Significant Drop in Covid-19 Cases Across South Sudan

South Sudan has faced many challenges in the lead up to its Covid-19 vaccination campaign that began in April, 2021. The Covid-19 national taskforce reintroduced a partial lockdown in February 2021, amid a surge of cases across the country. The nation also saw a halt in the vaccination programme when health officials stopped the administering of 60,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that were past the expiration date but which, according to the World Health Organization and the AstraZeneca pharmaceutical firm, still has a shelflife of six months. The doses were donated by the mobile telecommunications network MTN and the African Union. Now it appears that the Covid-19 tide has turned in South Sudan despite the challenges it brought to a country racked by political upheaval, conflict and humanitarian crises, and a significant drop in cases has been recorded. The government has now launched a back-to-school campaign as primary and secondary schools across the country reopen, a little more than a year since closing in an effort to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Hussain Abdelbagi, head of the South Sudan task force on Covid-19, urged teachers and learners to continue social distancing and adhere to all other preventative guidelines. Abdelbagi said the government decided to reopen schools after seeing a significant drop in Covid-19 cases across the country. She urged all teachers to get fully vaccinated, noting the government has opened more vaccination centres. South Sudan has recorded 115 Covid-19 deaths, 10,312 recoveries, and 10,604 cases overall.