Tunisia Health Ministry Says 3 Million People Fully Vaccinated

A Tunisian nurse prepares a dose of a Covid-19 vaccine at an inoculation center in Ariana governorate near the capital Tunis on August 8, 2021. (Fethi Belaid, AFP)
A Tunisian nurse prepares a dose of a Covid-19 vaccine at an inoculation center in Ariana governorate near the capital Tunis on August 8, 2021. (Fethi Belaid, AFP)
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Tunisia Health Ministry Says 3 Million People Fully Vaccinated

A Tunisian nurse prepares a dose of a Covid-19 vaccine at an inoculation center in Ariana governorate near the capital Tunis on August 8, 2021. (Fethi Belaid, AFP)
A Tunisian nurse prepares a dose of a Covid-19 vaccine at an inoculation center in Ariana governorate near the capital Tunis on August 8, 2021. (Fethi Belaid, AFP)

The Tunisian Health Ministry confirmed that it succeeded to fully vaccinate around 3 million people since it kicked off a national inoculation campaign on March 13, 2021.

The number represents half of the 6 million Tunisian residents that the Ministry planned to vaccinate by next October to guarantee herd immunity.

“The number of fully vaccinated people stands at 2,980,682, including 2,277,394 people who received two doses, 320,733 people who got one shot of the single dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine and 382,555 people who were infected and therefore needed only one jab,” the Health Ministry said last Sunday.

It said a total of 6,789,808 jabs have been administered so far, including 4,512,414 first shots and 2,277,394 boosters.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry called on all residents who did not yet receive the vaccine to visit the nearest inoculation center and take their dose.

This came after 66,756 people missed their vaccine appointment last Sunday.

The Ministry revealed that only 32,820 people received their shots out of 99,576 resident that received text messages to attend their jab appointments on September 12.

Around 6 million people are registered on Evax.tn platform up to September 11 to book COVID-19 vaccination appointments.

In the same context, a member of the scientific committee to confront the coronavirus in Tunisia, Al-Hashemi Al-Wazir, said that the committee plans to administer a third dose of the vaccine for the most vulnerable.

Meanwhile, the African nation registered 12 COVID-19 fatalities on September 11, taking the death count to 24,244, the Ministry said.

Also, 780 infections were reported from 7,190 tests (10.85 percent positivity rate), pushing the caseload to 685,799 while recoveries rose by 4,824, reaching 666,431.



Argentina Withdraws from UN Peacekeeping Mission in Lebanon

 UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL) vehicles ride along a street amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Marjeyoun, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon November 19, 2024. (Reuters)
UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL) vehicles ride along a street amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Marjeyoun, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon November 19, 2024. (Reuters)
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Argentina Withdraws from UN Peacekeeping Mission in Lebanon

 UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL) vehicles ride along a street amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Marjeyoun, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon November 19, 2024. (Reuters)
UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL) vehicles ride along a street amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Marjeyoun, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon November 19, 2024. (Reuters)

Argentina has notified the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon of its withdrawal from the force, a UNIFIL spokesperson said on Tuesday, in the first sign of cracks in the unity of the mission following attacks it has blamed on Israel.

The 10,000-strong United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeeping mission is deployed in southern Lebanon to monitor the demarcation line with Israel, an area where there have been hostilities between Israeli troops and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters for over a year.

"Argentina has asked its officers to go back (to Argentina)," UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said in response to a question about a newspaper report.

He declined to comment on the reason for their departure, referring the question to Argentina's government.

Argentina is one of 48 countries contributing peacekeepers to UNIFIL, with a total of three staff currently in Lebanon, a UN website showed. It did not immediately respond to Tenenti's comments.

UNIFIL has previously referred to "unacceptable pressures being exerted on the mission through various channels".

Peacekeepers have refused to leave their posts despite more than 20 injuries in the past two months and damage to facilities which UNIFIL blames on the Israeli military.

Israel has denied such incidents are deliberate attacks. Israel says UN troops provide a human shield for Hezbollah fighters and has told UNIFIL to evacuate from southern Lebanon for its own safety - a request that the force has rejected.

Tenenti said there was no broader indication of declining support for the mission.

"The idea is to stay. So there is no discussion of withdrawing at all," he said.

He said that its monitoring activities were "very, very limited" because of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict and repairs to some of its facilities.

"We're still working on fixing some of the positions, but this has been definitely a very difficult moment, because we've been deliberately attacked by the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) in recent months, and we're doing our utmost to rebuild the areas," he said.

Israel's military did not immediately comment on Tenenti's remarks.