Epidemics Tracker

Sao Paulo, Brazil | Xinhua | Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court (STF) determined on Saturday that all foreigners entering the country should present a certificate verifying that they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The decision was made at the request of the Brazilian political party Sustainability Network given the federal …

Tororo, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | More than 47,000 teenage girls in the Bukedi sub-region have been impregnated during the two years in the country. Statistics from the National Population Council indicate that Bukedi registered an increase in the number of teenage pregnancies from 23,829 in 2019 to 25,066 in 2020 …

Luwero, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Districts in greater Luwero are facing a shortage of Covid-19 vaccines. On Tuesday this week, Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng re-echoed the need to seek vaccination after she confirmed seven cases of Omicron COVID-19 variant. Aceng said that the new COVID-19 variant is not severe among people …

New York, U.S. | Xinhua | A booster shot of COVID-19 vaccine would provide enough protection against the Omicron variant while two doses may not be sufficient, said COVID-19 vaccine developers Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE on Wednesday. Three doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine would generate sufficient serum antibodies to …

Washington, U.S. | Xinhua | The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted to overturn President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for businesses. Senators voted 52-48 on the resolution, which needed a simple majority to be approved. Democratic Senators Jon Tester and Joe Manchin voted with Republicans, giving it enough support to be …

Geneva, Switzerland | Xinhua | Certain features of the Omicron variant, including its global spread and large number of mutations, suggest it could have a major impact on the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, said the chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday. With the Omicron variant now present …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Health has urged Ugandans to remain calm even if the Omicron COVID-19 variant has been detected in the country. This comes following the detection of nine Omicron variant cases among travellers from South Africa and Nigeria. The variant was first detected in …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | Xinhua | The African Union (AU) warned that travel and entry bans in connection with the emergence of the Omicron COVID-19 variant limit the free movement of people and goods, imposing immediate and significant impact on African countries. The 55-member pan African bloc, in a statement issued …

Harare, Zimbabwe | Xinhua | The Zimbabwean government on Tuesday expressed deep concern at the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the country driven by the omicron variant, and plans to bar the unvaccinated from boarding public transport. “Cabinet notes with concern that there has been a sharp increase in the …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Researchers studying Uganda’s homemade COVID-19 vaccines reveal encountering huge challenges accessing mice to be able to test their candidate drugs. This comes after Science and Innovations Minister Dr. Monica Musenero was recently bashed over revelations of acquiring each mouse at 8 Million Shillings. The scientists …