https://newsletter.en.creamermedia.com
Africa|Botswana
Africa|Botswana
africa|botswana

South Africa working at ‘lightning speed’ on new virus variant

Covid-19 vaccines in South Africa

Photo by Reuters

26th November 2021

By: Bloomberg

  

Font size: - +

South African scientists are working “at lightning speed” to ascertain how quickly the concerning new coronavirus variant can spread and whether it is resistant to Covid-19 vaccines.

Results will still take at least two weeks, Tulio de Oliveira, a bio-informatics professor who runs gene-sequencing institutions and advises the government on the pandemic, said by phone on Friday. Institutions are breeding the virus and then experimenting on it, he said, not just in South Africa but around the world.

“I am very, very worried,” he said of the virus variant, which has more mutations than earlier incarnations and has already been detected in Botswana and Hong Kong.

While the variant has still only been identified in a relatively small number of cases, the fears expressed by scientists have reverberated around the world. The UK has banned flights from South Africa and five neighboring countries ahead of placing them on its so-called red list, which requires hotel quarantine. Stocks, Treasury yields and oil all sank while the rand weakened to a one-year low.

Edited by Bloomberg

Article Enquiry

Email Article

Save Article

Feedback

To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Comments

Showroom

Columbus Stainless
Columbus Stainless

Columbus Stainless, based in Middelburg, Mpumalanga, is Africa’s only producer of stainless steel flat products. In addition, Columbus is the only...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Invincible Valves
Invincible Valves

Established in 1982, Invincible Valves is a medium-sized enterprise in Germiston, serving global and local markets.

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Magazine round up | 05 December 2025
Magazine round up | 05 December 2025
5th December 2025

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







301

sq:0.112 0.199s - 166pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now