By Jerry Omondi The World Health Organization (WHO) has validated the CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech for emergency use. “Today, I’m happy to announce that the Sinovac-CoronaVac vaccine has been given WHO Emergency Use Listing after being found to be safe, effective and quality assured following two doses of the inactivated…
By XINHUA The African Union (AU) on Monday emphasized the need to scale up COVID-19 vaccines manufacturing in Africa so as to achieve universal and equitable access. The latest call was made by the Peace and Security Council of the 55-member pan-African bloc. According to the council, the manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa could be…
By Grace Kuria Rwanda now has an additional batch of 100,600 doses of COVID-19 Pfizer vaccines thanks to COVAX. Rwanda on Saturday began its second phase of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination. A total of 167,686 people have thus far received their second dose of the vaccine. In a statement, Rwanda’s ministry of health said “following a successful rollout…
By CGTN Africa Smokers have up to a 50 percent higher risk of developing severe diseases and death from COVID-19, World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General, Dr. Tedos Ghebreyesus said. The Secretary-General made the remarks on Monday in a message to commemorate World No Tobacco Day, globally marked on May 31 annually, in a bid to highlight the…
By XINHUA Ethiopia registered 145 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 271,345 as of Sunday evening, the country’s health ministry said. The ministry said 12 new deaths were reported, bringing the death toll to 4,155. Ethiopia has 29,644 active COVID-19 cases, of whom 413 are under serious health conditions,…
By AFP Hundreds of thousands of displaced people who fled Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo after a volcanic eruption are at risk of infection by cholera, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned Sunday. After the Nyiragongo volcano rumbled to life a week ago, fear of a second eruption spurred the government to issue an evacuation…
By CGTN Africa South Africa on Sunday introduced new COVID-19 restrictions to help curb the spread of the coronavirus as new cases continue to rise. “After several months of low transmission, the number of infections has begun to rise sharply in several parts of the country,’’ President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a televised address to the…
By Grace Kuria President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria on Saturday received his second dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine, at State House, Abuja. Buhari received the second dose exactly 12 weeks after the first shot was taken on March 6. The President’s inoculation was done by the Chief Personal Physician to the President, Dr. Suhayb Rafindadi Sanusi. He was…
By XINHUA The next phase of the COVID-19 fight in Africa should place emphasis on enhanced surveillance and genomic sequencing to help identify new variants and limit the virus’ transmission, scientists said Monday during a virtual forum in Nairobi. Uzma Alam, a senior program officer, Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science in Africa (DELTAS) said…
By AFP Tourists who were near the crater when the Nyiragongo volcano in the Democratic Republic Congo erupted are safe, the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN) said Sunday. Nor were the rare mountain gorillas in the Virunga National Park threatened by the eruption, the institute added. “The tourists present yesterday at the crater are safe…
