Libya’s Benghazi to Kick off Expanded Vaccination Campaign

A view of the vaccination center. (Benghazi health authorities)
A view of the vaccination center. (Benghazi health authorities)
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Libya’s Benghazi to Kick off Expanded Vaccination Campaign

A view of the vaccination center. (Benghazi health authorities)
A view of the vaccination center. (Benghazi health authorities)

An expanded COVID-19 vaccination campaign will kick off on Wednesday in Benghazi, Libya’s second largest city, as authorities reported 1,900 infections throughout the country.

The Benghazi health Services directorate said that it completed all preparations to launch the vaccination campaign at the Suleiman Al-Darrat Complex in the eastern city.

People above the age of 18 will be given the first doze of the Chinese-made Sinopharm shot.

Meanwhile, Libya registered 23 new COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities to 4,100.

Also on Tuesday, the International Organization for Migration announced that it organized with the Libyan Health Ministry a series of trainings on COVID-19 preventive measures for medical workers operating in 20 centers for illegal migrants.

The Italian government announced it has provided aid to four hospitals in Libya.

The Italian Embassy in Libya tweeted that “a first shipment of medical equipment was delivered to Surman, Sabratha and Murzuq hospitals,” and “a 500 kilowatt generator was delivered to Ibn Sina Hospital” in Sirte.

The embassy confirmed that the aid “comes in response to urgent needs”, and was “sent as part of the Italian aid bridge, in cooperation with the Libyan government and the Health Ministry.”



WFP: Major Food Aid 'Scale-up' Underway to Famine-hit Sudan

FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
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WFP: Major Food Aid 'Scale-up' Underway to Famine-hit Sudan

FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa

More than 700 trucks are on their way to famine-stricken areas of Sudan as part of a major scale-up after clearance came through from the Sudanese government, a World Food Program spokesperson said on Tuesday.
The army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been locked in conflict since April 2023 that has caused acute hunger and disease across the country. Both sides are accused of impeding aid deliveries, the RSF by looting and the army by bureaucratic delays.
"In total, the trucks will carry about 17,500 tons of food assistance, enough to feed 1.5 million people for one month," WFP Sudan spokesperson Leni Kinzli told a press briefing in Geneva.
"We've received around 700 clearances from the government in Sudan, from the Humanitarian Aid Commission, to start to move and transport assistance to some of these hard-to-reach areas," she added, saying the start of the dry season was another factor enabling the scale-up.
The WFP fleet will be clearly labelled in the hope that access will be facilitated, Reuters quoted her as saying.
Some of the food is intended for 14 areas of the country that face famine or are at risk of famine, including Zamzam camp in the Darfur region.
The first food arrived there on Friday prompting cheers from crowds of people who had resorted to eating crushed peanut shells normally fed to animals, Kinzli said.

A second convoy for the camp is currently about 300 km away, she said.