Epidemics Tracker

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Health will embark on a three-day vaccination campaign against polio among children aged five years and below, starting this Thursday. This campaign that targets 8.7 million children aims to also reach children that have missed routine immunization. By the end of August, …

Geneva, Switzerland | Xinhua | The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that current COVID-19 vaccines may need to be updated if they are to provide continued protection against emerging variants, including Omicron. WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 Vaccine Composition (TAG-CO-VAC), a group of 18 experts, said that although current …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Parliament’s Health Committee is demanding accountability for the Covid-19 vaccine funds allocated to the National Medical Stores-NMS in the last two financial years. NMS officials led by Apollo Newton Mwesigye, the NMS Board Secretary, Paul Okware, the Chief Operations Officer, and Lillian Audo, on …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Directorate of Traffic Police has announced plans to mount checkpoints to arrest drivers and conductors without COVID-19 vaccination cards. Without mentioning the exact date, the Traffic Police Spokesperson, Faridah Nampiima told journalists on Monday they will soon start checking drivers and their conductors for …

Malaba, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda has agreed to conduct free COVID-19 rapid tests at the border posts of Busia and Malaba for seven days to clear the pileup of trucks at the border posts. This follows the joint multi-sectoral meeting of Ministers responsible for East African Community Affairs, Health …

Gulu, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The management of Pakwelo Primary School in Pece-Laroo division in Gulu city blocked unvaccinated parents and teachers from accessing the school premises on Monday. Dozens of parents turned up at the school to register their children and clear school dues but were turned away for …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The East African Community (EAC) Secretariat has faulted regional governments for failing to honour their own commitments on the management of COVID-19, as protests by truck drivers from Kenya into Uganda persists. One such commitment is the mutual recognition of the COVID-19 test results by …

Bushenyi, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Gordon Arinda, the former Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality Member of Parliament has succumbed to COVID-19. Arinda breathed his last at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital on Sunday where he was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit on Friday. Mary Karooro Okurut, the former  General Duties Minister confirmed Arinda’s …

Gulu, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Dr. Alice Veronica Lamwaka, the lead researcher and inventor of the Covilyce1 herbal concoction for treating coronavirus diseases, has lost essential research materials in a bitter land row. The affected research materials include African bamboo among other natural weeds, trees, and plants. It was …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Plans by several schools to make a COVID-19 test compulsory for returning students, and to also increase school fees, could be frustrated if orders by the Ministry of Education are enforced. Several educationists URN talked to are however not happy with the directive, saying …