South Africa

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Jennifer Van Aernem, Director of Education at the Conway Medical Center (CMC) prepares to administer the Pfizer-issued coronavirus vaccine. The CMC took delivery of 975 doses of the Pfizer issued COVID-19 vaccination on Monday and immediately began vaccinating hospital staff. By Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, 105 workers had registered to get the two-part vaccination. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP) **FILE**

CDC: U.S. detects first case of ‘South Africa’ variant in South Carolina

By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

In this Tuesday, May 26, 2020, photo released by Nucleus Network/ABC, clinical trial participants are monitored during Novavax COVID-19 vaccine testing in Melbourne, Australia. On Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, Novavax said its vaccine appears 89% effective based on early findings from a British study and that it also seems to work — though not quite as well — against new mutated strains of the coronavirus circulating in that country and South Africa. (Patrick Rocca/Nucleus Network/ABC via AP)

Novavax COVID-19 vaccine works, but less so against variants

By Lauran Neergaard - Associated Press

A traveller wearing protective gear to help curb the spread of the coronavirus sits alone on the bench as he waits for his train at the South Train Station in Beijing, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. Efforts to dissuade Chinese from traveling for Lunar New Year appeared to be working. Beijing's main train station was largely quiet on the first day of the travel rush and estimates of passenger totals were smaller than in past years. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

The Latest: Anchorage opens up after COVID-19 drop, vaccines

By The Associated Press - Associated Press

Land is excavated to make way for more burial space in the Maitland cemetery in Cape Town, South Africa, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. The City of Cape Town is working closely with the Muslim Judicial Council to increase burial capacity as COVID-19 claims more lives in a second surge of the pandemic. (AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht)

Battling COVID-19, South Africa prepares for first vaccines

By ANDREW MELDRUM - Associated Press

South African cops investigate official for not wearing mask

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME - Associated Press

President Joe Biden departs after attending mass at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021, in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Biden orders COVID-19 travel restrictions, adds South Africa

By AAMER MADHANI and ZEKE MILLER - Associated Press

Joe Biden extends travel restrictions as fears of coronavirus variants mount

By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

South Africa mourns anti-apartheid trombonist Jonas Gwangwa

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME - Associated Press

FILE - In this Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, file photo, a Walgreens pharmacist prepares a syringe with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for residents and staff at the The Palace assisted living facility in Coral Gables, Fla. Scientists are reporting troubling signs that some recent mutations of the virus that causes COVID-19 may modestly curb the effectiveness of current vaccines but stress that the shots still remain protective. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

Some COVID-19 mutations may dampen vaccine effectiveness

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE - Associated Press

Book store worker, Dikeledi Nhlapo, holds a copy of Dorah Sitole's &quot;40 Years of Iconic Food&quot; cook book in Exclusive Books in Hyde Park Corner, Johannesburg, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021. South Africa's pioneer Black food writer Sitole, portrait on cover, who quietly defied apartheid to win respect and a wide readership for African cuisine, died January 2021, of COVID-19. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

South Africa’s trailblazing Black food writer dies of virus

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME - Associated Press

Worshipers pray in open fields, by the side of the road in Katlehong, east of Johannesburg, South Africa, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021, as faith-based gatherings, are prohibited during the level 3 COVID-19 lockdown. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

Amid COVID-19 surge, South Africa delays reopening schools

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME - Associated Press

A patient wearing an oxygen mask is treated in a makeshift emergency unit at Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria, South Africa, Monday, Jan. 11, 2021, which is battling an ever-increasing number of Covid-19 patients. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

South Africa struggles with post-holiday spike in COVID-19

By ANDREW MELDRUM and MOGOMOTSI MAGOME - Associated Press

FILE - In this Monday May 11, 2020 file photo supplied by the United States Embassy in Pretoria, shows U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Lana Marks posing with ventilators donated by the U.S. Government at OR Tambo Airport Johannesburg. Marks on Monday, Jan. 11, 2021 said she spent 10 days in a South African hospital's intensive care unit with COVID-19 and is now recuperating at her residence. (Leon Kgoedi/United States Embassy South Africa via AP)

US ambassador in South Africa better after ICU virus care

By ANDREW MELDRUM - Associated Press

A health-care worker sanitises her hands before conducting COVID-19 tests at a Dis-Chem drive-through testing station at the V&amp;A Waterfront in Cape Town, South Africa, Friday, Jan. 8, 2021. South Africa with 60 million people has reported by far the most cases of the coronavirus in Africa, with more than 1.1 million confirmed infections. (AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht)

Africa exceeds 3 million COVID-19 cases, 30% in South Africa

By ANDREW MELDRUM - Associated Press

Medical workers prepare a COVID positive patient for a CT Scan at a clinic in Johannesburg Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020. South Africa's COVID-19 spike has taken the country to more than 1 million confirmed cases with hospitals reaching capacity and no sign of the new surge reaching a peak. (AP Photo/Shiraaz Mohamed.

South Africa buys 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine

By ANDREW MELDRUM - Associated Press

A wine store in Cape Town, South Africa, displays a closed sign at it's entrance Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared the wearing of masks compulsory and has reimposed a ban on the sales of alcohol and ordered the closure of all bars and beaches as part of new restrictions to help the country battle a resurgence of the coronavirus, including a new variant. (AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht)

South Africa testing whether vaccines work against variant

By ANDREW MELDRUM - Associated Press

FILE — In this Thursday, Dec. 24, 2020 file photo, a long-distance traveller undergoes a COVID-19 test at a mobile clinic at a taxi rank at Johannesburg's main railway station. As a result of holiday gatherings, African officials warn of a resurgence of COVID-19 on the continent and urge increased testing to combat it. The level of testing across Africa is considerably less than what health experts say is needed to effectively control the spread of the disease. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell, File)

Increased testing needed as Africa sees rise in virus cases

By CARLEY PETESCH - Associated Press

Medical workers prepare a COVID positive patient for a CT Scan at a clinic in Johannesburg Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020. South Africa's COVID-19 spike has taken the country to more than 1 million confirmed cases with hospitals reaching capacity and no sign of the new surge reaching a peak. (AP Photo/Shiraaz Mohamed.

As South Africa’s virus spikes, president bans liquor sales

By ANDREW MELDRUM and MOGOMOTSI MAGOME - Associated Press

People wearing face makes to protect against the COVIS-19 walk at Trocadero plaza near Eiffel Tower in Paris, Saturday, Dec. 26, 2020. French health authorities have confirmed the country's first case of the virus variant that prompted strict new lockdown measures in Britain and global travel restrictions.(AP Photo/Michel Euler)

The Latest: Japan’s PM seeks to enforce virus measures

By The Associated Press - Associated Press

Members of the Saaberie Chishty Burial Society prepare the body of a person who died from COVID-19 at the Avalon Cemetery in Lenasia, Johannesburg Saturday Dec. 26, 2020. South Africa’s health minister has announced an “alarming rate of spread” in the country, with more than 14,000 new confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 400 deaths reported Wednesday. It was the largest single-day increase in cases. (AP Photo/Shiraaz Mohamed)

South Africa on verge of new virus rules as it hits 1M cases

By ANDREW MELDRUM - Associated Press