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Libya Speeds up Efforts to Launch Covid Vaccination Campaign

The Libyan National Center for Disease Control kicks off an awareness campaign on the importance of receiving the Covid vaccine. (Libyan National Center for Disease Control)
The Libyan National Center for Disease Control kicks off an awareness campaign on the importance of receiving the Covid vaccine. (Libyan National Center for Disease Control)
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Libya Speeds up Efforts to Launch Covid Vaccination Campaign

The Libyan National Center for Disease Control kicks off an awareness campaign on the importance of receiving the Covid vaccine. (Libyan National Center for Disease Control)
The Libyan National Center for Disease Control kicks off an awareness campaign on the importance of receiving the Covid vaccine. (Libyan National Center for Disease Control)

Libyan authorities are speeding up their efforts to kick off their COVID-19 vaccination campaign amid an increase in infections and deaths in the country.

Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh launched the vaccination program at the beginning of the week, calling it a "blessed day" in the fight against COVID-19 after he received his first shot.

Head of the Libyan National Center for Disease Control Badr Al-Deen Al-Najjar said that 18 municipalities are now ready to receive the Sputnik V vaccines.

The center has been preparing inoculation centers to meet the required procedures for storing and then giving the vaccines.

Najjar said the center has so far received 253,000 doses of the Sputnik V and AstraZeneca vaccines and is awaiting approval for their use.

He urged people to sign up to receive the vaccine through registering through the dedicated website.

So far, only 450,000 people have registered, but he hoped more would join soon, adding that the Sputnik V vaccine will be given to people under 60, while AstraZeneca will be given to those above 60.

"Sputnik V is the most used vaccine in dozens of countries, has very few side effects and has an efficiency rate of 90%. The center launched a campaign in cooperation with UNICEF to monitor the vaccination process in all of the municipalities." Najjar continued.

Health Minister Ali Al-Zanati said previously the government has so far ordered enough doses to inoculate 1.4 million of the country's more than seven million people.

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UN: At Least 542 Killed in North Darfur in Past 3 Weeks

World Food Program (WFP) food assistance is unloaded in Tawila, where people displaced from El Fasher and Zamzam camp have arrived over the past week across four locations, in North Darfur, Sudan April 28, 2025. WFP/Mohamed Galal /Handout via REUTERS
World Food Program (WFP) food assistance is unloaded in Tawila, where people displaced from El Fasher and Zamzam camp have arrived over the past week across four locations, in North Darfur, Sudan April 28, 2025. WFP/Mohamed Galal /Handout via REUTERS
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UN: At Least 542 Killed in North Darfur in Past 3 Weeks

World Food Program (WFP) food assistance is unloaded in Tawila, where people displaced from El Fasher and Zamzam camp have arrived over the past week across four locations, in North Darfur, Sudan April 28, 2025. WFP/Mohamed Galal /Handout via REUTERS
World Food Program (WFP) food assistance is unloaded in Tawila, where people displaced from El Fasher and Zamzam camp have arrived over the past week across four locations, in North Darfur, Sudan April 28, 2025. WFP/Mohamed Galal /Handout via REUTERS

At least 542 civilians have been confirmed killed in Sudan's North Darfur region in the past three weeks, the United Nations said Thursday, warning the actual death toll was likely "much higher.”

"The horror unfolding in Sudan knows no bounds," UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement, referring to the country's ongoing civil war.

Darfur in particular has become a key battleground in the war that erupted on April 15, 2023 between the regular army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), headed by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

The war has left tens of thousands dead and triggered what aid agencies describe as the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.

The battle for El-Fasher, the last major city in Darfur to elude RSF control, has intensified in recent weeks as the paramilitaries have sought to compensate for their loss of the capital Khartoum last month.

According to AFP, Turk pointed to an attack three days ago by the RSF on El-Fasher and the Abu Shouk camp that killed at least 40 civilians.

"This brings the confirmed number of civilians killed in North Darfur to at least 542 in just the last three weeks," he said.

"The actual death toll is likely much higher."

He also cited "the ominous warning by the RSF of 'bloodshed' ahead of imminent battles with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and their associated armed movements."

"Everything must be done to protect civilians trapped amid dire conditions in and around El-Fasher."

Turk also highlighted "reports of extrajudicial executions in Khartoum state", which he described as "extremely disturbing".

"Horrific videos circulating on social media show at least 30 men in civilian clothing being rounded up and executed by armed men in RSF uniforms in Al-Salha in southern Omdurman," he said, adding that in a subsequent video, "an RSF field commander acknowledged the killings."

Those videos came after "shocking reports in recent weeks of the extrajudicial execution of dozens of people accused of collaborating with the RSF in southern Khartoum, allegedly committed by the Al-Baraa Brigade", a pro-SAF militia, Turk said.

"Deliberately taking the life of a civilian or anyone no longer directly taking part in hostilities is a war crime," he insisted.

The UN rights chief said he had "personally alerted both leaders of the RSF and SAF to the catastrophic human rights consequences of this war".

"These harrowing consequences are a daily, lived reality for millions of Sudanese. It is well past time for this conflict to stop."