Tunisia’s president orders military to manage virus crisis Interim health minister took office Wednesday after his predecessor was fired over a surprise decision to vaccinate adults of all ages for first time JEDDAH/TUNIS: Tunisia’s response to the coronavirus pandemic is “criminal,” Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi admitted on Wednesday after firing the health minister. The country has been overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases, and the death toll is approaching 18,000 in a population of about 12 million. There have been 1.4 deaths per 100,000 residents per day over the past week, the second-worst in the world after Namibia. Tunisia’s death toll is also the biggest in North Africa despite its small population. Hospitals have faced acute shortages of oxygen, staff and intensive care beds, and fewer than 8 percent of the population are fully vaccinated. “There is an extraordinary level of dysfunction at the head of the Health Ministry,” Mechichi said after dismissing Health Minister Faouzi Mehdi. Mehdi had initiated a temporary opening of vaccination stations to all Tunisians over 18 for Tuesday and Wednesday to mark the Eid al-Adha Muslim festival. But that led to stampedes at some of the 29 vaccination centres, where jab stocks quickly ran dry. The ministry announced it would continue the campaign over the coming days but then backtracked and restricted jabs to those aged over 40 on Wednesday to avoid a new rush. Mechichi said the hastily arranged program was “populist” and “criminal.” He said: “Neither the head of the government nor the governors nor the security services were aware of it.” Analyst Selim Kharrat said: “We have a head of government who uses his ministers as fuses, to absorb any public dissatisfaction. “But how long can that last?” Tunisia’s president, meanwhile, ordered the military Wednesday to take over managing the national COVID-19 pandemic response. The military health service will be assigned the task, Tunisian President Kais Saied announced on regional TV network Al Arabiya. Soldiers and military medics are already carrying out vaccinations in remote parts of Tunisia. On Tuesday, military trucks transported oxygen to regions in the center and northwest of the country where hospitals are suffering shortages. Tunisian authorities restricted gatherings and reinstated a curfew in some regions with high numbers of confirmed cases. In a new blow to Tunisia’s long-struggling tourism sector, authorities closed some of the country’s Mediterranean beaches. (With AP)