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Nigeria has stepped up COVID-19 genomic surveillance to effectively track the evolution of the virus and adjust responses to pandemic waves driven by variants of concern. The country began carrying out genomic sequencing in March 2020. Currently it can carry out around 500 sequences per month. Before the pandemic, the country only had two laboratories with sequencing capacity. Genomic sequencing is currently done through a network of four laboratories coordinated by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control’s National Reference Laboratory.

COVID-19 cases have been on the rise in the Republic of the Congo in recent weeks, prompting the authorities to ramp up control measures. A community screening campaign, with the support of World Health Organization (WHO), is underway in hotspot locations involving mobile health teams visiting communities to trace contacts of known COVID-19 cases, relay public health information and see that those who test positive receive treatment at home or referred to health facilities. The campaign kicked off on 25 October and runs for 10 weeks.

Nyeri, Kenya—With COVID-19 cases continuing to rise in Kenya more than a year after the pandemic’s arrival in the country, public health measures remain at the centre of the response.  In Nyeri, a town three hours north of Kenya’s capital Nairobi and the economic hub of Nyeri County, the local government recognized early that its citizens needed a deeper understanding of the importance of such measures and how to keep putting them into practice.

Over four million children in Zimbabwe have received a lifesaving new Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine . At the end of May, Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child Care embarked on a 10-day multi-antigen vaccination drive aimed at children aged between 9 months and 15 years.

Abuja – With the slowing down of COVID-19 vaccine supplies to Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) is working with countries to optimize their available stocks to provide second doses for those who already received their first shots. In Nigeria’s capital Abuja, WHO is supporting the Federal Capital Territory Primary Health Care Development Board to ensure that all eligible people receive their second doses.