Libya, facing a surge in COVID-19 infections, received two million doses of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine on Monday, as announced by the Prime Minister of the National Unity Government, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who urged citizens to visit vaccination centers. Dbeibah stated that a second batch of 1.5 million doses will arrive "in the coming weeks," without specifying its source.
Speaking to reporters at Mitiga International Airport near Tripoli, he said, "Today, we invite all our resident citizens to go to vaccination centers." This is the largest vaccine shipment that Libya, which has a population of around seven million, has received so far. Since the onset of the pandemic, the country, weakened by a decade of conflicts, has recorded 256,328 infections, including 3,579 deaths.
While the daily number of new cases had not exceeded 400 since the end of April, Libya is currently experiencing an increase in infections due to a higher number of tests conducted, which explains the recording of several thousand cases daily, reaching a record average in recent days.
As of Tuesday, a nighttime curfew is in effect for two weeks in the central and western regions of the country, excluding the eastern region, which is effectively under the control of Marshal Khalifa Haftar. Following the end of military operations between the Tripoli Government forces and Haftar's troops, a permanent ceasefire agreement was reached at the end of October last year. This was followed by Libyan parties agreeing in Geneva on a roadmap that led to the selection of a "temporary" unified political authority preparing for general elections at the end of this year. Libya is seeking to emerge from a decade of violence since the fall of the Muammar Gaddafi regime in 2011.
