From Senegal through Ghana to Cameroon, small-scale fishing is both a livelihood and a way of life for people in coastal parts of West and Central Africa, with more than two million…
Month: June 2022
Five actions to prepare African countries better for the next pandemic
Globally, cases of COVID-19 and related deaths are lower in June 2022 than they were at the beginning of the year. But the infection numbers are rising. Africa is no exception. The…
Should you get a COVID-19 booster shot now or wait until fall? Two immunologists help weigh the options
While COVID-19 vaccines continue to be highly effective at preventing hospitalization and death, it has become clear that the protection offered by the current vaccines wanes over time. This necessitates the use…
Male voices dominated South African COVID reporting: that has to change
The onset of the COVID pandemic and the many months of uncertainty, anxiety and push for scientific breakthroughs sent journalists all over the world on the hunt for expert voices. They wanted…
Misinformation will be rampant when it comes to COVID-19 shots for young children – here’s what you can do to counter it
When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorsed both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for all children ages 6 months to 5 years on June 18, 2022, it opened the…
At last, COVID-19 shots for little kids – 5 essential reads
For many parents of kids under age 5, a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine could not come soon enough. A full year and a half after shots first became available for adults,…
Trouble paying bills can take a heavy toll on fathers’ mental health, leading to family conflict
The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea For families on low incomes, difficulty paying utility bills, rent, mortgage or health care costs set the stage…
South Africa’s economy has taken some heavy body blows: can it recover?
Economists are growing increasingly concerned about South Africa’s economy. This is because the country’s three major macroeconomic problems – lacklustre economic growth, growing inflation and very high unemployment – have been exacerbated…
Unvaccinated South Africans told us why they weren’t interested in having COVID jabs
South Africa is currently facing a new wave of infections related to the much higher transmissibility of the omicron COVID variant and its sub-variants. The most recent spike has had similar characteristics…