Two studies offered new hope of a potential vaccine for the novel coronavirus, as the World Health Organization warned about a possible acceleration of the disease in Africa.
Seven months after COVID-19 was first identified in China and has since killed more than 600,000 people worldwide and battered economies, there is growing alarm over fresh outbreaks of the disease.
Until recently, Africa had remained relatively unscathed by the pandemic compared to other parts of the world.
But the situation has become increasingly worrying, particularly in South Africa, where the death toll passed 5,000 mark and the number of infections reached 350,000 at the weekend.
The WHO’s emergencies chief Michael Ryan told a virtual news conference in Geneva that the situation in South Africa could be seen as “a warning” for what the rest of the continent might have in store.
One trial among more than 1,000 adults in Britain found that a vaccine-induced “strong antibody and T cell immune responses” against the coronavirus.
