Former US Secretary of State Powell dies of COVID-19

Colin Powell, the first Black US secretary of state was fully vaccinated when he died of Covid-19 complications on Monday, according to Reuters.

"General Colin L. Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, passed away this morning due to complications from Covid 19," the Powell family wrote on Facebook, according to CNN.

He was one of America's foremost Black figures for decades named to senior posts by three Republican presidents and reached the top of the US military as it was regaining its vigor after the trauma of the Vietnam War.

The United States has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world while the daily death toll from the Covid-19 pandemic is reported to be standing at almost 1,000.

MNA