Vaccines africa kenya

Until recently, Tanzania gave the impression that the coronavirus pandemic — which has brought the world to a standstill — was under control. President John Magufuli assured the 58 million inhabitants of the East African nation that they need not worry about observing COVID-19 preventative measures. He also vowed last year that his country would never face curfews or lockdowns that had been introduced in neighboring Kenya and Uganda. On March 16, 2020, Tanzania's health ministry announced the country's first confirmed case of the coronavirus. "When the cases were being reported, President Magufuli was out questioning the standard of the lab equipment," Thabit Jacob, a political analyst at Roskilde University, told DW.  "He said the testing kits were made by western countries and were programmed to give many positive results."  However, the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said they had found no fault with Tanzania's testing … [Read more...] about Tanzania’s COVID-19 denial risks pulling Africa back

Dr Mary Ramsay IF we want the harmful effects of Covid consigned to the past, we need to keep calm and carry on vaccinating. Over the past few weeks, every single day hundreds of thousands of you have rolled up your sleeves and had the Covid vaccine. It’s because of this effort we have set an exceptional pace for vaccinations. 🦠 Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates But for understandable reasons, talk in recent days of mutations and new variants — each identified in a different location — has caused alarm. And a great deal of attention is being given to early data on how the vaccines are responding to these variants. But we shouldn’t let this new information distract us from the hard facts about the Covid-19 vaccines and just how effective they are against this disease.In short, there is nothing in this new data that should dissuade you from getting the Oxford vaccine or any other. The first and most important reason is that … [Read more...] about Don’t let Covid variants distract from facts — vaccines save lives

The EU's South Africa covid-variant hotspot Tyrol has gone into lockdown , with no one allowed to leave the Austrian region without a negative coronavirus test. Austria's leader announced the measure on Tuesday as authorities try to prevent the spread of a coronavirus variant first discovered in South Africa. Some 293 cases of the more contagious variant have been confirmed in Tyrol. More than 120 of those cases are currently active, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said. Concentrated in the Schwaz district, east of Innsbruck, they represent he biggest known current outbreak of the variant in the European Union , authorities said. Officials in Tyrol (pictured) initially resisted restrictions, but on Monday drew up a list of measures that included more police checks on mask-wearing and social distancing, and a requirement for negative antigen tests before people can use cable cars and ski lifts Officials in Tyrol initially resisted restrictions, but on … [Read more...] about EU’s South Africa Covid-variant hotspot goes into lockdown: No-one is allowed to leave Austria’s Tyrol without negative coronavirus test after hundreds fall ill

A FIFTH British soldier has been taken to hospital after a major Covid outbreak at a garrison in Kenya. The soldier was flown by helicopter to a private hospital, more than 100 miles away in Nairobi. ???? Read our coronavirus liv e blog for the latest news & updates It comes amid fears that a plane load of troops from 2 Mercians Regiment may have brought the UK strain to East Africa and infected local staff. Commanders at the Batuk garrison, in Laikipia, confiscated soldiers’ phones to try to cover up the scale of the outbreak. The camp was plunged into lockdown on Sunday and local staff, including chefs, were banned from entering to reduce the risk of transmission. Troops were forced to eat out of date rations after Colonel Paul Gilby, the garrison commander, ordered 48 hours of “enhanced isolation”. And around 160 troops were kicked out of the barracks and forced to camp under tarpaulins in a bid to make the buildings less crowded. Gilby’s staff … [Read more...] about Fifth Brit soldier airlifted to hospital with Covid in Kenya as outbreak rips through garrison

VACCINE passports are unlikely to be needed for short-haul holidays, according to easyJet's CEO, as the vaccination programme will be enough to provide safe travel. The low-cost airline's Johan Lundgren explained that he didn't see them being introduced. The UK is one of the leading countries for vaccinations with 10m people given the first dose already - meaning one in five adults have now had it - with plans to vaccinate 15m of the highest-risk Brits by mid-February. Mr Lundgren told The Times in an interview: "I don’t think we will see [vaccine passports] coming to short haul. I don’t see what the purpose of them is. "If you have successfully launched and executed a vaccination programme you will be gaining control over the pandemic, so the issue should go away." He added that it is important to identify the "areas where there are higher rates of infection" and then enforce the Test to Release scheme.The UK government currently requires a negative coronavirus test and a … [Read more...] about Vaccine passports WON’T be needed for short-haul hols, predicts easyJet boss