Algeria Imposes Vaccine Pass To Boost Low Inoculation Rate

People wait to receive the Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during the coronavirus vaccination campaign, in Algiers, Algeria January 31, 2021. (Reuters)
People wait to receive the Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during the coronavirus vaccination campaign, in Algiers, Algeria January 31, 2021. (Reuters)
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Algeria Imposes Vaccine Pass To Boost Low Inoculation Rate

People wait to receive the Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during the coronavirus vaccination campaign, in Algiers, Algeria January 31, 2021. (Reuters)
People wait to receive the Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during the coronavirus vaccination campaign, in Algiers, Algeria January 31, 2021. (Reuters)

Algeria started requiring a “vaccine passport” Sunday to enter a broad range of public venues, in a bid to boost the country's low inoculation rate and overcome vaccine hesitancy that has left millions of vaccines unused.

The pass is now required for anyone entering or leaving Algeria, as well as for sports facilities, cinemas, theaters, museums, town halls and some other sites. It also applies to hammams — the bath houses that are popular across the region.

Less than a quarter of Algeria's population has had even one vaccine dose, so the rule will be difficult to enforce. It was announced in a government statement Saturday night and came into effect Sunday, leaving Algerians and businesses no time to prepare.

The government said the measure was aimed primarily at dealing with a rebound in infections from the delta variant. Only two cases of the omicron variant have been confirmed in Algeria but authorities are bracing for more. The government said other measures could be taken in the coming days depending on the evolution of the epidemic.

Official figures show Algeria has seen 6,230 COVID-related deaths including seven in the past week, and 217,000 cases overall. But even members of the government's scientific committee admit the real figures are much higher. Out of fears of being blamed for getting the virus or other stigma, some Algerians keep their infections secret — which then puts others at risk.

Meanwhile vaccine hesitancy remains high, despite sufficient supply.

“More than 13 million vaccines risk being out of date if they do not quickly find takers,” Health Minister Abderrahmane Benbouzid warned earlier this month.

According to figures released last week by a member of the government scientific committee, professor Ryadh Mahyaoui, only 10 million Algerians have had a first dose of the vaccine out of a population of 45 million.



Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 29

A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
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Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 29

A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli airstrikes on Sunday killed at least 29 Palestinians, including six children near a water distribution point.

The attacks came with apparent deadlock in a week of indirect talks in Qatar between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas for a ceasefire in the territory.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that Gaza City was hit by several strikes overnight and in the early morning, killing eight, "including women and children" and wounding others.

An Israeli airstrike hit a family home near the Nuseirat refugee camp, south of Gaza City, resulting in "10 martyrs and several injured", Bassal said.

In central Gaza, six children were among eight people killed when a drone "hit a potable water distribution point in an area for displaced people" in the Nuseirat camp, he added.

Several other people were wounded, he said.

In the territory's south, three people were killed when Israeli jets hit a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in the coastal Al-Mawasi area, according to the civil defense spokesman.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has recently intensified its operations across Gaza, more than 21 months into the war triggered by Hamas's October 2023 attack.

On Saturday, the military said fighter jets had hit more than 35 "Hamas terror targets" around Beit Hanun in northern Gaza.

The vast majority of Gaza's population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war, which has created dire humanitarian conditions in the territory.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency and other parties.