoria's Steve Biko Academic Hospital, said hospital admissions appeared to be for age groups where there was lower vaccine coverage.

However, she said, there were early indications that fewer patients require oxygen or ventilation once hospitalised. The length of hospital stays has also shortened.

However, Groome cautioned that due to the sharp increase in cases, hospitalisations could increase over the next few weeks and result in different data.

Gauteng continues to record the highest number of daily new Covid-19 cases in the country.

While the province accounted for 59% of all new cases on Wednesday, hospitalisations and deaths still remained low.

On Wednesday, Gauteng recorded 11 703 of the 19 842 new cases in the country. The highest number of new daily cases ever recorded in the province was 16 361 on 3 July.

Also on 3 July, the country recorded its highest number of new daily cases at 26 552. At the time, the dominant variant was Delta. Currently, it is Omicron.

Wednesday also marked the day that the fourth wave nationally overtook the peak of the first wave, which was 13 944 daily new cases.

As the numbers climb, hospitals have been seeing a different picture from the previous waves.

The number of hospitalisations is rising slower than in previous waves, with 374 new hospital admissions on Wednesday. In total, 4 252 people were in public and private hospitals for Covid-19.

Vaccination seems to have also impacted the number of people being admitted. According to the health department, 14 980 211 adults are fully vaccinated, and 680 952 children have received one vaccine dose.

"From our admission data, currently 25% of admitted patients with Covid-19 have been vaccinated against Covid-19, with only 16% of ICU admissions being vaccinated," said Dr Gerrit de Villiers, chief clinical officer of Mediclinic Southern Africa.

According to De Villiers, while more data was still needed to understand the Omicron variant, most people had milder disease than in previous waves.

De Villiers said, "At this time, we are seeing more cases coming through to our emergency centres, but only a few require admission for further care."

Last week, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said more children were affected by the virus than in previous waves. De Villiers said they saw a similar trend at their hospitals.

"The patient profile for this wave includes younger patients and children under 12 years, which is significant in comparison to the previous three waves. These younger patients are overall not critically ill. We are also noting a number of asymptomatic patients, who were identified through testing on admission for other non-related procedures," De Villiers said.