Weekly new Covid case rate slows in Mena

07 November 2021
The pace at which countries are reporting new cases is slowing down in parts of the Mena region

The number of Covid-19 cases in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region crossed 14,704,370 on 7 November, according to Worldometers data collated by MEED.

Countries in the GCC account for 17 per cent (2,523,474) of all regional cases, while Iran’s 5,980,260 infections make up 41 per cent of the 14.7-million tally.

Since 1 November, 91,082 new cases have been reported in the 17 Mena countries tracked by MEED.

The majority of the 17 countries tracked by MEED reported weekly case growth of under 1.5 per cent.

Syria’s rate of weekly new cases was 2.42 per cent on 7 November, but still lower than the 3.93 per cent recorded in the country as of 1 November.

Egypt’s rate of weekly new cases declined from 1.97 per cent on 1 November to 1.68 per cent on 7 November, while Iran’s rate dropped from 1.09 per cent last week to 0.94 per cent.

Improvements were also recorded in Libya and Yemen, where case rates dropped from 1.23 per cent to 0.82 per cent, and 1.17 per cent to 0.68 per cent, respectively.

Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia’s Food & Drug Authority has approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children aged 5-11 years. More than 46 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered to date in the kingdom, with more than 70 per cent of the population receiving both doses of a vaccine.

UAE
Department of Health Abu Dhabi has received the AZD7442 drug manufactured by AstraZeneca. The antibody-drug is expected to help fight Covid-19 infections in high-risk patients, including those who cannot take a vaccine or do not develop adequate antibodies after being inoculated. The health authority worked with Rafed, the UAE’s primary procurement organisation for essential medical equipment, to receive supplies of the drug, for which AstraZeneca announced trial results in August.

Abu Dhabi has also extended its green list of countries and destinations for travellers that no longer need to quarantine upon arrival, with more than 95 destinations now on the list. Thirteen new additions to the list since October include Lebanon, Turkey, the Philippines, Algeria, Syria, Romania and Yemen. Unvaccinated individuals from non-green list countries must take PCR tests on day one, six and nine of their stay, and quarantine for 10 days.

Bahrain
Emergency use approval has been granted for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children aged between 5 and 11 years after a study involving 3,100 children from the age group found the vaccine is 90.7 per cent effective, the National Health Regulatory Authority said. Bahrain is expected to receive doses from the manufacturer for the age group from the start of 2022.

Kuwait
Kuwait’s government has urged fully vaccinated individuals to receive booster shots as cases, deaths and hospital bed figures decline.

Iran
The locally made Razi Cov Pars and Fakhra vaccines have been granted emergency use approvals. Razi Cov Pars is the second Iranian-made vaccine to start clinical trials this February and has been developed by the Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute. It comprises three doses, of which the first two must be injected and the third taken intranasally. Fakhra’s clinical trials started in March, local media reported. Iran has 14 domestically developed vaccines at various stages of study.

Egypt
More than 3.5 million doses of the US-made Moderna vaccine arrived in Cairo through the Covax alliance over the weekend, following a shipment of 784,280 doses of the jab sent to Egypt from Canada earlier in the month. Cabinet spokesperson Nader Saad said last week that Egypt has about 34 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. Commenting on Egypt’s low inoculation rate, he reportedly added: “Citizens are not afraid anymore of receiving vaccines; however, they are just lazy and tend to receive it when they find it reachable around them whether at work, youth centres or malls.”

Iraq
Baghdad has approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children aged over 12 years. The health ministry said the move is based on the recommendations of a scientific advisory committee to reduce the spread of Covid-19 in Iraq.

Jordan
China has delivered 500,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine as a donation to Jordan. It marks the second batch of a Covid-19 vaccine shipment from Beijing to Amman.

Libya
The Washington-backed US Agency for International Development (USAID) is providing $4m in additional Covid-19 assistance for technical support, equipment and supplies to support Libya’s National Vaccine and Deployment programme. The funds raise the value of the US contribution to combatting Covid-19 in Libya to more than $20m since the start of the pandemic, according to local media.

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