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I WOULD like to hail the government for decentralising the COVID-19 vaccine rollout to speed up the process. The first month of the programme saw a low uptake of the vaccine, with many Zimbabweans sceptical about the Chinese-made Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines. Initially, the first vaccines in the country were meant for frontline workers, who were being vaccinated at either Wilkins Infectious Diseases Hospital or Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in the capital. Now Harare has opened more immunisation centres in a bid to ramp up vaccination against the pandemic. Twenty-four centres including hospitals, polyclinics and satellite clinics, have been designated as vaccination centres in the city of about 1,5 million people, according to the Harare City Council. A total of 123 454 people in Zimbabwe have so far been vaccinated with the Chinese vaccines since the national inoculation programme began on February 18, with more than 16 000 people receiving their first dose on Easter Friday alone. Vaccination was being rolled out during the Easter holiday with the hope of attracting more people. Government aims to vaccinate 10 million people out of the country’s 16 million people to achieve herd immunity. Zimbabweans are being vaccinated with the Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines from China, and the country is also expecting delivery of vaccines from Russia, India and through the Covax global distribution scheme. Gwizhikiti
The post Kudos to authorities for decentralising vaccine rollout appeared first on NewsDay Zimbabwe.
A November 26 letter from the presidency asked the head of Uganda's national drug authority to 'work out a mechanism' to clear the importation of the vaccines.
China has about five COVID-19 vaccine candidates at different levels of trials. It was not clear what vaccine was being imported into Uganda.
One of the frontrunners is the Sinopharm vaccine developed by the Beijing Institute of Biological Product, a unit of Sinopharm’s China National Biotec Group (CNBG).
On Wednesday, the United Arab Emirates said the vaccine has 86% efficacy, citing an interim analysis of late-stage clinical trials.
China has used the drug to vaccinate up to a million people under its emergency use program.
On Tuesday, Morocco said it was ordering up to 10 million doses of the vaccine.
Record cases
Uganda on Monday registered 701 new COVID-19 cases, the highest-ever daily increase, bringing its national count to 23,200.
The new cases were out of the 5,578 samples tested for the novel coronavirus over the past 24 hours, the country's health ministry said in a statement.
Tuesday's tally was 606, the second-highest ever number of new infections, bringing the cumulative number of confirmed cases in the east African country to 23,860.
Health authorities have blamed ongoing election campaigns which have drawn huge crowds for the rise in infections.
[East African] Kenya's national carrier Kenya Airways is seeking to play a role in the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines in Africa.
Press Release International Anti-Corruption Day Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ) and the African Parliamentarians Network Against Corruption (APNAC) Zimbabwe Chapter join the rest of the world in commemorating the 2020 International Anti-Corruption Day, under the theme United Against Corruption. The Global commemorations are coming against a backdrop of social and economic impacts of corruption in Zimbabwe. The Commemorations are therefore aimed at raising public awareness about these socio-economic effects of corruption and encourage participation of stakeholders in the fight against the scourge of corruption. Additionally, it is a reflective moment for all stakeholders to take stock of the progress made towards the anti-corruption agenda globally and Zimbabwe in particular. Corruption continues to be one of the governance challenges in Zimbabwe. This is despite the existence of robust legal, policy and institutional frameworks including Prevention of Corruption Act [Chapter 9:16] and the recently launched National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS) 2020-2024. Evidently, corruption is entrenched in the political and socio-economic spheres, and it is increasingly becoming a cultural attribute in public and private sectors. COVID-19 brought to light the rot in the public sector especially in the health sector, a case in point being that of the DRAX Scandal. Consequently, government’s failure to curb corruption results in skewed service delivery and exclusion of vulnerable and minority groups in development processes. TIZ and APNAC, Zimbabwe Chapter underscore the fact that corruption tears down the social fabric and negates any progressive efforts in realising development initiatives such as Sustainable Development Goals. Therefore, all stakeholders, public and private, should collectively respond to the call for collective action against corruption in Zimbabwe. Transparency and accountability remain key principles of good governance and both TI Z and APNAC Zimbabwe have been making clarion calls for government to uphold these two key pillars of good governance. However, we would like to acknowledge the development and implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy which places emphasis on strong institutions to promote good governance. Citizens remain key stakeholders in the fight against corruption. Nevertheless, for them to play an active role, they require protection both at law and in practice. To this end, the government must guarantee the protection of whistle-blowers through the enactment of a Whistle-blower Protection Legislation consistent with Article 33 of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) on protection of reporting persons which Zimbabwe is a signatory to. We therefore implore all law enforcement agencies to cooperate in the fight against corruption. This enjoins law enforcement agencies to effectively handle corruption cases to enable the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and courts of law to act upon the cases in a timely and effective manner. Responsible anti-co
ZIMBABWE’s year-on-year inflation rate dropped to 401,66% in November, from 471% the previous month, data released by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) yesterday shows. BY FIDELITY MHLANGA This means prices, as measured by the all items consumer price index (CPI), increased by an average of 401,66% between November last year and November 2020. Data on pricing trends was collected between November 12 and 18, according to a statement by ZimStat. The agency did not state the reasons behind the slowdown. Year-on-year inflation reached a post-dollarisation zenith of 837,53% in July, much to the chagrin of authorities who then instituted a raft of measures to douse the flame. In August, inflation eased to 761,02% after one of the sources of growing inflation, the forex exchange parallel market was tamed when the central bank intensified a clampdown on mobile money agents and other digital money transfer platforms. Government also suspended trading on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange in June, accusing the bourse of fuelling inflation, before reopening it in August. However, there has been debate about the accuracy of inflation data. Government has been saying the inflation rate has been slowing down, while the cost of living has generally been increasing. Last month, ZimStat said the monthly cost of living rose by 4,4% to $18 750 in October, from $17 956,87 in September. So steep were price hikes during the period that in Matabeleland North, consumers required up to $20 679 for a family of five to pull through. There has been no let up on price hikes across the country since then. Normally an inflationary slide means that prices are stabilising. Escalating living expenses exert pressure on thousands of Zimbabweans who have been thrown out of jobs after an intensification of de-industrialisation in the past year. Over one million more Zimbabweans joined the jobless ranks this year after blanket firm shutdowns were effected by government to prevent contagion as the deadly COVID-19 pandemic tore through provinces. But even those formally employed will feel the heat. Very few workers currently earn over $14 500 because companies are struggling to stay afloat due to diminished demand precipitated by a gruelling economic crisis. The least paid civil servant earns about $14 500. Experts say millions of Zimbabweans living in rural areas will sink into abject poverty as steep rises in basic commodity prices erode their already over-stretched buying power following the prolonged economic crisis. “The TCPL (total consumption poverty line) for an average of five persons stood at $18 750,35 in October 2020,” ZimStat said in November. “This means that an average household required that much to purchase both food and non-food items for them not to be deemed poor. This represents an increase of 4,4% when compared to the September 2020 figure of $17 956,87. In September, a family of five needed $17 956,87 not to be deemed poor,” ZimStat said, adding that the TCPL for Zimbabwe stood at $3 750,07 per person in October 2020. This me
On Tuesday, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms issued an executive order to invest $50 million in new bond funding to advance the goals of creating or preserving 20,000 affordable homes by 2026. The order also dedicates City-controlled public sources to the production and preservation of affordable housing. In 2019, Bottoms released her One Atlanta Housing Affordability Action Plan—a roadmap to increase […]
[Nation] The country is likely to miss out on its target to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) by 2022 as more girls undergo the cut. This is after schools were closed early this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fifteen minutes into the match, the Champions League soccer game between Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir was suspended on Tuesday due to allegations of racism directed at Basaksehir's side assistant coach. According to players from the Turkish team, fourth official Sebastian Coltescu had used a racial term against assistant coach Pierre Webo, who is Cameroonian. […]
Thus, we face yet another conundrum in our nation’s educational system as factors and issues, of which they have no control, serve to derail the efforts and defuse the dreams of innocent students of color.
The man who could become the first Black person to lead the Department of Defense is at the center of a brewing inter-Party controversy as a growing number of Senate Democrats have signaled their opposition to his nomination.
By Erica Wright The Birmingham Times The conference room on the sixth floor of the Renasant Bank office in downtown Birmingham overlooks City Hall, Linn Park, the Jefferson County Courthouse, and the Boutwell Auditorium, as well parts of the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex. Inside the conference room, bank executive Tracey Morant Adams—regal, calm, and professional […]
by Noah Washington, NNPA Newswire Contributor The Blerd Binder covers nerdy news for the Black nerds of the world. We welcome you to take the journey with us as we talk about subjects ranging from movies to music to tech to toys. If you’re a Blerd (Black nerd) that’s been living in Oakland, California for … Continued
The post AfroComicCon 2020: Black nerds of the world, this Con’s for you! appeared first on New Pittsburgh Courier.
[Monitor] Government has cleared Chinese Community of Liao Shen Industrial Park to import 4,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine (Vero Cell) into the country for their own use.
By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers U.S. stocks are are slipping Wednesday and pulling back from their recent record highs as virus cases surge and coronavirus vaccines move closer to distribution. A vaccine from Pfizer and German partner BioNTech, which is already in use in the U.K., is on track for a positive review and potential approval in the U.S. within the next week. The Food and Drug Administration will also consider a vaccine developed by Moderna later this month. The prospect for a vaccine is giving Wall Street hope that the economy is nearing a […]
The post US stocks slip on Wall Street; S&P 500 backs off record appeared first on Black News Channel.
By MARCY GORDON and MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators on Wednesday sued Facebook, seeking forced divestment of its Instagram and WhatsApp messaging services. In a separate case, 48 states and districts accused the company of abusing its market power in social networking to crush smaller competitors. The antitrust lawsuits were announced by the Federal Trade Commission and New York Attorney General Letitia James. 'It's really critically important that we block this predatory acquisition of companies and that we restore confidence to the market,' James said during a press conference announcing the lawsuit. The FTC said […]
The post US govt, states bring antitrust action against Facebook appeared first on Black News Channel.