Africa 54 - January 6, 2021

You are watching Africa 54, your daily news and feature magazine-style program, from the Voice of America. Host Esther Githui-Ewart and a team of correspondents zero in on the big stories making news on the continent and around the world with context and analysis. Top Stories: Central African Republic's incumbent President Faustin Archange-Touadera has been re-elected in a poll that took place under the threat of rebel violence. A variant of the coronavirus first detected in South Africa is unlikely to completely negate the immunizing effects of vaccines, according to a researcher. British scientists are expressing concern that COVID-19 vaccines may not be able to protect against the variant identified by South African genomics scientists and which has now spread internationally. South African researchers are studying the effects of mutations in the variant, including whether natural immunity from exposure to older variants provides protection against reinfection by the new variant. Scientists have identified more than 20 mutations in the new variant, including several in the spike protein the virus uses to infect human cells. South has recorded more than 1.1 million COVID-19 cases and more than 30-thousand deaths, the most on the African continent, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Zimbabwe is now under a tight COVID-19 lockdown for 30 days. The new restrictions started on Tuesday as the government tries to curb rising coronavirus cases. All public gatherings, except funerals, have been suspended -- and an overnight curfew that previously began at 10pm now begins at 6pm. New covid-19 infections almost doubled between November and December. During the new level-4 lockdown, only essential services such as medical, supermarkets, mining, house, and farm workers can report for duty. Britain entered another strict national lockdown Tuesday, amid a sudden and sharp resurgence in cases of covid-19 linked to a new variant of the coronavirus. More than two-thirds of the 15 million coronavirus vaccines shipped within the United States have so far gone unused. As VOA’s Mariama Diallo reports, some states are vowing to penalize hospitals that fail to dispense shots quickly enough. U.S. farmers entered 2020 cheered by an easing of America’s trade war with china that had disrupted lucrative agricultural exports. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports, any optimism was short-lived as farmers weathered a year of upheaval, thanks to whipsaw market fluctuations brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Control of the U.S. Senate hung in the balance Wednesday with the result of one of two runoff elections in the southern state of Georgia still too close to call. Democrats moved closer to regaining control of the chamber with the Reverend Raphael Warnock’s projected defeat of Senator Kelly Loeffler in one of Tuesday’s elections. U.S. media organizations called the race with Warnock leading Loeffler by a slim margin and nearly all ballots counted. In the second election, Democrat Jon Ossoff, a television documentary producer, is leading over Republican David Perdue, who is seeking a second six-year term in office. More than 60 technology hubs have raised millions of dollars in funding. For more on the tech scene in Nigeria, Africa 54’s Paul Ndiho spoke to David Alozie, a disruptive innovations technologies consultant in Lagos. Creative minds in the state of Georgia are using 3D printing technology to replicate ancient treasures and create new ones. #CentralAfricanRepublic #FaustinArchangeTouadera #Elections #Nigeria #COVID19 #Coronavirus #SouthAfrica #Zimbabwe #UnitedStates #Senate #Congress #Republican #Democrat #Technology #3D #Lagos