Africa CDC calls for vaccine production transparency

Morocco received on Friday a shipment of 600,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as it expands its inoculation campaign to younger people amid a recent surge in new cases, said Said Afif, a member of the health ministry’s scientific committee.

Four countries in Africa have entered their fourth wave of surging COVID-19 infections.

Global pharmaceutical firms should license production of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa rather than just do piecemeal contract deals, an African Union special envoy said on Thursday.

Nigeria will restart COVID-19 inoculations on August 16 after taking delivery of 4 million doses of Moderna vaccine, with shipments of Johnson & Johnson shots also due imminently.

Health authorities in Guinea have confirmed one death from Marburg virus, a highly infectious hemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola, the World Health Organization said on Monday.

Egypt on Monday received its first shipment of one-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines, obtaining 261 600 doses in cooperation with the African Union, the health ministry said.

Incident manager for COVID-19 response at the WHO's regional office for Africa Dr Ann Fortin says the biggest threat facing the fight against the pandemic is misinformation about the vaccines. She adds and that the shortages of vaccinations on the continent add to the threat.

The Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) on Wednesday published a commentary, saying that virus origin study should not be limited to one country and one region.

At Dalal Jamm hospital in Dakar, only the whooshing sound of a ventilator and beeps from a monitor indicated that the pregnant COVID-19 patient in the intensive care bed was still alive.

African Union officials said on Thursday that the body had begun shipping COVID-19 vaccine doses acquired from Johnson & Johnson , but they raised alarm at the pace of total deliveries to a region where only 1.5% of people are fully vaccinated.

The Africa Centre for Disease Control has finally secured a predictable source of COVID-19 vaccines for the continent.

Botswana President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi has appealed to  US President Joe Biden to assist with COVID-19 vaccines.

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara has decided to self-isolated after coming into contact with someone who later tested positive for COVID-19, his office said in a statement on Tuesday.

African countries will begin rapid mass testing for Covid-19 in a bid to stem rising cases, even as thirty one countries on the continent battle a third wave of infections.

Morocco will lengthen its night curfew, starting two hours earlier at 9 pm from Tuesday, as it tightens restrictions to counter a surge of coronavirus infections.

With rising cases of the Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Nigeria, there is heightened concern about how well the country is prepared to deal with them. The Conversation Africa’s Wale Fatade asked public health expert Doyin Odubanjo what Nigeria should do.

 Nigeria has been hit by a surge in cholera cases in recent weeks, focused on the country's north and adding to a public health crisis accompanied by a rise in COVID-19 cases.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Friday partially eased a tight lockdown imposed 42 days ago to help stem a raging second wave of COVID-19, including re-opening some markets and shopping centres in towns.

The World Health Organisation says more focus should be directed to the African continent to ensure that more than 30 per cent of the population is vaccinated by the end of this year.

Kenya's health minister Mutahi Kagwe says government has suspended all in-person meetings and public gatherings country wide to try to contain COVID-19.

Idrissa Lo rushed back to Senegal from the United States when family members started falling sick with COVID-19 and dying.

The World Health Organisation has warned that countries should not be complacent with the record of low COVID-19 infection numbers.

Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan and other government officials received their COVID-19 vaccine at the launch of the country's inoculation campaign.

 Nigeria expects to take delivery of 29 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in August, allowing it to ramp up its vaccination programme just as a third wave of infections takes hold, the health minister said.

The Tanzanian government has officially banned concerts, festivals, and unnecessary gatherings in a bid to contain the transmission of COVID-19. It has also directed everyone to use public transportation and social distance as the country tries to rein in a third wave of the virus.

Tanzania has set up COVID-19 testing centres in the tourist city of Arusha in the north of the country. The new testing centres are expected to cater to tourists and residents in a region of the country that attracts visitors from across the globe.

Algeria will reimpose restrictions on gatherings from Monday to cope with a rapid spread of the more infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus that has led to an increase in the number of patients, the prime minister’s office said.

 Hundreds of protesters rallied in the Tunisian capital and other cities on Sunday demanding the government step down after a spike in COVID-19 cases that has aggravated economic troubles.

Tunisia recorded 317 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, a daily record since the start of the pandemic, the health ministry said on Saturday.

 Uganda has spent over $30.2 million on buying new vehicles for lawmakers, a move that has been slammed by critics who depict it as profligacy in a country struggling to buy vaccines to stem a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.