By Grace Kuria The Democratic Republic of Congo has postponed its AstraZeneca vaccination rollout campaign, originally set to begin on Monday, March 15th. This is as a result of various countries taking similar precautionary measures over blood clot fears. DRC had received 1.7 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines. However, Health Minister Eteni Longondo said in a…
By XINHUA Somalia on Monday received the first shipment of 300,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to help contain the spread of the COVID-19 in the Horn of Africa nation. The health ministry said the first shipment will target frontline workers, the elderly and people with chronic health conditions and aims to reduce deaths and diseases caused…
By Grace Kuria The United Kingdom flag carrier airline, British Airways is calling for those who have been vaccinated to travel without restrictions. The new British Airways chief Sean Doyle also said those who have not been vaccinated should only have a negative test, referring to the company’s plans to restart travel. Doyle, who took over…
By XINHUA COVID-19 cases in Africa have amounted to 4,017,016 as of Saturday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said. The Africa CDC, the specialized healthcare agency of the African Union, said the death toll from the pandemic stood at 107,271, while 3,601,186 patients across the continent have recovered from the disease….
By Grace Kuria Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health on Saturday launched its COVID-19 vaccination rollout, with Health Care Workers being the first to be inoculated, at an event held at Eka Kotebe COVID-19 Hospital. Education Minister Dr. Getahun Mekuria said, “with the introduction of vaccines, we are now at a landmark stage in the response to COVID-19, but…
By XINHUA The National Immunization Advisory Committee of Ireland (NIAC) has recommended that the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine be temporarily suspended in the country starting from Sunday morning, said a senior Irish public health official. Ronan Glynn, deputy chief medical officer of the Irish Department of Health, said in a statement issued earlier in…
By Grace Kuria Global COVID-19 cases have on Sunday surpassed the 120 million mark, with 120,148,640 people having contracted coronavirus. 96,674,388 people have however recovered from the disease, with 2,661,323 unfortunately losing their lives to coronavirus. The latest statistics by the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) show Africa’s cases are at 4,017,016. More than…
By Reuters Richer members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) blocked a push by over 80 developing countries on Wednesday to waive patent rights in an effort to boost the production of COVID-19 vaccines for poor nations. South Africa and India renewed their bid to waive the rules of the WTO’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property…
By XINHUA The COVID-19 variant identified in South Africa is now present in Namibia, an official confirmed on Wednesday. Ben Nangombe, executive director of Namibia’s Health Ministry, made the remarks in an update of the genomic sequencing results for COVID-19 variants in Namibia. According to Nangombe, the samples sent for tests on genomic sequencing were collected…
By Reuters The United Nations’ children’s fund on Wednesday urged countries to contribute more money to help poor countries access coronavirus vaccines, saying around $1 billion was needed. UNICEF, the world’s single largest vaccine buyer, is part of the World Health Organization-backed COVAX programme to supply COVID-19 shots to emerging economies. “We have been asking the…
