Tag: Rwanda

Rwandese government to rollout mass basic childhood vaccination

Frank

RWANDA – The Ministry of Health, through Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), will carry out an extensive catch-up immunization campaign targeting children who have missed out on basic childhood vaccinations during lockdown. Due to Covid-19 related restrictions that affected mobility, the number of children vaccinated for BCG, Penta3 and Polio3 was lower than expected in 2020 according to a report by World Group Bank on Rwanda economic update of January 2021. According to figures from RBC, uptake of Penta3 and Polio3 vaccines experienced a decline of 10 per cent in May,…

Read More

Zimbabwe registers over 3,000 new COVID-19 cases as more people rush to be immunized

Frank

ZIMBABWE – Zimbabwe has registered 3,110 new COVID-19 cases today, its highest daily figure since the onset of the pandemic last year. According to the Ministry of Health and Child Care, the record number of new cases has accelerated the country’s cumulative COVID-19 cases to 76,381, as the nation battles a third wave of the pandemic. The ministry said 58 new deaths were recorded, raising the nation’s death toll to 2,332. The number of people who have recovered stands at 49,053 after 951 people were reported to have recovered from…

Read More

Africa nears 6 million confirmed Covid-19 cases as fatalities hit 151,775

Frank

AFRICA — As of today, there are 5,949,740 confirmed cases of Covid-19 from 55 African countries while over 37,004,431 vaccinations have been administered across the continent. Reported deaths in Africa stand at 151,775 and 5,140,313 people have recovered. South Africa has the most reported cases 2,179,297 and 64,138 mortality cases. Other most-affected countries are Morocco (541,405), Tunisia (491,021), Egypt (282,985), Ethiopia (276,984), Libya (201,236) and Kenya (188,513). Many countries in Africa have rolled out mass vaccination drives to contain the spread of the virus, even though the uptake of the…

Read More

Rwanda imports more medical oxygen plants to boost production and capacity

Frank

RWANDA – Rwandese government has committed over Rwf4 billion (approximately US$4 million) to import oxygen plants to increase local production as the country battles a spike in coronavirus infections leading to increased hospitalization. Pie Harerimana, the Chief Executive Officer of Rwanda Medical Supplies (RMS), says the current oxygen supply is sufficient, the additional oxygen will just act as a buffer incase cases continue rising resulting in shortages. “The plan is that if, for example, a hospital caring for critical coronavirus cases uses 200 oxygen cylinders per day, we at least…

Read More

Rwanda secures US$3.6m from EU to revamp labs for Covid jab production

Frank

RWANDA – Rwanda is planning to start manufacturing coronavirus vaccines using mRNA technology after it secured international backing to build local capacity in the coming months. Rwanda has signed a Rwf 3.6 billion (US$3.6 million) partnership with the European Union to help upgrade the country’s laboratory capacity to help it attract investors to manufacture Covid-19 vaccines. The funds will be used to strengthen the Foods and Drugs Authority’s quality control for medical products, to enable the regulator acquire necessary certification from the World Health Organisation (WHO). “What we signed is…

Read More

Rwanda tightens restriction measures, including school closure, as Uganda approves Covidex

Frank

RWANDA – Rwanda has announced a review of COVID-19 restriction measures due to a surge in cases and the emergence of new variants globally. Schools and higher education institutions in the country will be closed. Provisions for students sitting national exams in July 2021 will be communicated by the ministry of education. Movements in some parts of the country has also prohibited between 6 pm-4 am and businesses conditioned to close by 5 pm. Social gatherings including gatherings held in homes and family visits are prohibited. All meetings have The…

Read More

Egypt announces health projects and agreements with South Sudan, Djibouti and Rwanda

Frank

EGYPT – The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced the establishment of a malaria control project in South Sudan to be funded by the ministry’s Agency of Partnership for Development. The announcement came after Egypt’s ambassador to Rwanda, Ahmed El Ansary, signed a memorandum of understanding to build an Egyptian center for heart surgeries in the Rwandan capital, Kigali. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said that the center, which is the first of its kind in East Africa, would provide treatment for cardiovascular diseases, especially among children, training for medical…

Read More

South Africa, Senegal, Rwanda, Nigeria considered as vaccine production hubs-WTO

Frank

AFRICA – Africa is working with the European Union and other partners to establish regional vaccine manufacturing hubs in South Africa, Senegal and Rwanda. Nigeria is also under consideration for the program, World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said. “We have now seen that over-centralization of vaccine production capacity is incompatible with equitable access in a crisis situation,” Okonjo-Iweala said on Monday during a virtual meeting. Regional production hubs, in tandem with open supply chains, will offer a more promising path to preparedness for future health crisis…

Read More

GAVI receives US $28.9 million from KFW Development Bank to boost routine vaccinations for children in EAC

Frank

EAST AFRICA – KfW has given US $28.9 million on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to support GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, in effectively protecting children in the East African Community (EAC) against infectious diseases. The funds will be used to facilitate the procurement of vaccines, consumables, transport and insurance on a pro rata basis. This funding comes as a follow up to the US $346.1 million kfW has issued to fund immunization programs in East Africa since 2013. The funds have made possible…

Read More

The International Olympics Committee sets up vaccination hubs in Rwanda and Qatar

Frank

QATAR AND RWANDA – Qatar and Rwanda established vaccination hubs for pre-games vaccination of Olympic and Paralympic Games participants in collaboration with the IOC, National Olympic Committees (NOC), government authorities and Pfizer. These two vaccination hubs allow Games participants who will be unable to be vaccinated in their home countries in advance of travelling to Japan for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 to get inoculated. The two hubs will both offer the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, in line with the IOC announcement on 6 May 2021 of the signing of…

Read More