2oceansvibe News | South African and international news

Sponsored by RSAWeb rss
2ov Radio
  • Home
  • About
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Seth Rotherham
  • Lifestyle & Hospitality
  • Café du Cap
  • Cabine du Cap
  • Media Packs / Advertising
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Anonymous Tips
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
Seth Rotherham
  • Discovery CEO Reckons Half Of SA Has Already Had COVID-19

    17 Feb 2021 by Carrie in COVID-19, Health, Lifestyle, South Africa
    Related Posts
    • Not Getting The Vaccine? Travel Will Become A Problem For You
    • 'A Bra Full Of Vomit' And Other Pandemic Dating Horror Stories 
    • International Fake Vaccine Smuggling Syndicate Traced To Gauteng Warehouse [Images] 
    • Bad News For SA's 2021 Herd Immunity Plans
    • Welcome To Alert Level 1! These Are The New Lockdown Rules

    [imagesource:here]

    On February 15, Discovery CEO Adrian Gore reached out to medical scheme members to answer some pressing questions about COVID-19 vaccines, that had been flooding in since the first batch touched down on South African soil.

    You may recall the farcical coverage of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrival, which was repeated again last night as the Johnson & Johnson vaccines landed.

    Gore said that rolling out the vaccines was a “crucial, complex process with many unknowns”.

    He went on to stress the importance of helping to make the national rollout a success, given the scale of the pandemic and its tragic impact.

    “There have been over 2.3 million deaths globally, and approximately 120,000 excess natural deaths in South Africa during the period of the pandemic – most of which are almost certainly attributable to COVID-19.”

    Gore expanded on these numbers in an interview with 702, saying that more than 50% of the population have already been infected with the virus.

    BusinessTech transcribed some of that interview:

    “There is no ambiguity. If you look at the graphs of excess deaths, where it peaks up and comes down, it is absolutely around the first and second waves (seen in South Africa).”

    “It is incontrovertible that this is linked to COVID-19. If you extrapolate backwards from the mortality rate the number of people who have been infected, in our view, is probably over 50% of the country.

    Researcher and epidemiologist Professor Alex Welte agrees with this estimate in a study titled Prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among blood donors in Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, and Free State provinces of South Africa in January 2021, published last week.

    In an interview with CapeTalk, he says that half (roughly 30 million people) of the population has been infected, an estimate that arose out of antibody tests on samples taken from blood donors across four provinces between January 7 and January 25.

    He also found that there was a striking difference in the prevalence of COVID-19 between races, which he attributes to economic disparity.

    “One can only imagine this has to do with housing conditions, low-rise, high-density housing makes it difficult for people to observe [physical] distsancing.”

    “We see that amongst whites, who mainly on average live in spaced-out urban homes, the prevalence of anti-bodies was fairly low, below 20% for the most part and uniformly above 50% amongst black donors.”

    To return to Gore’s statement sent to Discovery members, he went on to address a rumour that was doing the rounds that the medical aid scheme would be funding vaccines for non-members through a cross-subsidisation agreement, which he says is “simply not true”.

    Gore also addressed members who have asked why Discovery hasn’t procured its own batch of vaccines for distribution.

    “First, there is a global shortage of vaccines, and the pharmaceutical companies manufacturing the vaccines will currently sell only to national governments, and not to any other entities. Second, there are specific risk factors that make some people more susceptible than others to severe illness and death should they contract COVID-19.”

    Not following this process would mean low-risk people get vaccinated before the clinically vulnerable, resulting in unnecessary illness and death.

    In other words, we can’t let those socio-economic disparities get in the way of vaccine distribution, especially to those who need it most.

    [sources:discovery&702&businesstech&capetalk]

    • ← Cold Brew Coffee Will Change How You Get Your Caffeine Fix
    • Thursday Morning Spice →
    • Tweet
    • Tags:
    • adrian gore
    • coronavirus
    • Covid-19
    • COVID-19 vaccine
    • discovery
    • discovery health
    • medical aid
    • Vaccine

    Latest News

    • Everybody Wants This Durban High-Rise Bashed

      [imagesource:here] 'High-rise' is more of an intention than a reality for the building ...

    • They’re Using Deepfakes As News Presenters Now [Video]

      [imagesource: MBN News] Deepfakes are here to stay, and it looks as though their usage ...

    • Bezos’ Ex-Wife, Billionaire MacKenzie Scott, Married A Teacher From Their Kids’ School

      [imagesource: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP] MacKenzie Scott (formerly Bezos) isn’t the r...

    • Tragic Ending As Car Plunges Off Chapman’s Peak

      [imagesource: David Steele / Alamy] On Friday afternoon, a vehicle with two occupants p...

    • Perseverance’s First HD Pano Of Mars Is Not To Be Missed [Video]

      [imagesource: NASA] Perseverance (Percy) and her ground team are going from strength to...


    • 2oceansvibe Partners

    • CONTACT US
    • GOT A HOT STORY?
    • 2oceansvibe Radio
    • 2oceansvibe Media
    • Media Pack
    • Seth Rotherham
    • Café du Cap
    • Cabine du Cap
    • Cape Town City Accommodation
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Business
    • Media
    • Entertainment
    • Tech/Sci
    • World
    • Travel
    • Lifestyle
    • Sport
    • Politics
  • Follow

    2oceansvibe.com is part of the 2oceansVibe Media Group

    DMMA Logo