UAE grants Sudan COVID-19 vaccines

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has granted Sudan “considerable quantities” of the COVID-19 vaccine. This was confirmed following a phone call between deputy vice chairman of the Sovereign Council Lt Gen Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemeti’ and the leaders of the UAE.

Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed approved the decision “to help Sudan deal with the pandemic”, Hemeti said. He indicated that the vaccine would reach the country in the next few days.

A month ago, the Sudanese Ministry of Health announced that 8.4 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be provided to specified target groups. The distribution of the vaccine was said to take place in the first quarter of 2021, “depending on global production and waiting lists”.

Director General of the Ministry of Health in North Darfur Majabti El Tijani announced that gatherings and parties in El Fasher locality have been prohibited due to the spread of COVID-19.

In its epidemiological report for Monday and Tuesday, El Gezira’s Ministry of Health announced that 24 new cases of COVID-19 were found in the state. Nine people recovered, and six people died.

In Ed Damer, capital of River Nile state, the Ministry of Health recorded five deaths, six new cases, and four recoveries on Monday.

In El Gedaref, the Ministry of Health registered 221 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Monday and Tuesday. Between October 22 2020 to January 11 2021, there were 1,641 suspected cases of COVID-19 in the state. 723 patients tested positive, 139 died, and 404 recovered.

A report published by the Imperial College London (ICL) COVID-19 Response Team last month showed that only an estimated two per cent of all COVID-19 deaths have been reported in Sudan. ICL estimates that around 16,090 deaths have been missed from the beginning of the pandemic until November 20 2020.

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