Libya Steps up Tripoli Jab Drive as Virus Caseload Rises

People wait at a makeshift coronavirus vaccination and testing centre set up in the Libyan capital Tripoli. (AFP)
People wait at a makeshift coronavirus vaccination and testing centre set up in the Libyan capital Tripoli. (AFP)
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Libya Steps up Tripoli Jab Drive as Virus Caseload Rises

People wait at a makeshift coronavirus vaccination and testing centre set up in the Libyan capital Tripoli. (AFP)
People wait at a makeshift coronavirus vaccination and testing centre set up in the Libyan capital Tripoli. (AFP)

Libyan authorities on Saturday stepped up their vaccination campaign around the capital Tripoli, as coronavirus cases rise across the country.

The health ministry has set up temporary centers in six districts of the capital, and AFP journalists saw long queues outside the tents on Saturday morning.

"The campaign will continue until all the available doses are used," doctor Rawad Behelille told AFP in central Tripoli.

Earlier this month, head of the Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid Dbeibah issued a decree instructing cafes and restaurants to close due to rising infections, while also suspending university lectures and weddings.

Daily reported cases have reached several thousand in the past week, in a country with a population of around seven million.

Libya has recorded over 229,600 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, including over 3,340 deaths.

Fewer than 500,000 people have been vaccinated since the war-torn country's inoculation campaign started in April.



Israeli Strikes on Gaza Kill 10 People, Mostly Women and Children

Palestinians carry the bodies of those who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike, during their funeral in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians carry the bodies of those who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike, during their funeral in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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Israeli Strikes on Gaza Kill 10 People, Mostly Women and Children

Palestinians carry the bodies of those who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike, during their funeral in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians carry the bodies of those who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike, during their funeral in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli strikes overnight and into Sunday killed 10 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, according to local health officials.
Two of the strikes hit tents in the southern city of Khan Younis, each killing two children and their parents. Other strikes killed a child and a man riding a bicycle, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies from all the strikes.
Israel has sealed Gaza off from all imports, including food, medicine and emergency shelter, for over 10 weeks in what it says is a pressure tactic aimed at forcing Hamas to release hostages. Israel resumed its offensive in March, shattering a ceasefire that had facilitated the release of more than 30 hostages.
Aid groups say food supplies are running low and hunger is widespread.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 52,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The offensive has destroyed vast areas of the territory and displaced some 90% of its population of around 2 million.