Low vaccination rates are of mounting concern amid a new wave of COVID-19 infections in Africa, where nearly 227,000 deaths have been reported, according to the Africa CDC’s COVID-19 dashboard. Only 20 African countries had vaccinated at least 10% of their populations as of mid-December, according to the United Nations. Vaccine access is a major stumbling block. Vaccines have been

Roughly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, no massive outbreaks have been reported in refugee camps to date. Health experts have some theories about why, but they also urge continued wariness against “the very real and present danger of widespread transmission” in camps, as the World Health Organization has cautioned. The U.N. refugee agency, or UNHCR, “had been fearing —

Instead of celebrating their sons’ coming-of-age, this month 34 families in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province are mourning their deaths. At least 34 young men have died this month during traditional initiation to manhood rites. The country’s cultural rights commission is calling for a crackdown on schools that offer the dangerous rituals to prevent more deaths. Initiation to manhood is

A Gambian truth and reconciliation commission said in a report published Friday that former President Yahya Jammeh was responsible for a spree of killings, torture and rapes during his 22-year rule over the tiny West African nation. The independent Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) was set up when Jammeh left Gambia for exile in Equatorial Guinea after refusing to

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is expressing concern at the latest wave of COVID infections as the continent enters the holiday season.Africa CDC Director John Nkengasong says they are pushing African countries to consider vaccine mandates. Africa is seeing an increase in COVID infections, according to the figures released by the Africa CDC Thursday. The continent

About 50 Ugandan legislators and their staff members tested positive for COVID-19 this week after a trip to Tanzania. A spokesman for Uganda’s parliament says the infections were unavoidable given Tanzania’s relaxed attitude toward the disease. The group was in Arusha for the East African Legislative Assembly games, a friendly sports event hosted by Tanzania for the region’s parliaments. Chris

Scientists and health advocates in Africa say they’re deeply disappointed by a statement from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. The CDC last week recommended the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines ahead of the J&J, because of concerns the J&J shot could, in rare cases, cause blood clots, or thrombosis. The J&J

The United Nations estimates 7.7 million people, half of Somalia’s population, will require humanitarian assistance and protection in 2022.It is appealing for $1.5 billion to assist 5.5 million of the most vulnerable among them. Decades of conflict, recurrent climatic shocks, disease outbreaks, and increasing poverty, including the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic are devastating the lives and livelihoods of

Five civilians and a soldier were killed in the latest attack by armed groups in volatile Central African Republic, plagued by fighting between rebels and the army, a local official said Monday. Rebel fighters attacked army positions of Central African forces on Sunday in the town of Mann, some 600 kilometers (370 miles) northwest of Bangui, local sub-prefect Jean-Ulrich Sembetanga

The Democratic Republic of Congo army and its Ugandan allies said Sunday they had destroyed rebel “strongholds” in the country’s restive east this week, in a campaign launched last month against ADF rebels. Troops from the two countries bombarded “new enemy camps identified in the Beni district of North Kivu province and in Ituri province” to the north, the DR