A father and his daughter have been arrested in Mayuge district in eastern Uganda for allegedly selling people a fake vaccine for Covid-19, independent pan-African news channel Alternative Africa reported.

The channel said the pair told recipients of the concoction that it would protect them against the coronavirus disease which has spread to several countries around the world since being first detected in China last December.

Uganda's English-language newspaper News Vision quoted police spokesman Fred Enanga as saying traditional healer Saaid Kaire and his daughter Amina Kaire, both residents of Wante village in Imayiro sub-county, were arrested following a report from the area's deputy chairperson.

"They visited a number of families belonging (to) the Ahmadiyya Muslim sect, telling them that they had discovered a vaccine for the coronavirus disease that is currently causing widespread deaths in parts of Asia and Europe and spreading to other parts of the world," Enanga said.

"The unknowing subjects mostly women and children purchased the said vaccine at a fee that was negotiated with the seller before it would be administered."

Police said investigations into the incident were ongoing, with the pair having been released on bail.

Uganda has no suspected or confirmed case of Covid-19, which according to the World Health Organisation has now affected 113,702 people in 110 countries around the world. China alone has recorded 80,924 cases.