Libya Prepares for Rolling Out Vaccines

WHO volunteers carry out an awareness campaign in Benghazi, eastern Libya (WHO)
WHO volunteers carry out an awareness campaign in Benghazi, eastern Libya (WHO)
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Libya Prepares for Rolling Out Vaccines

WHO volunteers carry out an awareness campaign in Benghazi, eastern Libya (WHO)
WHO volunteers carry out an awareness campaign in Benghazi, eastern Libya (WHO)

Libya has been preparing to launch the national vaccination campaign, at a time when the coronavirus cases exceeded 166,000 in the country.

The National Center for Disease Control published on Thursday guidelines, calling on citizens who wish to receive the vaccine to constantly check body temperature, coughing, critical diseases, or any type of allergy.

The Center stressed that any side effects must be checked, especially one to three weeks after getting the vaccine.

Libya received on Sunday the first shipment of Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V.

"It is the first drop of rain. Thank God, we are able to supply the first batch of coronavirus vaccine," Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh said. "The rest of the shipment will arrive in succession," he added, without giving further details.

WHO Libya has expressed commitment to continue its support to the Government of Libya, and the National Center for Disease Control in the fight against COVID-19.

WHO said some volunteers are exerting relentless efforts in Benghazi to raise awareness in the community. In addition, they are distributing facemasks, sterilizers, and fliers guide with the support of USAID.

In the same context, the Primary Health Care Institute (PHCI) in cooperation with the Center held a workshop to offer training on the delivery of vaccines.

Twenty-seven new deaths linked to the coronavirus have been recorded in 11 Libyan cities, bringing the total fatalities to 28,000.

The National Center further announced on Thursday that up to 869 new cases have been recorded in Libya, while recoveries reached 152,000.



Women and Children Scavenge for Food in Gaza, UN Official Says

 Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
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Women and Children Scavenge for Food in Gaza, UN Official Says

 Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)

Large groups of women and children are scavenging for food among mounds of trash in parts of the Gaza Strip, a UN official said on Friday following a visit to the Palestinian enclave.

Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights office for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, expressed concern about the levels of hunger, even in areas of central Gaza where aid agencies have teams on the ground.

"I was particularly alarmed by the prevalence of hunger," Sunghay told a Geneva press briefing via video link from Jordan. "Acquiring basic necessities has become a daily, dreadful struggle for survival."

Sunghay said the UN had been unable to take any aid to northern Gaza, where he said an estimated 70,000 people remain following "repeated impediments or rejections of humanitarian convoys by the Israeli authorities".

Sunghay visited camps for people recently displaced from parts of northern Gaza. They were living in horrendous conditions with severe food shortages and poor sanitation, he said.

"It is so obvious that massive humanitarian aid needs to come in – and it is not. It is so important the Israeli authorities make this happen," he said. He did not specify the last time UN agencies had sent aid to northern Gaza.

US WARNING

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin set out steps last month for Israel to carry out in 30 days to address the situation in Gaza, warning that failure to do so may have consequences on US military aid to Israel.

The State Department said on Nov. 12 that President Joe Biden's administration had concluded that Israel was not currently impeding assistance to Gaza and therefore was not violating US law.

The Israeli army, which began its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip after the group's attack on southern Israeli communities in October 2023, said its operating in northern Gaza since Oct. 5 were trying to prevent militants regrouping and waging attacks from those areas.

Israel's government body that oversees aid, Cogat, says it facilitates the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and accuses UN agencies of not distributing it efficiently.

Looting has also depleted aid supplies within the Gaza Strip, with nearly 100 food aid trucks raided on Nov. 16.

"The women I met had all either lost family members, were separated from their families, had relatives buried under rubble, or were themselves injured or sick," Sunghay said of his stay in the Gaza Strip.

"Breaking down in front of me, they desperately pleaded for a ceasefire."