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The delay or refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine has marred the effectiveness of the vaccination campaign in Namibia. A third of respondents from a recent WHO/Namibia survey on adherence to Covid-19 public health measures were unwilling to get vaccinated because of safety concerns. This together with the limited availability of vaccines contributed to the low uptake of the COVID-19 vaccines with only 6.3% of the Namibian population having received their first dose and 1.6% being fully vaccinated as of 28 July 2021.  It is estimated that the country may need to vaccinate at least 10,000 people per day if it’s to reach its target of 60% of the population. 

Asmera Seyum is one of the frontline workers in Ethiopia who has been caring for the COVID-19 patients since March 2020, when the first case was detected in the country. She is a senior nurse, and ward coordinator at Eka Kotebe General Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which provides, isolation, admission and intensive care for COVID-19 patients.

Health authorities in Guinea today confirmed a case of Marburg virus disease in the southern Gueckedou prefecture. This is the first time Marburg, a highly infectious disease that causes haemorrhagic fever, has been identified in the country, and in West Africa.

Sierra Leone has today received the second batch of 96,000 doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine donated by France and delivered by UNICEF through the COVAX Facility, a partnership between the Government of Sierra Leone, CEPI, Gavi, UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO). This French donation to COVAX is a part of Team Europe’s broader effort to ensure equitable access to vaccines in lower- and middle-income countries.