In Senegal, cases tested positive for Covid-19 are soaring with 121 new cases registered on Tuesday, July 6, a positivity rate of almost 10%. Authorities warn of “a third wave”. During the last Council of Ministers, on Monday 5 July, the head of state demanded that the restrictions on the meetings be limited. The Ministry of Health still trusts vaccination to cope with the pandemic, but the doses are lacking.
as reported from Dakar, Charlotte idrac
No AstraZeneca vaccine available at most Dakar health centers, agents simply reply: “come back later”. Hard to understand for those who came on the date of a second dose. There is a shortage, confirms doctor El Hadj Mamadou Ndiaye, head of prevention at the Ministry of Health. “We should be able to be comfortable if the global calendar for our partners, especially Covax, had not been disrupted due to what was happening in India. The increase in India has affected the delivery schedule (Editor’s note: AstraZeneca doses distributed in Senegal as part of the Covax initiative are produced in India). We estimate that we will have enough doses during the month of July or no later than August. We are waiting for new deliveries ”.
Tabaski is approaching …
President Macky Sall paralyzed “the vaccinationalism of the big countries.” The head of state who also called for demonstrations and official events “in sobriety” after economic tours that have lost crowds in the eastern and northern part of the country. Is the latest increase linked to the four variants circulating in Senegal? “No, no, that’s not a percentage that would explain a spread. We could not get support from the population for essential preventive methods: wearing a mask, removing, washing hands, etc. “, continues Dr. El Hadj Mamadou Ndiaye.
A relaxation and a risk of a third wave that worried the health authorities, especially approaching the big Muslim festival Tabaski.
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