COVID-19 PANDEMI

Eritrea is the only country on the African continent that has not yet started vaccinating its citizens against COVID-19 as part of a national campaign. According to national media reports, after the vaccination campaign started in Tanzania on July 28 and Burundi announced that it would also vaccinate itself, Eritrea is now the only country on the continent that has not planned a COVID-19 vaccination campaign. Although Tanzania and Burundi say "yes" to the vaccine with the help of the international…

Tunisia's parliamentary speaker Rached Ghannouchi was discharged from hospital after undergoing medical checks, his party in Ennahdha said in a statement on Sunday. The party said Ghannouchi was admitted to hospital on Saturday after feeling unwell. Ghannouchi "left the hospital after undergoing medical check-ups and receiving treatment," the statement said. His adviser, Maher Medhioub, also confirmed on Twitter that Parliament's speakers were in good health, but gave no further details. Last month,…

While many countries' fight against the coronavirus pandemic is already being challenged by vaccine shortages and weak healthcare infrastructure, doubts about the available vaccines in Africa are also slowing down inoculation, which serves as another obstacle to reducing the number of new cases. When Edith Serem received her COVID-19 vaccination last month at a Nairobi hospital where she works as a doctor, nurses jokingly warned that she could start speaking a foreign language. Serem said some…

The election of the Republic of Congo has resulted in Congolese opposition presidential candidate Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas winning - who died of COVID-19 on election day last month - according to results declared by his party, the Union of Democratic Humanists (UDH-) Yuki). The President of the Republic of the Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso, who has held power for a cumulative 36 years, won re-election on March 21 with as much as 88.57% of the vote, according to the Interior Minister, quoting figures from…

The African Union (AU) has reached an agreement with Johnson & Johnson to supply the continent with up to 400 million single doses of its COVID-19 vaccine starting in the third quarter of this year, the manufacturer said on Monday. The virus has killed nearly 121,000 people across Africa and infected 4.18 million. The J&J unit Janssen Pharmaceutica NV has entered into a deal with the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) to deliver 220 million doses of its single-dose shot. AVAT was able to order an…

Developing countries such as African countries and Brazil announced that they will continue to use the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, despite the fact that the AstraZeneca vaccine has been discontinued in several European countries in the past week. There are not many options for each country when it comes to vaccination for economic reasons. As it stands now, it is either AstraZeneca or nothing for some poorer countries. The vaccine from the English-language pharmaceutical manufacturer is cheaper and…

Tanzanian police have arrested a man for circulating posts saying President John Magufuli is in poor health. Magufuli has not been seen in public in two weeks and triggered unconfirmed reports from opposition leaders that he is unhealthy and unable to work. At least one man has been arrested for allegedly spreading false reports that Magufuli was seriously ill in the Kinondoni area of ​​Dar es Salaam, Kinondoni Regional Police Commissioner Ramadhani Kingai said at a news conference on Saturday. "There…

Opposition politicians are questioning the health of Tanzania's COVID-19 denying President John Magufuli, as he has not been seen in public for more than a week and at least one official close to him has recently died. Magufuli was last seen in public on February 27 at the inauguration ceremony of the country's foreign minister at the State House office in Dar es Salaam, the East African country's largest city. Magufuli's absence is unusual because he is known for frequent public speeches and…

After fighting the virus for a year, healthcare workers in South Africa are breathing a cautious relief as cases across the country fall. Although they have reason to celebrate, medical staff are worried about a likely imminent wave of infections in the coming months. "We are relieved now because the number is down and the patients are no longer so sick," nurse Constance Mathibela told Agence France-Presse (AFP) at Thembisa Hospital, in a township east of Johannesburg. After the epidemic struck, the…

More African countries received the long-awaited first deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines on Wednesday, with Kenya and Rwanda benefiting from the global COVAX initiative aimed at securing doses for the world's low- and middle-income countries. African and other health officials have been frustrated by the sight of a handful of rich countries rolling out vaccines after taking large quantities for themselves. "We will be known as the continent COVID" if Africa does not quickly reach its goal of vaccinating…