In this episode of COVID19 CONVERSATIONS - The Podcast Series, we talk to Professor Linda-Gail Bekker, Chief Research Officer of the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation in Cape Town. Professor Bekker is currently serving as Co-Chair of the South African arm...of the Johnson & Johnson ENSEMBLE Study.
ENSEMBLE is a Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial which plans to enroll up to 60,000 participants in eight countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, and the United States). Once it kicks off in South Africa, ENSEMBLE will become the third Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial underway in the country and on the continent.
In this conversation, Professor Bekker describes ENSEMBLE, and we discuss what makes it unique when compared with the other COVID-19 vaccine research currently underway. In addition, we explore how the many lessons learned from decades of work on HIV advocacy and research are being applied to the fight against SARS-CoV-2.
Here are some resources relevant to this conversation that might be of interest:
· COVID-19 Prevention Network (COVPN)
· COVAX: Working for global equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines
Further Reading:
· What we know about vaccine hesitancy in South Africa (Spotlight – October 7, 2020)
· COVID-19 vaccines: how to ensure Africa has access (Nature – October 6, 2020)
· Leveraging the advances in HIV for COVID-19 (Lancet – October 3, 2020)
· Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine advances, sparking optimism in race (New York Times – September 23, 2020)
Producer and Host: Maaza Seyoum, African Alliance
Guest: Professor Linda-Gail Bekker, Desmond Tutu Health Foundation
Audio Track: Bensound
Voice Over: Lebogang Mashile
Production Assistant: Vivienne Naidoo, African Alliance
Executive Producer: Tian Johnson, African Alliance
Queries: info@africanalliance.org.za
