Tunisian authorities on Wednesday warned of a renewed COVID-19 threat and urged the public to get themselves vaccinated against the deadly virus, reported The Arab News.
“The scientific committee to fight the coronavirus warned of another COVID-19 wave,” Dr. Riadh Daghfous, director of the National Pharmacovigilance Center, told the state news agency, TAP.
Mr. Daghfous advised people to get vaccinated to increase their immunity and help prevent the transmission of infections, as a surge in cases is expected in January.
The Tunisian health official said a campaign promoting vaccination against the dominant omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 will be launched this week. He added that those with chronic medical conditions and immunodeficiencies, old-age people and those who received their last dose of vaccine more than six months ago should get themselves vaccinated as early as possible.
“It is the right time now to have a vaccine booster,” he said.
Mr. Daghfous said that although the infections are on an upward trend, they are not life-threatening. He added that the hospital admissions are increasing, while the number of deaths remains steady.
As per data, a total of 6,398,305 Tunisians have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 since the start of the national vaccination campaign on March 13, 2021.
In related news, Tunisia’s largest labor union, the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) on Wednesday announced its plan to go on a two-day general transport strike from Jan. 25 to Jan 26, against what it has called the government’s “marginalization of public companies.”
Last week, the UGTT had warned President Kasi Saied that chaos could follow if the second round of parliamentary elections is not postponed. The first round of parliamentary elections recorded an extremely low turnout at 11.2%.
The strike is expected to put pressure on President Saied’s government, who is facing growing opposition 17 months after seizing executive powers in a move his opponents described as a coup.
