Yemen received its first shipment of Covid-19 vaccines on Wednesday, the UN children's agency said, as the country tries to deal with a second wave of the virus.
A delivery of AstraZeneca vaccines arrived in the southern port city of Aden, Yemen's de facto capital. The internationally recognised government has been based since it was driven out of Sanaa in the north by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in 2014.
"The 360,000 doses arrived, together with 13,000 safety boxes and 1,300,000 syringes that are critical for the safe and effective roll out of the vaccination campaign," Unicef said.
This consignment is the first part of 1.9 million doses that Yemen is scheduled to receive this year. The country has a population of 29 million.
Vaccines will be free of charge and distributed across the country, a spokesman for the government's health ministry said last week, confirming more doses would arrive in May.
The shipment comes as the country's coronavirus committee is urging authorities to declare a public health state of emergency, as cases have increased over the last few weeks.
It has called for the implementation of a partial curfew and the closure of wedding halls, shopping centres and mosques, outside of prayer times.
The total number of Covid-19 cases recorded in Yemen has now risen to 4,247. It has reported 864 deaths.
Infection numbers are likely to be far higher, because the level of testing remains low, with healthcare infrastructure badly hit by six years of conflict.
The arrival of the vaccine doses is a critical moment for Yemen, Unicef representative Philippe Duamelle said.
“As Covid-19 continues to claim lives around the world, Yemen now has the capacity to protect those most at risk, including health workers, so that they can safely continue to provide life-saving interventions for children and families,” he said.
Adham Ismail, World Health Organisation representative in Yemen, said the vaccine shipment was a significant step forward.
"It will help save lives, including those at the highest risk of serious disease, and will help protect the health system," Mr Ismail said.
"These safe and effective vaccines will be a game changer, but for the foreseeable future, we must continue wearing masks, physically distance and avoid crowds," he said.
Senior figures in Aden encouraged the public to take the vaccine, after misinformation had made some people hesitant.
"People must take the vaccine as soon as the vaccination campaign begins," Mohammed Abbas, chairman of Save My Life Foundation, a civil medical organisation active in Aden and neighbouring provinces, told The National.
"I encourage everybody to take it because the pandemic has drastically hit the country. It will stop it from spreading," he said.
Dr Abbas said people all over the world have taken the vaccine, "so why should Yemenis fear it?"
Mariam Mohammed, a journalist from Aden, told The National she would take the vaccine to prevent the number of cases increasing.
"The pandemic is spreading in Yemen very fast this time. We hear horrific numbers recorded every day, so taking the vaccine is very important as it is the best solution to stop the second wave of Covid-19," she said.
'How To Build A Boat'
Jonathan Gornall, Simon & Schuster
Persuasion
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Fixture: Ukraine v Portugal, Monday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
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- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
England World Cup squad
Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wkt), Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
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