Algeria Says 2.5 Million People Have Been Vaccinated

Algeria's capital Algiers during a Covid lockdown in June 2020. (AFP)
Algeria's capital Algiers during a Covid lockdown in June 2020. (AFP)
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Algeria Says 2.5 Million People Have Been Vaccinated

Algeria's capital Algiers during a Covid lockdown in June 2020. (AFP)
Algeria's capital Algiers during a Covid lockdown in June 2020. (AFP)

Algeria confirmed Sunday that more than 2 million people have received the COVID-19 vaccine, as part of efforts to curb the spread of the pandemic.

Algeria’s vaccination campaign had kicked off last January at a clinic in Blida province, which was hit by the virus after Algeria’s first infection was recorded there in a citizen travelling from France.

The country has since recorded more than 3,500 deaths from COVID-19. In the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry registered 277 new infections, 203 recoveries and eight deaths.

It plans to inoculate 20 million people before the end of the year, however, experts said the country is way behind with its vaccination campaign due to the scarce number of doses procured from abroad.

On Sunday, member of the health ministry's scientific committee for monitoring the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Riyad Mehdaoui said the country has received around 2.5 million doses of vaccines, adding that the government expects to import an additional 4 million jabs before the end of June.

He stressed the importance that vaccines be first given to the four million people who suffer from chronic diseases and diabetes, adding that the inoculation drive is operating normally despite having kicked off at a slow pace.

On Sunday, the Health Ministry launched an awareness campaign in the Bab al-Oued district to encourage residents to take the vaccine.

“Other campaigns are expected in several districts,” Mehdaoui said.



Iraq Seizes More than One Ton of Captagon Pills Shipped from Syria

Pills, which according to fighters loyal to the new ruling Syrian body are captagon, lay scattered next to a container, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria December 12, 2024. (Reuters)
Pills, which according to fighters loyal to the new ruling Syrian body are captagon, lay scattered next to a container, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria December 12, 2024. (Reuters)
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Iraq Seizes More than One Ton of Captagon Pills Shipped from Syria

Pills, which according to fighters loyal to the new ruling Syrian body are captagon, lay scattered next to a container, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria December 12, 2024. (Reuters)
Pills, which according to fighters loyal to the new ruling Syrian body are captagon, lay scattered next to a container, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria December 12, 2024. (Reuters)

Iraq's security forces have seized an estimated 1.1 ton of captagon pills hidden inside a truck that entered Iraq from Syria via Türkiye, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday.

The drug shipment, the largest ever seized in Iraq, was tracked and intercepted with the assistance of "important information" provided by Saudi's drug enforcement agency, the Interior Ministry spokesperson Brigadier Muqdad Meri said in a televised statement.

Western anti-narcotics officials say the addictive, amphetamine-type stimulant known as captagon has for years been mass-produced in Syria.

Captagon - a mix of amphetamines also known as the "poor man’s cocaine" - is one of the more popular recreational drugs in the Middle East.