Windhoek, Namibia | Xinhua | Namibia’s Health Ministry said Saturday it has discontinued the use of Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in national vaccination program with immediate effect following safety concerns by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA). According to Ben Nangombe, the executive director of the Namibian Ministry …
Read More »Mandatory testing at Entebbe Airport set to start
Entebbe, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has launched the commencement of $30 per person mandatory testing by government for COVID-19 for all incoming passengers at Entebbe International Airport. Since May, private laboratories have been testing un-vaccinated passengers from ten high risk countries such as Kenya, South …
Read More »Few passengers, fuel costs hit bus operators
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Reduced demand for upcountry travel, the relatively high fares and the rising costs of fuel have combined to inflict losses on bus companies, according to operators URN talked to. They however say they cannot abandon their business at this time because they have to …
Read More »CDC endorses COVID-19 booster shots, ‘mix and match’ dosing
Washington, US | XINHUA | The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday officially endorsed booster shots for both the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines in certain populations, and allowed “mix and match” dosing for booster shots. The decision came a day after the U.S. …
Read More »U.S. equities post weekly gains amid Fed minutes, earnings
New York, U.S. | Xinhua | U.S. stocks advanced for the week as investors sifted through minutes from the Federal Reserve’s recent meeting and a slew of earnings reports. For the week ending Friday, the Dow rose 1.6 percent, while the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.8 percent …
Read More »‘COVID-19 vaccination cards on sale in Lira’
Lira, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | COVID-19 vaccination cards are being sold to unvaccinated people at a cost of Sh100,000 in Lira, according to Ivan Kareiga, the Officer in Charge of operations at Lira Central Police Station. While addressing the COVID-19 task force meeting on Thursday, Kareiga informed the team …
Read More »TB deaths shoot up for first time in a decade as COVID affects services
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Deaths from tuberculosis – one of the top infectious killers in the world – have increased for the first time in a decade, as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the World Health Organization. Tuberculosis (TB) is the second deadliest infectious …
Read More »Nigerian gov’t compels civil servants to show COVID-19 vaccination proof to access offices
Abuja, Nigeria | Xinhua | Nigerian government has said it will compel federal civil servants to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 before gaining access to their offices from Dec. 1. The move was to encourage the vaccination rate across the country, said Boss Mustapha, the secretary to the government …
Read More »Concerns loom over Biden’s vaccine mandate as US COVID-19 deaths top 700,000
Washington, USA | Xinhua | U.S. business groups have many unanswered questions over President Joe Biden’s sweeping vaccine mandates to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed over 700,000 Americans. Biden, who prioritized handling the pandemic after assuming office, announced last month sweeping new federal vaccine requirements …
Read More »Museveni’s Covid paranoia
Why Uganda and other African countries have consistently taken extreme and inappropriate Covid interventions THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | This week, President Yoweri Museveni addressed the nation on Covid-19. With infection and death rates down, the President did little to open up the country. Most especially; he left …
Read More »