COVID-19 Updates

Berlin, Germany | Xinhua | German biotechnology company BioNTech and U.S. company Pfizer have started clinical trials of an Omicron-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate in healthy adults 18 through 55 years of age, the companies said on Tuesday. The trials would evaluate the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of the vaccine candidate, according …

Washington, U.S. | Xinhua | The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday projected the global economy to grow by 4.4 percent in 2022, down by 0.5 percentage point from October’s forecast, according to a newly released update to its World Economic Outlook report. Growth will slow as economies grapple with supply …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Health is now banking on personal responsibility to curb the transmission of COVID-19 as the economy fully reopens. Bars, entertainment centres, public concerts and the entire Arts industry are now allowed to operate, after close to two years of extreme restrictions which …

Washington, U.S. | Xinhua | Anthony Fauci, top U.S. infectious disease expert, said Sunday he is confident that most states in the country will reach a peak of Omicron infection cases by mid-February. “You never want to be overconfident when you’re dealing with this virus,” Fauci said in an interview with …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Health is bothered about the few schools that are reporting COVID-19 surveillance figures, two weeks after the reopening of schools across the country. According to data from the health ministry, only 775 schools (approximately 2.5 per cent) out of an estimated 30,519 …

Brazzaville, Congo | Xinhua | Weekly COVID-19 cases in Africa have dropped significantly and deaths dipped for the first time since the peak of the fourth pandemic wave propelled by the Omicron variant, said the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday. Newly reported cases fell by 20 percent in the week …

Copenhagen, Denmark | Xinhua | A fact sheet addressing “speculation, assumptions and misinformation being communicated about the Omicron variant” of COVID-19 was released by the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Regional Office for Europe on Wednesday. According to the WHO, the latest epidemiological data shows a rapid rise in COVID-19 infection rates …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Persons who are not vaccinated against COVID-19, will not be allowed to attend musical shows and concerts when the entertainment industry reopens next week. The entertainment industry will reopen on January 24, 2022, exactly 14 days after the reopening of schools, in line with guidelines issued …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The health ministry is yet to upload the data of the more than 6.5 million Ugandans who took COVID-19 jabs on its portal citing technical challenges. Dr. Daniel Kyabayinze, the COVID-19 incident commander says that they experienced challenges when many people turned up for COVID-19 vaccination …

Uganda has started a three-day nationwide polio immunization exercise targeting over 8.8 million children under the age of five years Kampala, Uganda | Xinhua |  Uganda has started a three-day nationwide polio immunization exercise targeting over 8.8 million children under the age of five years. Vaccination officers moved from house …