Inside Covid-19: SA variant of Covid-19 - how it changes vaccine race, coping with pandemic

The South African variant of Covid-19 has changed the outlook for the way the coronavirus pandemic is likely to unfold - in SA as well as elsewhere. Scientists in South Africa say there is a "reasonable concern" that the new variant of Covid-19 sweeping across the country might prove to be more resistant to current vaccines being rolled out in the UK and elsewhere, and warn that it makes the need for a global roll-out of vaccines "even more critical”. In this episode of Inside Covid-19, we have a special interview with one of South Africa’s leading scientists in the fight against Sars-CoV-2. Professor Shabir Madhi, a globally renowned professor of vaccinology at the University of the Witwatersrand has been leading trials for the vaccine in South Africa. He shares the details of the work going on behind the scenes to understand the mutations and what this means for vaccine development, the impact of the disease on people and how governments can respond to the changing threat from the disease. Also in this episode, we hear from our partners at Bloomberg on what we know about the source of the pandemic and why bats are an important host of some of humanity's most feared viruses. Plus, a snapshot of Covid-19 world headlines. - Jackie Cameron Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices