World Health Organization (WHO) Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan attends a press conference organized by the Geneva Association of United Nations Correspondents (ACANU) amid the COVID-19 outbreak, at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, on July 3, 2020. (FABRICE COFFRINI / POOL / AFP)
AMSTERDAM / SAO PAULO / ALGIERS / TIRANA / BRUSSELS / SANTIAGO / BOGOTA / PARIS / BUDAPEST / AMSTERDAM / LISBON / LONDON / MOGADISHU / ROME – New COVID-19 vaccines, including ones that don’t require needles and can be stored at room temperature, may be ready for use later this year or next year, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) top scientist said.
Six-to-eight new immunizations may complete clinical studies and undergo regulatory review by the end of the year, Soumya Swaminathan, the Geneva-based agency’s chief scientist, said in an interview Saturday.
I think, well into 2022, we’re going to see the emergence of improved vaccines.
Soumya Swaminathan, WHO's chief scientist
“I think, well into 2022, we’re going to see the emergence of improved vaccines,” she said
The current crop of experimental vaccines use alternative technologies and delivery systems, and include more single-shot inoculations, and vaccines that are administered orally, via a nasal spray, and through the skin using a type of patch. These could bring immunizations that are better suited to specific groups, such as pregnant women, according to Swaminathan.
The WHO’s strategic advisory group of experts on immunization is reviewing whether people who have been infected with COVID-19 need to have two doses of vaccine.
The rollout of safe and effective vaccines is also raising questions about how to efficiently and ethically conduct clinical trials of experimental vaccines, she said. Placebos will be replaced with a “gold standard” vaccine in a so-called non-inferiority design when it’s no longer ethical to use a placebo, Swaminathan said.
A global trial involving a wide pool of people and countries offers several advantages, she said. Testing vaccines in diverse ethnicities, age groups, and people with different medical conditions makes the results more generalizable, and when the epidemic wanes in some parts of the world it’s often still active in others, she said.
The WHO said that as of March 12, more than 300 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered around the world with no cases of death found to have been caused by any of them.
An illustration picture shows vials with COVID-19 Vaccine stickers attached and syringes with the logo of British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca on Nov 17, 2020. (JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)
AstraZeneca vaccine
The World Health Organization (WHO) appealed to countries on Monday not to pause vaccination campaigns after at least two more European nations and one in Asia joined a handful which have suspended use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine over safety fears.
The WHO said its advisory panel was reviewing reports related to AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine but there was no evidence that any health incidents were caused by the shot.
The WHO appealed to countries not to pause vaccination campaigns, saying that there was no evidence that any health incidents were caused by the AstraZeneca vaccine
"As of today, there is no evidence that the incidents are caused by the vaccine and it is important that vaccination campaigns continue so that we can save lives and stem severe disease from the virus," WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said.
Separately in the UK, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday that AstraZeneca's vaccine was safe and that the government was very confident about using it in its vaccination push.
The benefits of using AstraZeneca's vaccine are bigger than the risks, Poland's health minister said.
The shot remains shrouded in controversy as more countries limit its use even as regulators and scientists attest to its benefits.
AstraZeneca said on Sunday a review of safety data of people vaccinated with its COVID-19 vaccine has shown no evidence of an increased risk of blood clots.
AstraZeneca's review, which covered more than 17 million people vaccinated in the United Kingdom and European Union, comes after health authorities in some countries suspended the use of its vaccine over clotting issues.
"A careful review of all available safety data of more than 17 million people vaccinated in the European Union and UK with COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis or thrombocytopenia, in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country," the company said.
Global cases
New coronavirus cases rose worldwide for a third straight week, even as the death toll continues to slow and the US is seeing fewer infections.
Brazil over the weekend passed India to retake the post of the second worst-hit country in the world. Countries that had appeared to bring cases under control are seeing a resurgence, with India and Italy in recent days reporting the most daily infections of the year. At the same time, smaller hot spots are emerging in places like Papua New Guinea that had seemingly escaped the pandemic last year.
The increases come amid growing fears about fast-spreading variants and as some governments continue to ease social-distancing restrictions. On the brighter side, the global death toll continues to decline. Fatalities for the week ended Sunday – about 60,000 – were the lowest since early November.
The number of coronavirus cases recorded worldwide surpassed 119.8 million while the global death toll topped 2.6 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Africa
The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has said that nine African countries have reported more than 100,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
The Africa CDC said on Sunday that South Africa is the only African country that has so far reported more than 500,000 confirmed cases, at 1,528,414.
Eight African countries have reported between 100,001 cases and 500,000 cases, namely Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Libya, Algeria, and Kenya.
The agency added that 23 countries have reported between 10,001 cases and 100,000 cases, while 22 other African Union members have reported fewer than 10,000 cases.
According to the Africa CDC, southern Africa is the most affected region in terms of confirmed cases, followed by the northern Africa and eastern Africa regions.
Central Africa is the least affected African region in terms of confirmed COVID-19 cases.
In total, Africa has reported a total of 4,025,390 confirmed cases and 107,523 deaths, according to the Africa CDC.
EU
A European Union (EU) official who negotiates with vaccine makers on behalf of the bloc told Reuters that EU governments were considering launching talks with Russia's Sputnik V developers and it would take requests from four EU states to start the process.
The official said Italy was considering using the country’s biggest vaccine-producing bioreactor at a ReiThera plant near Rome to make Sputnik V.
A second EU official said the ReiThera plant was mentioned by Italian officials at a meeting as a possible site for producing COVID-19 vaccines made by companies other than the Italian biotech firm.
A spokesman for the European Commission, which coordinates talks with vaccine makers, said the EU was not required to launch talks with Sputnik V developers, even if the bloc’s drug regulator approves the vaccine.
On March 4, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) launched a rolling review of Sputnik V, the first step in a process that could lead to its EU-wide approval. An EU official familiar with the process said a decision on possible authorization could come as early as May.
In another development, limiting the use of the AstraZeneca shot as a precautionary measure could push back EU countries’ efforts to immunize three-quarters of their populations to September instead of August, according to London-based research firm Airfinity Ltd.
Beginning in the second quarter of the year, other shots are expected to take on more of the burden from the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines, which have accounted for most of the injections given so far. Suspensions of the AstraZeneca shot now, though, threaten to slow the pace of an already-sluggish rollout, at least in the short term.
Europe is still on track to meet vaccine supply targets as increased output from Pfizer offset any shortages in AstraZeneca shots, EU Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton said on Europe 1 radio over the weekend.
Germany
Germany will stop administering AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, a spokesman for the Health Ministry said on Monday, making Germany the latest of several European countries to pause following reports of recipients being taken ill.
The ministry said the decision followed a recommendation from the Paul Ehrlich Institute, Germany's authority in charge of vaccines.
The reports of potential safety risks are taken seriously and data is examined constantly, a health ministry spokesman told Reuters. Further proceedings will be discussed with the European and the national vaccine regulators this week, he said.
Earlier on Monday, Markus Soeder, leader of the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), said Germany needed clear guidance from its experts on whether AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine is good or not.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 6,604 to 2,575,849, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Monday. The reported death toll rose by 47 to 73,418, the tally showed.
Austria
A third wave of coronavirus has already begun and Austria must do everything possible to avoid the situation the country faced last autumn, Austrian Health Minister Rudolf Anschober said on Monday.
"I see the beginning of a third wave here in Austria," Anschober told the Austrian broadcaster ORF's morning program, adding that this is noticeable "all over Europe."
The number of infections in Austria has been rising again for weeks. From Sunday to Monday, 1,896 new cases were registered in 24 hours, and the country is now back at a cumulative 7-day incidence rate of 209 per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the latest data released by the Agency for Health and Food Safety.
In Austria, one person is vaccinated every 3.2 seconds and a million vaccinations have already been carried out, according to a statement published by the health ministry on Sunday.
Austria still has a half billion euros to spend on vaccinations just as soon as the Alpine country can get its hands on enough doses, Finance Minister Gernot Bluemel said in an interview with Matthew Miller and Francine Lacqua on Bloomberg TV.
Uganda
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni explained late on Sunday his decision to delay receiving a COVID-19 vaccine jab in the ongoing first phase of vaccination campaign in the country.
In a televised national address, Museveni said the reason was to allow frontline workers who are at risk of contracting the virus to be vaccinated first.
"I am also still trying to decide on which vaccine to take," said Museveni.
Uganda launched the first phase of COVID-19 vaccination campaign last week, targeting high-risk groups in the east African country.
Museveni said his government was considering fully reopening the economy amid a decline in COVID-19 cases in the country.
The president said the country has succeeded in the fight against COVID-19 following citizens' adherence to the government's standard operating procedures on preventing the spread of the virus.
As of Sunday, Uganda had recorded 40,581 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 15,095 recoveries and 334 deaths, according to the health ministry.
Italy
Prosecutors in the northern Italian region of Piedmont said on Monday they had seized a batch of 393,600 shots of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine following the death of a man hours after he had received a jab.
On Sunday, Piedmont's regional government suspended use of the batch after Sandro Tognatti, a 57-year-old music teacher, fell ill and died in circumstances that have not yet been clarified.
Magistrates in Sicily ordered the seizure of a separate batch of AstraZeneca vaccine last week following the sudden deaths of two men who had recently been inoculated.
Kenya
Kenyan hoteliers on Monday welcomed the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in the country, hoping that vaccination will help ease tourism pandemic woes.
Victor Shitakha, chairman of the Kenya Coast Tourism Association, an association of hoteliers in the tourist resort city, said the arrival of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines on March 2 has seen the travel and hospitality industry start preparing for a rebound in demand following a historically horrible year.
Shitakha said restaurants and eating points are expected to be buoyed as the government rolls out COVID-19 vaccination program across the country.
Norway
The halt of AstraZeneca vaccination shouldn’t have a big impact on Norway’s vaccination program because the country wouldn’t have received many of the AstraZeneca doses in the coming weeks, Espen Rostrup Nakstad, deputy director at the Health Directorate, told VGTV Monday.
Norway needs at least one week to “get to the bottom of it,” including reviewing reports from other countries and finding out if the blood-clot cases have any connection with the vaccines or are coincidental.
US
Coronavirus cases in the United States rose 1.25 percent in the week ended Sunday, the slowest increase since the pandemic began. It was the second straight week in which the rate of new infections hit a record low.
The US recorded 362,743 new infections last week, down from 417,173 in the period ended March 7, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg.
The slowdown comes as the US vaccination effort ramps up. The country has administered 107,060,274 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country and distributed 135,847,835 doses as of Sunday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Reluctance among certain parts of the US population to receiving a vaccine is one of the biggest risks to coronavirus control efforts, said Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser. His comments came when he was asked about polling showing many Republicans, especially men, don’t want a vaccine.
He continued to warn against becoming complacent in the US even as cases and hospitalizations drop sharply and the pace of vaccinations accelerates.
In another development, Biden will name Gene Sperling to lead implementation of the US$1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan signed into law last week, an administration official said on Sunday.
US Senate Democrats will push to make permanent two provisions of Biden's COVID-19 relief bill that provide emergency enhanced benefits for the poor through food assistance and child tax credits, two leading lawmakers said on Sunday.
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico’s Health Department over the weekend said it detected Brazilian and Californian “variants of interest” and warned its 3.2 million residents not to let their guard down on mask-wearing and social distancing even as the vaccination effort is rolling out.
On Saturday, the Health Department said it had identified a woman in her 40s with the Brazil P.2 variant and two patients with the California B.1.429 variant. In February, health officials reported the British B.1.1.7 variant was on the island.
“Now more than ever, it’s important to get vaccinated,” Health Secretary Carlos Mellado said in a statement. “Data shows that the vaccines do offer protection against COVID-19 and its variants.”
The news comes as some schools across Puerto Rico are reopening this week and the island is bracing for an influx of tourists during the spring break and Easter holiday.
Arcturus
Arcturus Therapeutics, which is jointly developing a vaccine with Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, is preparing to test its single low-dose shot in phase 3 trials in the second quarter, the Straits Times reported. The trial will involve about 15,000 people across multiple countries, he said.
The Arcturus vaccine leverages the same mRNA technology that Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Inc. use for their vaccines, which have already been approved for use in the Southeast Asian country.
UK
Another 4,618 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,258,438, according to official figures released Sunday.
The country also reported another 52 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 125,516. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.
More than 24.1 million people in Britain have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest official figures.
British charities have urged millions of vulnerable people with underlying health conditions to book their coronavirus vaccine jabs, local media reported Sunday.
Regular booster vaccines against the novel coronavirus will be needed because of mutations that make it more transmissible and better able to evade human immunity, the head of Britain’s effort to sequence the virus’s genomes told Reuters.
Sharon Peacock, who heads COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) which has sequenced nearly half of all the novel coronavirus genomes so far mapped globally, said international cooperation was needed in the “cat and mouse” battle with the virus.
READ MORE: Italy expects COVID-19 cases to start falling in late spring
The Netherlands
The Netherlands on Sunday joined a fast-growing list of countries suspending use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine after reports of unexpected possible side effects from the injection.
The vaccine will not be used until at least March 29 as a precaution, the Dutch government said in a statement. The announcement will lead to delays in rolling out shots in the Netherlands, which had pre-ordered 12 million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine.
The Dutch organization tasked with reporting adverse drug reactions said on Monday it has had 10 reports of incidents after vaccinations with AstraZeneca, following the Dutch government's decision to pause use of the vaccine as a precaution.
Health authorities had scheduled around 290,000 AstraZeneca injections in the coming two weeks. The move, which follows a similar decision by Ireland earlier in the day, is based on reports from Denmark and Norway of possible serious side effects, the government said.
Three health workers in Norway who had recently received the vaccine were being treated in hospital for bleeding, blood clots and a low count of blood platelets, Norwegian health authorities said on Saturday.
No such cases had been found yet in the Netherlands, the Dutch Health ministry said, adding there was no proof yet of a direct link between the vaccine and the reports from Denmark and Norway.
"We can't allow any doubts about the vaccine," Dutch Health minister Hugo de Jonge said. "We have to make sure everything is right, so it is wise to pause for now."
About 2,000 people protested against the Netherlands’ virus restrictions as the nation heads into general elections, the Associated Press reported. Police encircled a park in The Hague where the large demonstration gathered. One protester carried a set of stocks with Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s head inside with a sign saying: “If you love the Netherlands, vote them out.”
Denmark
A 60-year old Danish woman who died of a blood clot after receiving AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine had "highly unusual" symptoms, according to the Danish Medicines Agency.
The woman had a low number of blood platelets and clots in small and large vessels, as well as bleeding, it said.
A few similar cases were found in Norway and in the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) database of drug side effects, Danish Medicines Agency said. "It was an unusual course of illness around the death that made the Danish Medicines Agency react," it said in a statement late on Sunday.
Georgia
Georgia on Monday launched its nationwide inoculation campaign against COVID-19 after getting the first batch of vaccines from COVAX last week.
"People should believe that we will not defeat the pandemic without vaccination," said Paata Imnadze, deputy director of the country's National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), after receiving his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Tbilisi.
He urged all medical workers to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
According to the Georgian government, people working in the health sector will be eligible to get vaccinated first in Georgia.
Russia
Russia on Monday reported 9,437 new COVID-19 cases, including 1,353 in Moscow, pushing the national infection tally to 4,400,045 since the pandemic began.
The government coronavirus taskforce also said that 404 people had died in the last 24 hours, taking Russia's death toll to 92,494.
The country has vaccinated 3.5 million people with both shots of its Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19, Kirill Dmitriev, boss of Russia's RDIF sovereign wealth fund, said on Monday.
Dmitriev said in a statement that no other European country had administered both shots to that number of people.
Ireland
Ireland became the latest country to stop using AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday, temporarily suspending the shot "out of an abundance of caution" after reports from Norway of serious blood clotting in some recipients there.
Three health workers in Norway who had recently received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine were being treated in hospital for bleeding, blood clots and a low count of blood platelets, its health authorities said on Saturday.
Ireland's National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) recommended the temporary deferral pending the receipt of more information from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in the coming days.
France
France must do everything to avoid a new coronavirus lockdown as pressure on hospitals grows, Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Sunday.
French Labour Minister Elizabeth Borne said on Sunday she had tested positive for COVID-19 and would keep working, the latest senior French official to catch the virus.
The 59-year-old, who is number eight in rank in the cabinet, said on Twitter that she was doing well despite having some symptoms.
France registered 26,343 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours while coronavirus-linked hospitalizations went up again, according to data released by the health authorities on Sunday.
The country now recorded an accumulative total of 4,071,662 COVID-19 cases. Some 90,429 patients have succumbed to the respiratory illness.
Poland
The Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Development, Labor and Technology Jaroslaw Gowin confirmed on Sunday that he has been infected by COVID-19.
Gowin, who has gone in self-isolation but is continuing his work, tweeted about his infection on Sunday, two days after Warsaw mayor and former presidential candidate Rafal Trzaskowski was reported to have tested positive. A spokesperson for the ministry has said that Gowin's symptoms have not been serious.
Poland is experiencing a third wave of COVID-19 infections, mainly fueled by the more infectious variant of the coronavirus first detected in Britain. The Polish Health Ministry reported on Sunday that over 70 percent of ventilators reserved for COVID-19 patients are now occupied. Close to 300,000 Poles are currently in quarantine.
ALSO READ: Brazil becomes country with 2nd highest number of virus cases
Portugal
Portugal extended a ban on flights to and from Britain and Brazil by another two weeks on Monday to March 31, with only humanitarian and repatriation flights allowed, the interior ministry said in a statement.
Also on Monday, Portugal, which has so far reported 814,257 COVID-19 cases and 16,684 deaths, began easing a two-month nationwide lockdown after a surge in cases in part attributed to the quick spread of the variant first identified in Britain crippled the healthcare system earlier this year.
Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa expressed thanks on Sunday to medical teams sent by France and Luxembourg in assisting the country to fight COVID-19.
"My thanks to the team of health professionals from France, which in the last month has given concrete expression to European fraternity and solidarity in one of the most difficult moments in the fight against the pandemic," Costa tweeted.
Composed of a doctor and three nurses, the French team arrived in Portugal on Feb. 15 to work in the intensive care unit of Hospital Garcia da Orta, in the metropolitan region of Lisbon, when the country recorded its worst number of hospitalizations.
In another message posted on Twitter, Costa also thanked the team sent from Luxembourg on Feb. 16 to help fight COVID-19 at Hospital Espirito Santo, in the Alentejo region.
Slovenia
Slovenia commemorated those who have died from COVID-19 with a memorial service at Ljubljana's Zale cemetery on Sunday.
The event was held exactly a year after the first person with COVID-19 died in Slovenia. President Borut Pahor expressed condolences to the victims' families, warning that the virus had not been defeated yet.
"A difficult year is behind us. A long, sorrowful and lonely year. Everybody among us has lost someone, everybody has lost something that we have missed," Pahor said, adding that the epidemic had made people aware of the importance of solidarity.
The president stressed that this "special, unusual period" was not over yet, calling for mutual respect, courage and solidarity.
Brazil
Brazil reported 1,127 COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours and 43,812 new cases of the coronavirus, the Health Ministry said on Sunday, ending the most lethal week since the pandemic began a year ago.
The South American country is fighting a surge in COVID-19 cases driven by a new, more contagious local variant of the virus that has overwhelmed intensive care wards in most large cities.
The week saw 12,818 deaths in Brazil from COVID-19, an average of 1,831 fatalities a day. That was far above the 1,000-death daily rolling averages for January and February and points to the gravity of the resurgence.
Brazil may be getting a new health minister just as the coronavirus outbreak reaches a new peak in the country.
Mexico
Mexico has registered 2,415 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 220 additional fatalities, bringing the totals in the country to 2,166,290 cases and 194,710 deaths, Health Ministry data showed on Sunday.
The government says the actual number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
Argentina
Argentina registered 3,697 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the national tally to 2,195,722, the Ministry of Health said.
The ministry also reported 24 more deaths from the disease, taking the nationwide death toll to 53,670.
The province of Buenos Aires remains the hardest-hit region in the South American country.
So far, 1,944,710 doses of vaccines have been administered, and 450,090 people have received two jabs, according to the ministry.
Colombia
Colombia registered 4,062 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, taking its nationwide tally to 2,303,144, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection said on Sunday.
The country reported 97 more related deaths, raising the national death toll to 61,143, said the ministry.
The Colombian government said that 782,301 doses of vaccines have been applied nationwide in the first stage of the country's National Vaccination Plan, while it plans to vaccinate more than 35 million Colombians against COVID-19 in 2021.
Chile
The Chilean Ministry of Health reported 100 more deaths and 5,734 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the country to its fourth consecutive day of over 5,000 daily cases.
According to the ministry, Chile has registered 891,110 cases and 21,674 deaths from the disease so far.
COVID-19 cases have been on the rise in Chile after the end of the summer holidays, placing increased pressure on hospitals, with 192 intensive care beds available nationwide.
Cuba
Cuba registered 914 new cases and four deaths from the COVID-19, the Ministry of Public Health reported on Sunday.
With these figures, the total cases rise to 61,472 and the death toll rises to 370, said the ministry's director of hygiene and epidemiology Francisco Duran.
Duran said that 909 of the cases occurred due to community transmission while five were imported, which he attributed to "the reduction in the number of people arriving and, above all, due to the health protocols applied to those who arrive."
Ecuador
Ecuador reported 1,555 new cases of the COVID-19 on Sunday, with a total of 302,221 cases and 11,446 deaths, the Ministry of Health reported.
According to the ministry, all 24 provinces have seen an increase in cases, with the capital city of Quito remaining the epicenter of the disease in the country, with 96,369 infections.
Ecuador is facing a high level of occupancy in hospital intensive care units as a consequence of the increase in infections.
A total of 119,222 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 so far through the national immunization plan that began on Jan. 21, according to the Ministry of Health.
Tunisia
Tunisian Health Ministry on Sunday reported 577 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections in the country to 241,834.
The death toll from the virus rose by 30 to 8,389, the ministry said in a statement.
The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients reached 1,071, including 284 in intensive care units, while the total number of recoveries reached 207,686, it added.
A total of 1,034,981 lab tests have been carried out in Tunisia so far, said the ministry.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia reported on Sunday 1,413 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, taking the national count to 175,467, said the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health.
Meanwhile, 10 new fatalities were reported across the country, pushing the nationwide death toll to 2,550, said the ministry.
With 1,669 more recoveries registered, the total number of recoveries came to 143,710, it said.
Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation, is one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic in Africa, after South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.
Somalia
Somalia on Monday received the first shipment of 300,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to help contain the spread of the COVID-19 in the Horn of African nation.
The health ministry said the first shipment will target frontline workers, elderly and people with chronic health conditions and aims to reduce deaths and diseases caused by the pandemic.
"The arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines happens at a critical time as Somalia is now experiencing a new wave of the epidemic. It can be contained if all countries stand together, Somalia included," Fawziya Abikar Nur, minister of health and human services said in a statement issued in Mogadishu.
