Weekly Health News Highlights

Tests of HIV vaccine using mRNA technology have begun

By New Vision; 

Testing in humans of an HIV vaccine that uses messenger RNA technology has begun, the biotech firm Moderna and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative said Thursday.

https://www.newvision.co.ug/articledetails/125531/tests-of-hiv-vaccine-using-mrna-technology-ha 

Pfizer and BioNTech start trials of new Omicron-specific jab

By BBC;

Pfizer and BioNTech have started clinical trials of a new Covid vaccine that targets the Omicron variant. The companies plan to test the protection gained from the new vaccine as a booster jab and as three separate jabs in unvaccinated people.

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-60131986 

People spending more time to get Covid vaccine shots

By Daily Monitor; 

Difficulty to access vaccines is also coming at a time when some government agencies and other employers are either planning or have started implementing Covid vaccination mandates where the unvaccinated are barred from accessing services or working.   

https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/magazines/healthy-living/people-spending-more-time-to-get-covid-vaccine-shots-3696100 

Small period changes after Covid jab seen to be short-lived

By BBC; 

Small changes to periods can follow a Covid vaccine but they quickly return to normal, a leading UK menstruation expert has said. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-60139091 

Firewood; Is Uganda burning its way to extinction?

By InfoNile; 

Here, trees are bleeding. It is a painful death as the sharp tooth blade cuts through the thick trees that have sucked carbon out of mother earth.

https://www.infonile.org/en/2022/01/firewood-is-uganda-burning-its-way-to-extinction/ 

United States donates more COVID-19 vaccine doses to Uganda

By New Vision; 

The United States government has delivered 1,684,800 more doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to Uganda. Combined with previous donations, the United States has now provided Uganda with more than 11 million COVID-19 vaccine doses.

https://www.newvision.co.ug/articledetails/125693/united-states-donates-more-covid-19-vaccine-d

Uganda losing 17 people to Covid-19 every day as the economy fully reopens

By the Independent; 

The Ministry of Health is now banking on personal responsibility to curb the transmission of COVID-19 as the economy fully reopens. 

https://www.independent.co.ug/uganda-losing-17-people-to-covid-19-everyday-as-economy-fully-reopens/ 

Rotarians ask hospitals to cut costs for kidney treatment

By Daily Monitor; 

Rotarians have asked hospitals in Uganda to cut costs for patients on dialysis, saying many are failing to afford the treatment and are dying from chronic kidney disease and related complications.

https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/rotarians-ask-hospitals-to-cut-costs-for-kidney-treatment-3698770 

Ministry of health plans Covid-19 vaccination in schools as cases start piling

By The Independent; 

Although the majority of COVID-19 vaccines were initially approved for use in adults aged 18-years and above, an increasing number of vaccines are now also being authorized for use in children. So far, countries have received approval to use Pfizer-BioNTech in children ages 5-15 years old, and full approval to use in people ages 16 years and older 

https://www.independent.co.ug/ministry-of-health-plans-covid-19-vaccination-in-schools-as-cases-start-piling/