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 …
Read More »Experts warn Africans to brace for more COVID-19 variants
Johannesburg, South Africa | THE INDEPENDENT | Experts have warned that Africa will continue seeing a cycle of new COVID-19 variants if more people are not vaccinated. Speaking at a transnational science café on Friday attended by journalists from East and Southern Africa, Dr. Lul Riek a Public Health …
Read More »Omicron Covid-19 variant detected at Entebbe
Entebbe, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Seven cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant have been detected in the country. This is according to results released by the Uganda Virus Research Institute. The results were from samples of travelers that were tested at Entebbe International Airport. This was confirmed by the …
Read More »Prolonged closure of Entebbe Hospital irks residents
Entebbe, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The prolonged closure of Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital has irked residents. The hospital closed the outpatient, dental, optical, maternal and child care departments in March last year to focus on the management of COVID-19 patients. Before its closure, the hospital served more than a …
Read More »Thousands of people protest in Brussels against new coronavirus restrictions
Brussels, Belgium | Xinhua | Thousands of demonstrators marched in the streets of Brussels on Sunday to protest against the government’s latest strict measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Twenty people were reported to have been arrested, according to the police, and four demonstrators and two police officers …
Read More »Zimbabwe confirms presence of omicron variant in country
Harare, Zimbabwe | Xinhua | Zimbabwean Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care Constantino Chiwenga on Thursday confirmed the presence of the omicron variant in the country. He urged the nation to step up vigilance and adherence to COVID-19 prevention and mitigation measures to curb a fourth …
Read More »WHO warns against border closures as Omicron variant spreads
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Despite a growing number of countries impose flight bans on southern African nations due to concerns over the new Omicron variant, World Health Organization (WHO) urges countries to follow science and the International Health Regulations. In a statement, the organization warns that travel bans may …
Read More »Only 1 in 4 health workers in Africa are vaccinated
Kampala, Uganda | FLAVIA NASSAKA – URN | Only 27 percent of health workers in Africa have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. This is according to a preliminary analysis by World Health Organization (WHO). Analysis of data reported from 25 countries finds that since March 2021, 1.3 million health workers …
Read More »INTERVIEW: Africa’s first mRNA vaccine
Technology transfer hub gets to work The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the COVID Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) initiative announced in mid-2021 that they were working with a consortium to establish the first COVID messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine technology transfer hub on the African continent, in South Africa. The Conversation …
Read More »DR KYOBE: More resources needed to handle Uganda 3rd COVID wave
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The country needs much better investment in health facilities to respond effectively to the Covid-19 third wave. Lt. Col Dr. Henry Kyobe, the National COVID-19 Incident Commander says that the Ugandan health system might not fare any better than it did during the second …
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