Other COVID-19 Resources
The Washington Post: WHO Chief Calls Coronavirus ‘The Most Severe’ Health Emergency the Agency Has Ever Declared.
The EMA statement on chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine:
The ANSM statement on Plaquenil and Kaletra: Treatments tested to treat COVID-19 patients should only be used in hospital – Information point
WHO AFRO
https://www.afro.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus-covid-19/technical-documents
Vaccines
Considerations for optimizing deployment of AstraZeneca/AZD1222 and SII/Covishield vaccine in a time-limited constrained supply situation.
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Case management
Establishing COVID-19 triage stations at healthcare facilities: Key instructions and tips
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Guidance document for a differentiated response to COVID-19 outbreak in urban and rural settings
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Interim Guidance for Member States – On the Use of Pulse Oximetry in Monitoring Covid-19 Patients Under Home- Based Isolation and Care
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Interim guidance note for Member States on detecting and reporting deaths at the community level
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Interim Guidance for Member States – On the Use of Pulse Oximetry in Monitoring Covid-19 Patients Under Home-Based Isolation and Care
English [pdf]
Infection prevention and control
Certification and quality check of personal protective equipment (PPE) guidance to countries
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Infection prevention and control for the safe management of a dead body in the context of COVID-19
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Risk communication and community engagement
Safe ramadan practices in the context of the COVID-19
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Guidance to reduce COVID-19 stigma on health workers and families
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Prevention and Risk Communication
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Risk communication and community engagement guidance for physical and social distancing
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Addressing NCD risk factors in the context of COVID-19 on the COVID-19
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Asymptomatic, Pre-symptomatic and Mild Signs and Symptoms of COVID-19
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Laboratories
Technical guidance on laboratory operations for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing in the WHO African region
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Essential Service continuity
Joint Interim Guidance on Continuity of Essential Health and Nutrition Services during the COVID-19 Pandemic
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Interim strategic guidance to Member State governments on setting up and managing temporary COVID-19 treatment centers at subnational level
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
EMT
Surveillance
Risk communication and community engagement guidance for physical and social distancing
English [pdf] | French [pdf]
Coordination
Interim guidance for COVID-19 Resurgence in the WHO African Region
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Standard Operating Procedures
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the Movement of Essential Health and Humanitarian Supplies and Personnel in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Points of entry
Harmonized Sub-Regional Essential Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) services at Points of Entry and within-country IPC Interventions for Transnational Truck Drivers within East African Community
English [pdf]
Harmonized strategy for point of entries surveillance, laboratory testing, and transnational response to COVID-19 for Cross border truck drivers
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Harmonised subregional Essential IPC services at PoE and within country IPC Interventions for truck drivers
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Framework on COVID-19 Information Sharing-Within East and Southern Africa (ESA)
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Cross-border management of COVID-19 outbreak in East & Southern Africa
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
COVID-19 Q&As
Questions and answers on AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Questions and answers on COVID-19 links with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Questions and answers on COVID-19 and Cancer
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Questions and answers on COVID-19 and Diabetes
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Questions and answers on COVID-19 and eye and ear health
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Questions and answers on COVID-19 and hypertension
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Questions and answers on COVID-19 and mental health
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Questions and answers on COVID-19 and mental health and substance abuse
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Questions and answers on COVID-19 and oral health
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
Others
Elections
Key public health considerations/Recommendations for Countries conducting elections in the context of COVID-19
English [pdf] | French [pdf] | Portuguese [pdf]
ACREDT
Africa Regional COVID-19 Vaccine Readiness and Delivery Task Force (ACREDT)
The WHO AFRO regional COVID-19 Vaccine Readiness and Delivery Taskforce is a multi-stakeholder platform that will together different WHO clusters, immunization regional working groups (West/Central and East and South Africa RWGs), the Regional Immunization Technical Advisory Group (RITAG), UN agencies, Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs), Civil Society Organization (CSOs), academic and research institutions to discuss and guide all aspects of COVID-19 use in the region. WHO regional hubs and Inter-country Support Teams (ISTs), will be directly involved as the bridge between AFRO and the countries in providing the technical support in preparedness and implementation of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The task force will be guided by overarching principles required to underpin the vaccine deployment in the African Region. These include:
- The need to stress the importance of the continued focus on other control measures that are known to be effective, even while deploying COVID-19 vaccines
- The need to ensure continuity of immunization services as essential primary health care intervention is prioritized in parallel with the preparation and COVID-19 vaccine deployment, i.e. one should not be at the expense of the other.
- Use the opportunity of COVID-19 vaccine deployment to strengthen health systems, e.g. disease surveillance and safety monitoring, update of cold chain inventories, health worker and risk group population identification.
- The need for support for Member States in the WHO African region to successfully conduct large-scale deployment of the COVID-19 vaccine amidst issues of limited infrastructure and some weak health systems.
- The use of best practices from HPV and Ebola vaccination to inform COVID-19 vaccination.
- Outline the process, milestones and agenda to build regional and national readiness for the implementation of COVID-19 vaccination
- Develop/adapt guidance, policies and tools, relevant to the regional and national context;
- Provide required support to Member States to assess the needs and identify and address critical gaps in readiness and deployment of COVID-19 vaccine(s);
- Coordinate technical assistance to support countries as needed;
- Monitor and evaluate COVID-19 vaccine deployment and vaccination.
AVAREF also supports the ACREDT activities through expediting the review and approvals of COVID-19 vaccines by organizing technical workshops with WHO PQ team.
WHO HQ
Logistical challenges for potential SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and a call to research institutions, developers and manufacturers
Africa Regional COVID-19 Vaccine Readiness and Delivery Task Force (ACREDT)
Updated information on WHO EUL/PQ
The WHO Emergency Use Listing Procedure (EUL) is a risk-based procedure for assessing and listing unlicensed vaccines, therapeutics and in vitro diagnostics with the ultimate aim of expediting the availability of these products to people affected by a public health emergency. On 30 January 2020, the Director-General declared that the outbreak of 2019-nCoV constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The WHO Emergency Use Listing (EUL) is open to candidate in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) to detect SARS-CoV-2 (originally called 2019-nCoV).
You can find the most updated information on WHO EUL/PQ can be found here. The table is updated weekly or every two to three days. (Click the banner called “Status of COVID-19 Vaccines within WHO EUL/PQ evaluation process”)
Also, please find the latest updates on the evaluation of COVID-19 vaccines at the below links:
Status of COVID-19 Vaccines within WHO EUL/PQ evaluation process
WHO Model NRA/NCL Lot Release Certificate for SARS-CoV-2 vaccines