Lilongwe, 5 March 2021 - Today, Malawi received COVID-19 vaccine doses shipped via the COVAX Facility, a partnership between CEPI, Gavi, UNICEF and WHO. This is a historic step towards the goal of COVAX to ensure equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines globally, in what will be the largest vaccine procurement and supply operation in history.

04 March 2021 — One hundred, and forty-six (146) new COVID-19 cases were identified out of 4224 samples tested today. This brings the cumulative number of confirmed cases nineteen thousand, three hundred, and thirty-four (19334). To date, seventeen thousand, six hundred, and eighty-two (17682) patients have recovered, including one hundred, and thirteen (113) in the past 24 hours. The number of active cases is one thousand, three hundred, and ninety-six (1396) and two hundred, and sixty-six (266) deaths. 

03 March 2021 — Eighty-seven (87) new COVID-19 cases were identified out of 3960 samples tested today. This brings the cumulative number of confirmed cases nineteen thousand, one hundred, and ninety-eight (19198). To date, seventeen thousand, five hundred, and sixty-nine (17569) patients have recovered, including one hundred, and ninety-seven (97) in the past 24 hours. The number of active cases is one thousand, three hundred, and sixty-four (1364) and two hundred, and sixty-five (265) deaths. 

In November 2020, WHO and partners convened two workshops for technical staff leading and supporting improvements in Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS). This February, on the 9th and 16th, 2021 consultation convened with senior management, Directors, and Registrar Generals, to follow up on the technical trainings to determine Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) improvement plans for implementation. 

Our attention is drawn to the falsehoods and uncertainties being circulated about this vaccine as unnecessary, questionable or unsafe. We want to reiterate that the COVID‐19 vaccines are an additional critical tool of protection in our hands, in addition to what we already have and can do, including, the protective measures of washing hands, keeping distance and wearing the mask.

On the 18th February 2021, the Ministry of Health (MOH) called a meeting to establish a steering committee to coordinate activities of the National Health Observatory. The meeting held at the WHO Country Office in Eritrea was attended by 15 participants from Ministry of Health; Ministry of National development (statistics office); Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, Ministry of Land Water and Environment and Ministry of Agriculture, WHO and UNICEF. 

On the 24th Feb 2021, WHO has supported the Ministry of Health, specifically the National Medicines and Food Administration (NMFA), with delivery of crucial IT equipment, that will significantly contribute to efficiency of medicines and health product registration. 

Our attention is drawn to the falsehoods and uncertainties being circulated about this vaccine as unnecessary, questionable or unsafe. We want to reiterate that the COVID‐19 vaccines are an additional critical tool of protection in our hands, in addition to what we already have and can do, including, the protective measures of washing hands, keeping distance and wearing the mask.

Asaba, 25 February 2021 - “I was really worried for the life of my daughter when she became weak after several episodes of watery stooling and vomiting, but now I can relax because she is getting the treatment she needs at the hospital, says Mrs Erekake, the mother of Tamara, a four-year-old female patient who is being treated at the Bomadi General Hospital in Delta state.