Coronavirus

Seychelles is opening up to receive visitors from around the world from 25 March, irrespective of whether they are vaccinated or not. South Africans will however not be allowed be enter the country until further notice. In January, Seychelles had announced said that it had opened up to vaccinated travellers. …

In Abuja, the Capital of Nigeria, a mass vacination campaign against the coronavirus pandemic is launched. The country will use Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines acquired through Covax, a UN-backed initiative to ensure poorer nations acquire the doses. According to the head of the country’s Healthcare Development Agency, health workers will be the …

The Catholic Church in Kenya has voiced its support for the Covid-19 vaccine after the country received more than a million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The church also dismissed an advisory issued by a group of Catholic doctors in the country, who had termed Covid-19 vaccinations as unnecessary. “Pope …

The European Union is planning to extend its export authorisation scheme for COVID-19 vaccines to the end of June, two EU sources told Reuters on Thursday, in a move that could reignite tensions with countries who rely on shots made in the EU. The mechanism was set up at the …

According to authorities in South Sudan, a partial lockdown brought in to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, will remain in place for another month. Schools and universities will remain closed, while social gatherings including religious and sporting events remain banned. According to Hussein Abdelbagi Akol, the head of …

Egypt on Thursday expanded its coronavirus vaccination rollout to include the elderly and people with chronic diseases after several weeks of vaccinating medical staff, the cabinet said. The Arab world’s most populous country with more than 100 million, has prepared 40 vaccination centres and plans to increase that number after …

Police have seized thousands of counterfeit coronavirus vaccines in South Africa and China and have made more than 80 arrests after a criminal network selling fake jabs was uncovered, Interpol said on Wednesday. In South Africa, police officers found 400 ampoules of fake vaccines, equivalent to around 2,400 doses, at …

Ghana, the first country to receive COVAX vaccines last month, began its mass vaccination drive on Tuesday. 600,000 doses of Oxford/Astrazeneca vaccines are being given to frontline health workers, security personnel, people aged over 60 and those with pre-existing conditions. To ensure that Ghanaians are convinced to get jabbed, President …

Research by South African scientists suggests that antibodies triggered by exposure to the country’s dominant coronavirus variant can prevent infection by other variants, the scientists said on Wednesday. The findings in laboratory studies offer hope that COVID-19 vaccines based on the 501Y.V2 variant first identified late last year could protect …

Rwandan health minister received this day first batch of Covid-19 vaccine doses from the UN-backed Covax distribution initiative. The country received 240,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, and with a further 102,960 doses of Pfizer vaccine expected to arrive later in the day, according to the health ministry. Rwanda expects …