Photo: John S. on Flickr

February 02, 2021

Hemdani: reopening of the country’s livestock markets “early next week”

Guelma – The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Abdelhamid Hemdani, said Tuesday in Guelma that “livestock markets across all wilayas of the country will reopen early next week.

Mr. Hemdani also stressed that this reopening which comes after the improvement of the health situation is part of the measures taken by his department to ensure the availability of food products needed for the next month of Ramadhan including meat, stating that these measures are likely to “ensure the availability of various products with the quality requested and at prices within reach of the consumer”.

Mr. Hemdani also stressed that the reopening is part of the measures taken by his department to ensure the availability of food products needed for the next month of Ramadhan including meat, stating that these measures are likely to “ensure the availability of various products with the quality requested and at prices within reach of the consumer”.

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.

COVID-19: Rearrangement of partial containment schedules in Algiers

“Within the framework of the system adopted by the public authorities for the management of the health situation related to the fight against the pandemic of the new coronavirus (COVID-19), and given the relative improvement of the epidemiological situation, and pursuant to the decision of the Ministry of Interior, Local Government and Land Management, the wali informs all citizens of the capital that it has been decided to rearrange the hours of partial confinement at home of 22: 00 the following day at 05:00, applicable from Wednesday 3 February 2021, reads a press release published on the Facebook page of the wilaya.

It was also decided to “reopen omnisports halls and sports halls, as well as places of relaxation, recreational and leisure areas and beaches”, according to the same source, adding that “the opening hours of shops have also been extended to 2 1:00. These include shops for household appliances, household and decorative articles, bedding and upholstery, sports articles, games and toys and places where there is a concentration of shops”. These new hours will also concern “hairdressing salons for men and women, pastry and confectionery shops, cafés, restaurants and fast-food outlets, which must limit their activities to take-away sales only”, the same source states.

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.

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February 01, 2021

COVID-19: arrival in Algeria of the first shipment of AstraZeneca vaccine

A shipment of 50,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived Monday afternoon at Houari Boumediene International Airport (Algiers). This is the first shipment of this Anglo-Swedish vaccine ordered by Algeria as part of its strategy to fight against the pandemic of COVID-19.

This shipment comes in addition to that received last Friday at the military airport of Boufarik (Blida), consisting of 50,000 doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V.

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.

Coronavirus: Algeria talks with Moscow to produce the Russian vaccine

Algeria announced Sunday that it had discussed with Moscow the possibility of producing the Russian vaccine against COVID-19, Sputnik V. Discussions to produce the vaccine in Algeria took place during a meeting between Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad and Russian Ambassador Igor Beliaev, the prime minister’s office said.

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.

Vaccination against COVID-19: start of the campaign in Boumerdès

Boumerdès’ health director, Saïd Ouabbés, said that all the necessary measures have been taken to ensure that the coronavirus vaccination process is a success. The health director said the vaccination process will start on Friday and that a multi-service medical staff has been recruited to monitor the process.

The same spokesman explained that the wilaya had obtained a sufficient quantity of vaccine to launch the campaign and vaccinate citizens.

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.

20 wilayas will receive their batches of Sputnik V vaccine on Monday

Twenty (20) wilayas, the most affected by the epidemic of coronavirus COVID-19, are preparing to receive, this Monday, February 1, 2021, their batches of Russian vaccine, Sputnik V, that is to say the 50,000 doses received Friday by the Pasteur Institute of Algeria (IPA).

“These are 20 wilayas, from all regions of the country, which are concerned by the distribution of Spuntik V vaccine, which was started Saturday by that of Blida, and this, in accordance with the dispatching decided by the Ministry of Health. We must complete this operation today,” said the Director of the IPA’s Appririvals, Zoulikha Smai Benkedadra, reports public television.

[…] The representative of the IPA added that among the wilayas that will receive the Russian vaccine include Algiers, Tizi-Ouzou, Tipaza, Setif, Oran, Jijel, Tlemcen, Batna, Mostaganem as well as Ouargla and Biskra, knowing that the transport of vaccines will be by road and air to the most remote destinations, according to the same media.

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.

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January 31, 2021

The Prime Minister gets vaccinated in Algiers

The Prime Minister, Abdelaziz Djerad, was vaccinated Sunday in Algiers in the wake of Saturday’s launch of the vaccination campaign against the new coronavirus (COVID-19), started symbolically from the wilaya Blida, the first national focus of the pandemic.

However, the members of the scientific committee in charge of monitoring the coronavirus epidemic in Algeria are confident.

Algeria had received last Friday its first doses of the Russian ‘SputniK V’ vaccine. Anticipating the launch of this vaccination campaign which will be supervised by the Pasteur Institute, the Ministry of Health has put in place all the material and organizational means, notably through the training of staffs who will be in charge of this campaign throughout the national territory.

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.

Anti-Covid vaccination: what is the procedure to follow?

Algeria officially and symbolically launched its vaccination campaign against COVID-19 on Saturday 30 December from Blida, the wilaya that registered the first case of coronavirus in the country 11 months ago. Yesterday, the Prime Minister’s office said that this campaign will be spread over the whole year 2021, without fixing the procedure to be followed and the instructions for people who want to be vaccinated.

[…] Contacted, Dr Lyes Merabet, president of the SNPSP, recommends them to contact the health structures in their place of residence first to get information and possibly register if the said structure has the vaccine. “The person must first go to the nearest local structure. If this structure has a quantity of vaccine available, and if there are fewer people, those who arrive first will be taken care of first. Otherwise, if there are more people than the amount of vaccine available, patients will be registered and an appointment will be made,” he tells TSA.

“The vaccination campaign will actually start next week in a clearer way. The current week is above all an opportunity to set up, distribute and transport and organize the actual organization of the teams responsible for the vaccination”, explains the practitioner, who recommends vaccination particularly for the elderly and/or people with co-morbidities.

Things are less clear, however, according to Dr Mohamed Yousfi, head of the infectious diseases department at Boufarik hospital in the wilaya of Blida. From the outset, he deplores the fact that this establishment, one of the structures most bruised by COVID-19 since the beginning of the epidemic in Algeria, has not yet received its batches of vaccines.

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.

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January 30, 2021

Non-compliance with anti-COVID-19 measures in Algiers: 314 formal notices and 49 closure decisions in one week

The security services of the wilaya of Algiers have, in one week, issued formal notice to 314 traders and proceeded to the immediate closure of 49 businesses for non-compliance with anti-COVID-19 measures, said yesterday a statement of the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN).

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.

Renewal of partial home confinement in 19 wilayas

The measure of partial confinement at home for an additional fifteen days has been renewed by the government following the instructions of the president of the Republic, in 19 wilayas of the country under the management of the health crisis related to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), said Saturday a press release from the services of the Prime Minister, the full text of which follows:   

These measures are declined as follows:

1. In terms of partial confinement at home :

The measure of partial confinement at home will be rearranged and extended, for a period of fifteen (15) days, as follows:

• The measure of partial confinement at home from 8 pm (20) hours until five (5) am of the following day is applicable in the following nineteen (19) wilayas: Batna, Biskra, Blida, Bouira, Tebessa, Tlemcen, Tizi-Ouzou, Algiers, Jijel, Sidi Bel Abbes, Constantine, Mostaganem, M’Sila, Oran, Boumerdes, El Tarf, Tissemsilt, Ain Temouchent and Relizane.

• Are not concerned by the measure of confinement at home the twenty-nine (29) following wilayas: Adrar, Chlef, Laghouat, Bejaia, Béchar, Oum El Bouaghi, Tamenghasset, Tiaret, Djelfa, Sétif, Saïda, Skikda, Annaba, Guelma, Médéa, Mascara, Ouargla, El Bayadh, Illizi, Bordj Bou Arréridj, Tindouf, El Oued, Khenchela, Souk Ahras, Tipaza, Mila, Ain Defla, Naâma and Ghardaia.

These containment measures are applicable, from Sunday, January 31, 2021, for a period of fifteen (15) days.

The walis can, after agreement of the competent authorities, take all measures required by the sanitary situation of each wilaya, in particular the introduction, modification or modulation of schedules, of the measure of partial or total targeted confinement at home of one or several communes, localities or districts where there are outbreaks of contamination.

2- In terms of social and economic activities:

• The extension of the measure to close, for a period of fifteen (15) days, the second-hand vehicle sales markets throughout the national territory.

• The extension of the closure measure for a period of fifteen (15) days in the nineteen (19) wilayas concerned by the partial confinement of the following activities to the home:

• The extension, for a period of fifteen (15) days and in the nineteen (19) wilayas concerned by the partial confinement at home, of the measure limiting the activity time to nineteen (19) hours concerning the establishments carrying out the following activities:

• The extension of the measure limiting the activities of cafés, restaurants and fast-food outlets to take-away sales only. However, the Walis will be able to proceed with their immediate closure if infringement of the measures is enacted as part of the fight against the spread of COVID-19.
• The extension of the measures applicable to ordinary markets and weekly markets relating to the control mechanism by the competent services to ensure compliance with the prevention and protection measures and the application of the penalties provided for by the regulations in force against offenders.

3- With regard to public gatherings and gatherings:

• The extension of the prohibition measure, throughout the national territory, of any type of gathering of persons and family reunification, in particular the celebration of marriages and circumcision and other events such as reunification at cemeteries.
• The extension of the prohibition measure concerning meetings and general assemblies organised by certain institutions.

The walis will ensure compliance with this prohibition and the application of regulatory sanctions against offenders as well as the owners of the places hosting these reunifications.

Finally, and despite the stabilization of cases of contamination noted over the last few days, the Government reiterates its calls for prudence and discipline towards the citizens who must continue their mobilization to fight against the spread of this epidemic and take up this health challenge, always respecting the recommended barrier measures, such as physical distancing, the wearing of a mask and frequent handwashing”.

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.

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January 29, 2021

Vaccination extended to other bodies on Sunday

The vaccination operation against COVID-19 which will initially concern people most prone to contamination and transmission, including health workers, will be extended from next Sunday to other bodies, announced the Minister of Communication, Government Spokesman Ammar Belhimer Friday from Blida, reassuring Algerians about “the forthcoming receipt of other shipments of vaccine” to meet national needs.

[…] From Sunday, the vaccination will be extended to reach the security and civil protection corps, the education sector, Imams, political leaders and the press family, he said, reassuring Algerians about “the receipt of other batches of vaccine from, among others, India and China, until the national need for vaccination is met”.

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.

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January 28, 2021

The vaccines available contain only “Halal” components

The ministerial fatwa commission at the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Wakfs, said Thursday in a statement that vaccination against COVID-19 was “indispensable”, adding that the available vaccines did not contain components “prohibited by Sharia’a”.

Moreover, the fatwa commission said the vaccine did not constitute a danger to the health of the citizen, adding that the possible side effects after its use were quite normal, like any other vaccine.

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.