Libya launches largest vaccination centre

Libya launches its largest Covid-19 vaccination centre in the capital Tripoli, in an effort to speed up inoculations and catch up with the rising number of cases.

Established in the gymnasium of the City sports venue in Tripoli, the vaccination center "is open to everyone without an appointment and can receive between 2,000 to 3,000 people in a day.

According to Rawad Behelille, doctor and manager of the centre :

"There are 60 vaccination points. The vaccination centre is considered the largest in North Africa and in the whole of Africa. It was opened to allow the vaccination of as many Libyans as possible to protect them from the coronavirus."

Ali Al-Megherebi, Tripoli resident also stressed that ; "because of the health situation in Libya, having been in lockdown for the last three days may be a good thing and even the curfew from six in the morning to six in the evening is a good thing to protect the health of Libyan citizens."

The country's health infrastructure has been dilapidated by a decade long conflict, it has officially recorded 274,453 cases of infection, including 3,811 deaths, since the beginning of the pandemic.

The health authorities said on Wednesday that they had vaccinated 788,116 people so far , in a nation just over seven million, and facing a third wave of Covid-19.