Nigeria recorded no deaths from COVID-19 on Friday, making it the eleventh consecutive day that nobody died from the disease in the West African country.
Also, in continuation of a steady run of low infection figures, the country recorded 45 new cases on Friday, according to data released by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
The new figure, lower than the 100 recorded a day earlier, raised the total number of infections in the country to 164,633.
With no deaths recorded on Friday, the death toll from the virus in Nigeria remains 2,061.
A breakdown of the data shows that 65 persons were discharged on Friday after testing negative to the COVID-19 virus following treatment. This brings the total number of discharged persons to 154,643.
Latest data
According to the NCDC, the 45 new cases were reported from eight states: Lagos-26, Rivers-10, Delta-3, Kano-2, Akwa Ibom-1, FCT-1, Kaduna-1 and Nasarawa-1.
Lagos had the highest figure with 26 new cases on Friday, followed by Rivers and Delta with 10 and three new cases respectively.
Since the pandemic broke out in Nigeria in February 2020, the country has carried out over 1.8 million tests, according to the NCDC.
Although 154,643 people have been discharged, the country still accounts for 9,990 active COVID-19 cases.
Vaccination
Nigeria has vaccinated over a million people barely two months after the country received approximately four million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines through COVAX, a UN-backed effort that promises access to free vaccines for up to 20 per cent of participating countries’ population.
The current phase of vaccination covers health workers and other frontline workers although Nigerians from other groups are also getting vaccinated.
The head of Nigeria’s immunisation agency, Faisal Shuaib, recently said the inoculation of frontline health workers in some states has been completed, and attention has shifted to older adults, aged 65 and above.
“We have been careful to ensure that only those who are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in the current phase are being vaccinated.
“These include health workers and their support staff, other frontline workers, strategic leaders and in the last few days, we have also included those who meet the age requirements,” he said.
Mr Shuaib has also assured the general public of the efficacy of the vaccines and urge everyone to get vaccinated when they can.