Nigeria: Lagos kicks off Covid vaccination

 

Nigeria's Lagos state started its coronavirus vaccination campaign on Friday after receiving over 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca jab, despite concerns in some countries over the safety of the vaccine.

Lagos state health commissioner Akin Abayomi told reporters that authorities had spent a long time looking over the data and concluded that there was "no reason for us to slow down our COVID-19 vaccination response."

Some countries, mostly in Europe, have paused use of the AstraZeneca jab following sporadic reports of blood clots.

But the European Medicines Agency said there was no evidence of an increase in dangerous blood clots in connection with the shots.

Health workers and front line responders began receiving the vaccine in Lagos on Friday.

"I am very, very happy that we are advancing and the government is doing so much," said Clara Emembolu, a 74-year-old who was inoculated.

"I appreciate the government's effort in trying to secure this for our people."

Nigeria is among more than 180 countries worldwide receiving vaccines through the COVAX initiative.

 

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Zimbabwe Extends Lockdown, Dusk-to-Dawn Curfew Amid Surge in COVID19 Cases

 

Vice President Constantino Chiwenga says Zimbabwe is in the process of securing coronavirus vaccines to contain the pandemic which he said was in worrisome situation lately. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)

HARARE, ZIMBABWE - Public health experts in Zimbabwe say the country’s extension of a lockdown that includes a 12-hour, dusk-to-dawn curfew to thwart a recent swell in COVID19 cases and deaths will not yield much without adequate equipping of the country’s health care system.  The coronavirus has infected nearly 33,000 -- and two-thirds of its 1,178 deaths are from January alone according to official figures. The lockdown extension comes as the country says it is struggling to detect new highly contagious - and probably more lethal - variants of coronavirus.

Calvin Fambirai, the executive director of the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights, said his organization welcomed the two-week extension of the lockdown and a 12-hour, dusk-to-dawn curfew by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government.

“It was going to be illogical to relax the measures, considering the background of increased daily mortality and incidence rates of COVID-19 as compared to the pre-January levels," said Fambirai. "However, we think that there is need to complement the lockdown with one, expanding testing, case surveillance, and isolation of confirmed cases, secondly, there is need for expansion of health sector capacity to respond to severe disease of COVID-19 in order to minimize mortality, and thirdly there is need for an accelerated approach to nationwide vaccination.”

Announcing the lockdown extension late Friday, acting President Constantino Chiwenga said the government was concerned by recent spikes in infections and coronavirus-related deaths in Zimbabwe.

Official records show that more 52% of the country’s coronavirus infections are from January alone, while the rest are from last year, when the country had its first incident in March. Chiwenga summed-up the situation as "clearly worrisome" in an address on national television.  

“We have a likelihood of new strains and variants circulating. These strains are more transmissible and infectious. It is in light of this that the president of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Comrade Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, has decided to extend the level 4 national lockdown by another two weeks to the 15th of February 2021," said Chiwenga. "The president fully appreciates the difficulties which come with this extension. Livelihoods are being disrupted yet we must save lives and our nation.”

Banana vendor Brian Mutera says he is yet to receive government assistance promised last March, unlike the situation in other countries worldwide, Harare, Jan. 30, 2021. (Columbus Mavhunga)

Those most affected by the extension of the lockdown are informal traders, who constitute the country’s largest sector of employment. Most of them – like Brian Mutera – say they have yet to receive government assistance promised last March, unlike the situation in other countries worldwide. Consequently, he hangs around these shops selling vegetables despite government calls for him to stay at home.

“During this lockdown everyone is not wanted in town. We do hand-to-mouth living and it’s unfortunate," said Mutera. "In this Third World we are in Zimbabwe, there is death and life. I am here, I am dicing OK? with death. But I cannot be home. I have two children to look after. I have to come to the shops [to sell vegetables]. In developed world, government[s] are paying [handouts]. The situation of our economy, everybody knows. It’s unfortunate. We just pray to the Lord that we have to get a vaccine or something all over Southern Africa.”  

On Friday, Chiwenga -- who doubles as Zimbabwe’s health minister -- said the country was in the process of acquiring coronavirus vaccine. A health official earlier this week told a parliamentary committee that China and Russia were among countries that had offered to supply Zimbabwe with the vaccine. 

 

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Kenya says it will vaccinate 1.25 million before June 2021

Kenya’s Ministry of Health said that 1.25 million people will be vaccinated against Covid-19 before the end of June.

 

Mercy Mwangangi, chief administrative secretary in the Ministry of Health said on Friday that the government has prioritized the vaccination that will start in February to June, Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

“The people to be covered in this period include frontline health workers and all staff working in health facilities both in public and private sector,” Mwangangi told journalists in Nairobi.

She noted that workers undertaking essential services in priority sectors like security and immigration will also be vaccinated during the period.

The official further revealed that 9.7 million Kenyans, including persons above 18 years of age with underlying health conditions will be vaccinated from July to June 2022.

“It is important to note that if vaccines become available sooner than expected and resources are available, the targets may change,” she added.

Mwangangi observed that the government is working towards a smooth introduction of the vaccine by ensuring that all logistical arrangements are in place for the expected delivery of vaccines before the end of February.

“Kenya has resolved to adopt a vaccine whose emergency use authorization has the approval of a stringent regulatory authority like the World Health Organization,” Mwangangi added.

She said that through Covid-19 vaccines global access facility (COVAX), Kenya will receive 24 million doses of vaccines and also procure 11 million doses from other mechanisms to vaccinate nearly 16 million people, about 30 per cent of the population, over a period of 18 months.

She added that the government has set up a safety monitoring system to investigate and take up immediate measures in consultation with the Pharmacy and Poison Board (PPB) in case of any reported adverse effects from the vaccine.

Mwangangi said that modelling teams are currently assessing the situation in all parts of the country to determine whether the country has flattened the Covid-19 infection curve.

“Our positivity rate has been fluctuating between three and 10 per cent in recent times,” she revealed, noting that the government has established vaccination infrastructure with central storage facilities in Nairobi for vaccines requiring cold chains of up to minus 20 Celsius and some limited capacity for minus 70 Celsius in the major urban areas.

Kenya has registered 100,563 positive cases since the outbreak of the disease in March 2020 after testing a cumulative figure of 1.177 million people as of Friday.

So far, 1,753 people have died from the disease while a total of 83,821 patients have recovered from the disease.

 

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