The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has called for a concerted effort by stakeholders to save the country’s health sector from an imminent collapse.
In a document jointly signed by ACPM National Chairman and Secretary, Dr. Samuel Adekola and Mr. Ambrose Ezeh, respectively, the body lamented the intractable challenges in the country’s health sector due to ‘’shoddy and irresponsible administrative patterns in the health system.
‘’ACPN have continued to critically evaluate the Nigerian health space and we are driven by a strong conviction that greed and avarice have encouraged an inequitable spread of privileges and resources of players in the health system to the detriment of consumers of health who are short-changed by the government and providers.’’
“The ACPN puts on record that all the goals and objectives of both the National Health Policy and National Drug Policy, which centres on accessibility, affordability, safe and efficacious health care services and credible drugs supply system have never been and may never be met because of the shoddy and irresponsible manner we have adopted in running our health system.”
It criticised appointments in the health sector, saying it was against international best practices that hinges on the philosophy of meritocracy, which allowed for selection based on merit and competencies.
The document further said: “It is unfortunate that Nigerian physicians and their umbrella body have blackmailed and as well as intimidated successive administrations in Nigeria at the federal and many states levels to continue to insist that appointments as Minister of Health and Commissioners for Health as well as those of Permanent Secretaries remain the birthright of physicians without any trace of backing in the relevant statute books.
“The scenario is the same with all appointments into the MDAs at the federal and state levels with deleterious consequences on public health outputs in Nigeria. It should interest observers that all appointments into prime MDAs in the health sector for instance; NHIS, NPHCDA, NACA, NCDC, Essential Drug List Committee and all special health intervention programmes including National Malaria Control, Tuberculosis Control, Leprosy Control e.t.c. are dominated by physicians, including heads of all public hospitals at both state and federal level. In other climes, positions of leadership are based purely on merit, skill and competencies. A quick example is the current Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, an Eritrean-born Ethiopian biologist and public health researcher.

The United States will take steps in the coming days to resume use of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, possibly imposing broader restrictions or warnings after a number of very rare cases of blood clots have been reported, a leading U.S. infectious disease expert reported Sunday.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a series of news program interviews that a decision on whether to reinstate Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccine will be made once consultants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) meet on Friday.
"I would be very surprised if we don't have some sort of resume by Friday," he said. "I really didn't think they would want to expand it a little bit more."
Fauci, who is chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, believes federal regulators could reinstate the vaccine with age or gender restrictions or with clear warnings in a way that is "slightly different from the way it was used before." "
The CDC and FDA said last week that they need more evidence to determine whether certain blood clots are related to the injection, and if that danger occurs, then the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been stalled.
The cases are unusual: Six out of more than 7 million Johnson & Johnson vaccine injections have been reported. Blood clots were found in six women between the ages of 18 and 48. One person died.
Tuesday's decision triggered swift action in Europe and elsewhere. Fauci said he seriously doubts the U.S. will permanently stop using Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
"I don't think that's going to happen," he said. "The break is to take a look at it to make sure we know all the information we may have in this timeframe and to warn some of the doctors who may see people with this particular adverse event, especially women, that they treat them correctly."
The vast majority of people who received this vaccine had few or no side effects. Authorities stressed that they found no signs of blood clotting problems with the most widely used COVID-19 vaccines in the United States, namely Moderna and Pfizer.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)The vast majority of people who received this vaccine had few or no side effects. Authorities stressed that they found no signs of blood clotting problems with the most widely used COVID-19 vaccines in the United States, namely Moderna and Pfizer.
Following the AstraZeneca vaccine, there are certain problems with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and we are now in an even more difficult position when we already had no choice.

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has announced  that Nigeria had so far vaccinated over a million eligible people out of its target of 70 percent of the nation’s population.
The NPHCDA disclosed this on its official Twitter handle, on Thursday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that for the country to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19, it had set an ambitious goal of vaccinating 40 per cent of its over 200 million population before the end of 2021, and 70 per cent by the end of 2022.
The country kicked off vaccination on March 5, 2021, commencing with healthcare workers who are mostly at risk to the infections, being the first responders.
It noted that the vaccine roll-out would be in four phases, starting with health workers, frontline workers, COVID-19 rapid response team, laboratory network, policemen, petrol station workers and strategic leaders.
“Phase 2 – Older adults aged 50 years and above. Those with co-morbidities aged 18 – 49 years of age
“Phase 3 – Those in states/LGAs with high disease burden and who missed phases 1 and 2.
“Phase 4 – Other eligible population as vaccines become available,” it said.
The immunization agency said that as of April 15, 2021, just 1,051.096 shots had been administered in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), representing 52.2 percent of the eligible people to be vaccinated in the country. Nigeria took delivery of 3.94 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines through COVAX, an UN-backed effort that promises access to free vaccines for up to 20 per cent of participating countries’ population.
The delivery is part of an overall 16 million doses planned to be delivered to Nigeria in batches over the next months.
In addition, on March 21, 2021 the country received another 300,000 doses of the same vaccine from telecoms giant, MTN, whilst the government of India also delivered 100,000 doses of Covishield COVID-19 vaccines to Nigeria on April 6.
The COVISHIELD, a brand of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, is used in over 71 countries, including the UK, Canada, India and Brazil.
With only about 4.4million doses of COVID-19 vaccines available in the country, Nigeria is still far from reaching its set target, according to health experts.
Due to limited vaccine availability, the Federal government had directed the states to halt vaccination once they used half of the doses allocated to them, because the country was not sure when the next batch of AstraZeneca vaccines would arrive the country.
“We believe that in a situation where, we still cannot specifically determine when the next batch of AstraZeneca vaccines will arrive, then wisdom only dictates that it is better for us to vaccinate people fully.
“And so that we can say that we have a pool of citizens that have been fully vaccinated, since this vaccination comes in two doses”, the NPHCDA explained.

It is no more news that US-based social media company Twitter Inc has concluded plans to establish a presence on the African continent in line with its growth strategy.
Recall, that Twitter’s founder and CEO, Jack Dorsey, visited Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, and South Africa in 2019 in anticipation of this major expansion and growth strategy. Sadly, to Nigeria and Nigerians, Ghana was announced to host Twitter’s first Africa office. This was communicated in a statement. Twitter Inc described Ghana “as a champion for democracy, a supporter of free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet.”
The social media company joins Facebook Inc in moving into Africa with the announcement made through a tweet by the founder/CEO just recently. However, when I remember that this action plan will improve Ghana’s outlook, improve Ghana-Twitter relations, increase job creation and opportunities in Ghana, improve the country’s technology sector, and yet still serve the Nigerian large market, then I agree it was well thought out even though it ignites a further rivalry between Ghana-Nigeria.
Likewise, when you consider that Nigeria currently has a population estimate of about 206 million and that Nigeria’s population is equivalent to 50 percent of that of West Africa where the population stands at 394,314,367 according to United Nations(UN) data, then it is depressing that we lost to Ghana.
Further recall that Nigeria also accounts for over 50 percent of the GDP of the West African sub-region. Furthermore, Nigerian Internet and mobile penetration continue to grow with high relevance, as of 2020. About 50 percent of Nigeria’s population use the Internet and around 90 percent of the total population have mobile phones according to reliable data. According to a survey online, 39.6 million Nigerians have Twitter accounts, which is more than the entire 32 million population of Ghana. It is on record that Ghana has just about 8 million social media users. All these data on Nigeria should offer tremendous opportunities for any investor particularly in the technology space, but on the contrary, the choice of Ghana over Nigeria for Africa’s operation of Twitter Inc might just be due to the perennial challenges that exist in the country, from incessant insecurity, inadequate infrastructure, the severe and irregular regulatory requirements, to high sense of entitlement, high cost of running business, corruption and the current macroeconomic uncertainty among others. In fact stability, security of life, and assets come chiefly for any investment consideration before viability or returns. More so it is not enough for Nigeria to just be a big market for the desirability of investors, FDIs consider many more other factors.

Johnson and Johnson - Janssen COVID-19 single-shot experimental vaccine is based on a specific type of adenovirus, which has been genetically modified so that it can no longer replicate in humans and cause disease
(Precision Vaccinations)
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration issued a ‘pause’ recommendation for future vaccinations in the USA with the experimental Johnson & Johnson - Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine.
As of April 12, 2021, more than 6.8 million doses of the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine have been administered in the USA.
The CDC and FDA confirmed they are reviewing data involving six reported U.S. cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot in individuals after receiving the Janssen vaccine. 
All six cases occurred among women between the ages of 18 and 48, and symptoms occurred 6 to 13 days after vaccination. 
In these cases, a type of blood clot called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) was seen in combination with low levels of blood platelets (thrombocytopenia).
‘Right now, these adverse events appear to be extremely rare,’ stated the CDC’s announcement.
Treatment of this specific type of blood clot is different from the treatment that might typically be administered. Usually, an anticoagulant drug called heparin is used to treat blood clots. 
In this setting, administration of heparin may be dangerous, and alternative treatments need to be given.
The CDC confirmed it is convening a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) on April 14, 2021, to review these cases further and assess their potential significance.
In Europe, the European Medicines Agency announced a similar thromboembolic event alert regarding the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine on April 9, 2021.
The FDA stated it too would review the analysis as it also investigates these cases. 
‘Until that process is complete, we are recommending a pause in the use of this vaccine out of an abundance of caution,’ stated these US government agencies. 
‘This is important, in part, to ensure that the health care provider community is aware of the potential for these adverse events and can plan for proper recognition and management due to the unique treatment required with this type of blood clot.’
‘COVID-19 vaccine safety is a top priority for the federal government, and we take all reports of health problems following COVID-19 vaccination very seriously.’
‘People who have received the J&J vaccine who develop a severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination should contact their health care provider.’
‘Health care providers are asked to report adverse events to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System at VAERS.'
The CDC verified it intends to provide additional information and answer questions later at a media briefing on April 13th. A recording of that session will be available on the FDA’s YouTube channel.
The Johnson and Johnson Janssen COVID-19 single-shot experimental vaccine leverages Janssen's technologies. Janssen’s AdVac® vectors are based on a specific type of adenovirus, which has been genetically modified so that it can no longer replicate in humans and cause disease. 
Adenoviruses are a group of viruses that can cause the common cold, says the CDC.
On February 27, 2021, the FDA issued an emergency use authorization allowing the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine to be distributed in the U.S for use in individuals 18 years of age and older. 
As of April 13, 2021, this COVID-19 vaccine has not been ‘Approved’ by the FDA.
Note: These agency statements are attributed to Dr. Anne Schuchat, Principal Deputy Director of the CDC, and Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

There have been increasing concerns about the future of print media in Nigeria. The mounting worries also rubbish claims that business losses in the sector are largely due to the global pandemic. Victor Ifijeh, seasoned journalist, reportedly laments, “To say that the print is seriously challenged is an understatement. To say that it is in decline is putting it mildly. In the words of a commentator, the print media is dying slowly.” For Bayo Onanuga, another industry veteran, the emergence of digital media disrupted and drastically decreased the value of print editions. “Globally, newspapers in print are becoming anachronistic and with the way technology is driving the industry, many journalists will soon be jobless, if they do not adapt quickly to the phenomenally changing environment,” Onanuga recently opines.Reuben Abati, veteran columnist, attributed print media survival challenges to declining advertisement and readership. “Given the poor state of the economy, many businesses have had to cut down the amount that they spend on newspaper advertising and rationalize the options available to them in terms of reach and impact. Government departments and civil servants of old who used to buy newspapers have had to cut their budgets for such purpose. Circulation figures have therefore dropped,” Abati, stresses, in a recent post in ThisDay.
As experts predicted, many practitioners, in print edition space, in Nigeria, have lost or are at the verge of losing their jobs, mostly through no fault of their own. According to Adekunle Samuel Ayeni, CEO, BHM Group, “…tabloid journalist earns less than $100 per month, where most newspapers owe up to six months’ salaries, and TV stations pay tokens for wages…” Femi Soneye, Publisher, Persecondnews, also reportedly notes, “the parlous state of the economy had caused thousands of journalists to lose their jobs due to permanent shut down of their organisations, while others are being owed one or two years salaries.” A recent online report, further stresses, “As we speak, the industry and practitioners are facing a different kind of torture. This time around, not by any political office holder, but by a looming recession that has befallen the industry….”
Regrettably, some print media owners and practitioners in Nigeria, perhaps to stay afloat are accused of engaging in unethical practices, including cutting corners on due diligence as well as setting unrealistic revenue targets for their marketing teams. “But to keep ad money coming, some outlets have had to develop political affiliations and connections with companies and other interest groups. This guarantees a steady stream of revenue but at the cost of editorial independence,” notes a report, recently published in techcabal. Ayeni, cited above, agrees, “The media scene is a mess and the public relations industry in Nigeria is a beneficiary. Driven by a news conference and press release culture, PR pros in these parts have mastered how to speak the language of envelopes. For decades, they have connived with poorly remunerated reporters and struggling publishers to fill papers and magazines with promotional content that scarcely catches the interest of the readers.”
The increasing job losses are clearly a global phenomenon but the challenges, in advanced economies, are largely attributed to recent outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. In the UK, Press Gazette recently reports, “News publishers have been furloughing staff, cutting wages and suspending print titles to cope with collapsing advertising and print sale revenues brought on by the pandemic.” A report, cited in Pew Research Centre, also partly reads, “Layoffs continue to pummel U.S. newspapers. Roughly a quarter (27%) of papers with an average Sunday circulation of 50,000 or more experienced layoffs…”
But, the good news coming from advanced economies is that print media are now seeing appreciable success in their subscription model. There is equally clear-cut commitment by government, individuals and corporate organisations to sustain some of the platforms. In the US, Rick Edmonds, media business analyst, notes in Poynter, “After years of hesitation about whether journalism merited support, community foundations are beginning to team up with big national out fits like the Knight Foundation  and Lanfest with grant to bolster coverage. For-profit papers are among the recipients.” Edmonds also recalls that The Stranger, a weekly in Seattle, received donations, ranging from $3 to $10,000, after an urgent plea to the public to keep its print edition alive. The Fund for Investigative Journalism, Fundacion Gabo, Facebook Journalism Project are reportedly some of the opportunities created by corporate bodies to help in alleviating financial pressures on media organisations and practitioners.

The United States has expanded its list of National Interest Exceptions (NIE), which effectively exempt certain South Africans – with specific skills, jobs, and visas – from its ongoing travel ban.
It’s been three months since US President Joe Biden closed the country’s borders to travellers from South Africa. The decision to restrict travel was associated with fears around the 501Y.V2 variant of Covid-19 first detected in the Eastern Cape.
Due to international concerns around the local prevalence of the 501Y.V2 variant – which is more transmissible and tougher to vaccinate against – South African travellers have become tightly restricted.
But while other countries have only afforded exemptions to returning citizens and permanent residents, the US has continuously updated its NIE list for purposes related to humanitarian travel, public health response, and national security.
Shortly after the travel ban was imposed on South Africa in January, the US Bureau of Consular Affairs announced that H-2A visa holders – defined as non-immigrant certification for temporary workers performing agricultural services – would be included as an NIE.
This exemption was particularly positive news for South Africans, who account for the highest number of H-2A visa holders outside of Mexico.
On Thursday, the US added further exemptions via its NIE protocol.
South Africans holding valid immigrant or fiancé(e) K-1 visas are now allowed to enter the US. This applies to foreign citizens who are sponsored by direct relatives living in the US or by a prospective US-based employer. It also permits a foreign-citizen fiancé(e) to travel to the US and marry his or her US citizen sponsor within 90 days of arrival.
Visa applicants have, however, been warned of backlogs at embassies and consulates.
“The Covid-19 pandemic continues to severely affect the ability of embassies and consulates around the world to be able to resume routine visa services,” says the US Bureau of Consular Affairs in response to ongoing lockdown restrictions.
“Combined, these restrictions have reduced appointment capacity during the pandemic, which has created a significant backlog of both immigrant and non-immigrant visa applicants awaiting a visa interview. The provision of services to U.S. citizens abroad is the first priority of consular sections abroad.”
Other exemptions are also afforded to certain non-immigrant “Exchange Visitors”.

The Minister of State for Science and Technology, Alhaji Mohammed Abdullahi, has said the coronavirus pandemic is a wake-up call for nations to collaborate effectively on science and technology for wealth creation.
The minister made the call at a lecture he delivered to young entrepreneurs and company executives on Sunday in Lagos at the First Immaculate Heart Comprehensive High School.
A press statement made available in Abuja by Maryam Zakaria, Press Secretary to the Minister, stated that the lecture was entitled “Technology, As A Key Driver To Nation Building: Opportunities and Collaborations.
The minister, in the lecture, said synergy among nations was necessary to forge public trust in the area of science and technology through knowledge sharing.
He urged developing countries to “prioritise Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) in their scheme of things“.
“Today, countries are classified as developed and developed based on economic index and the application of STI,’’ he said.
Abdullahi said that countries that have strong science and technology were the ones that developed faster.
He said that innovation had also become a key driver of the economic, industrial development, and technology advancement of any nation.
“The success of any nation is achieved through the effectiveness of the National Innovation System (NIS),” he said.
According to the minister, Nigeria has adopted the STI Roadmap 2017-2030 which embraces nanotechnology, space technology, engineering, chemical technology, biotechnology, leather technology, among others.
He said that the strides the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology had made as a result of the National Leather Products Policy was helping to boost the country’s economy.
He said through leather and textile, Nigeria would be able to develop more sophisticated technologies.
He hinted that the ministry planned to establish the National Science and Technology Museum, where historic scientific, technological, artistic, and cultural objects, would be displayed for hands-on exhibition.
“Visitors will have the opportunity to touch, dismantle and reassemble items on display.
“It would also afford children hands-on experience of different scientific processes”, Abdullahi said.

Epidemiologist Dr. Michael Osterholm believes the U.S. is seeing a "fourth wave" of infections due to coronavirus variants that have arisen over the past few months.
Osterholm, who served as a member of President Biden's COVID-19 transition advisory board, said the variants pose a significant problem despite underscoring that existing vaccines appear to be effective against them.

There are fears the poor health indices recorded by the country and the spread of COVID-19 may get worse as the ongoing strike by resident doctors paralysed activities in 98 per cent of government hospitals nationwide.
When The Guardian reporters visited Federal Government-owned hospitals and health institutions across the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, patients and their relatives were seen groaning in despair. Most of the hospitals had started discharging patients while others had stopped admitting new ones.
Resident doctors in most of the hospitals visited complied fully with the strike directive from their parent body. Only medical consultants and nurses were seen offering skeletal services.
The implication is that since resident doctors offer more than 50 per cent of medical services in Federal Government-owned hospitals and health institutions, patients with critical conditions are more likely to be affected if the strike continued.
Also, despite attempts by the Federal Government and other stakeholders to persuade resident doctors under the aegis of National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to call off their one-day industrial action, reasons have emerged why the leadership of the association is not likely to.
President, NARD, Dr. Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, told The Guardian late evening yesterday: “As we speak, we just finished a very long meeting with representatives of Federal Government. We signed agreements on how to address the issues. They have made assurances and given deadlines on when to meet our demands. But nothing is concrete yet. Our demands have not been met.
“We are taking their promises to our congress, for our members to decide. The meeting is likely to end before 8.30pm on Thursday. From the feelers on ground, it is unlikely that the congress will approve suggestions to call off the strike. I can tell you, it is unlikely that we will call off the strike. But nothing is impossible.
“We have signed agreements in the past that were not kept. But we keep our fingers crossed. We hope to resolve the issues as soon as possible and probably suspend the strike.”
IN an attempt to avert the nationwide strike, which commenced yesterday, the Federal Government had earlier on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Action (MoA) with NARD.
The agreement was signed at midnight on Wednesday after a marathon meeting between the government team and the leadership of NARD at the office of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige.
The meeting, which lasted seven hours, deliberated on the issues raised by the aggrieved doctors in their Notice of Trade Dispute, including the non-payment of salaries of some house officers.
MEANWHILE, medical activities were paralysed at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku, Ozalla, Enugu on Thursday as resident doctors joined their counterparts nationwide to protest non-implementation of their welfare packages.
The Guardian, on a visit the hospital at noon, discovered that none of the resident doctors reported for work. Medical consultants, who had also started discharging patients, whose cases were not too serious, handled the clinics.
A consultant, who spoke with The Guardian on condition of anonymity, stated: “I cannot admit any emergency case at the moment. Everywhere is grounded. The resident doctors did not come to work today. They are on strike. I am the only one in the whole of this department.”

Nigeria hopes to obtain up to 70 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine this year through the African Union (AU), Reuters reports quoting the Chief Executive Officer of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib.
The West African country’s 162,762 infections are the sixth-highest recorded in Africa, while its 2,056 virus-related deaths are the tenth-highest on the continent.
With a population exceeding 200 million, containing COVID-19 in the country is seen as key in stemming continental and global infections.
Nigeria rolled out a mass vaccination drive earlier this month after receiving some 3.94 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine.
As the country looks for more vaccines for its population, Shuaib told Reuters orders of more AstraZeneca jabs were likely to be reduced due to delays. The Johnson & Johnson shots were likely to replace them.
“We’re hoping that we’ll be able to get up to 70 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson this year. This is yet to be finalized but these are some of the advanced conversations that are going on between Nigeria and the African Union,” he said in an interview.
A number of countries – mostly in Europe – have stopped administering the AstraZeneca shots either entirely or from specific batches, citing potential adverse effects including possible blood clots.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have repeatedly given the jabs a green light to continue being administered, noting that the benefits outweigh the risks.
Shuaib noted that there was no evidence of adverse side effects in Nigeria and the AstraZeneca vaccine would continue to be used for eligible people aged 18 and above.

..

Nigeria: Covid-19 - With 48 New Cases, Nigeria Records Lowest Daily Infection in Five Months
Monday's tally brings the total number of COVID-19 infections in the West African nation to 162,641.
In continuation of a steady run of low infection figures, Nigeria on Monday recorded its lowest daily infection figure in five months with 48 new cases.
The new figure is the lowest reported since October 22, 2020 when 37 new cases were recorded.
Monday's tally brings the total number of infections in the West African nation to 162,641.

Students of the Delta State Polytechnic, Ogwashi-Uku in Aniocha South Council, yesterday, protested against the school management over alleged increase tuition and COVID-19 fees.
The angry students blocked the Rector of the Polytechnic, Prof. Stella Chiemeke, academic and non-academic staff from gaining access into the institution during the protest, which started at 7:30a.m.
One of the protesters said the students were not ready to take the new fees introduced by the management for courses already existing for final year students.
He said the management demanded that the students should register the course with N7, 000 as price for the textbook for the newly introduced course, which angered the final year students of the National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) programmes.
He alleged that the price of the new textbook was added to the tuition fees as the management closed the school portal, making it difficult for them to pay their fees.
“We were also asked to pay N4, 500 as COVID-19 fees. The school did not give us face masks, hand sanitisers, water to wash our hands,” he said, lamenting that the management was hard on them over the decision.

AstraZeneca PLC may have released outdated information about its COVID-19 vaccine trial, giving an “incomplete” view of the efficacy of the shot, said the leading U.S. agency on infectious disease.
The Data and Safety Monitoring Board, charged with ensuring the safety and accuracy of AstraZeneca’s vaccine trial, has expressed concerns to the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases that the information released about the testing results included outdated information.
This “may have provided an incomplete view of the efficacy data,” the agency said in a statement early Tuesday, without elaborating.
“We urge the company to work with the DSMB to review the efficacy data and ensure the most accurate, up-to-date efficacy data be made public as quickly as possible,” said the group headed by Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease official.
AstraZeneca did not immediately respond to a request for comment made outside of office hours.
The DSMB, an independent panel, also raised its concerns about the outdated information to the British drugmaker and to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, a U.S. agency that partially funded the shot’s development.
The disclosure comes as a setback to AstraZeneca, which earlier Monday said its vaccine was found 79% effective in preventing Covid-19 in a U.S. clinical trial of more than 30,000 volunteers.
It’s preparing to seek approval from the Food and Drug Administration for use in the U.S.; the shot has already been cleared in the U.K. and many other nations around the world.
AstraZeneca’s vaccine, developed with Oxford University, was once seen as a front-runner to protect the world against COVID-19 but has been beset by a series of complications.
An error in dosing regimens during trials last year caused confusion over its efficacy, and it’s now at the center of a supply showdown with the European Union just days after concerns about blood clots prompted a dozen member states to suspend immunizations.

Mass vaccinations and natural protection from those already infected are likely to prevent a fourth wave of Covid-19 in the United States, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said Sunday.
"We're talking about some form of protective immunity in about 55% of the population," Gottlieb said on CBS's Face the Nation. "There's enough of a backstop here that I don't think you're going to see a fourth surge."
About 81 million people have had at least one dose of a vaccine, a number that is going up significantly every day. In addition, about 29 million people have tested positive for the virus and recovered, and tens of millions more have had Covid-19 without a positive test and have some natural immunity.
Still, the US will continue to see Covid-19 cases and deaths, Gottlieb cautioned, particularly as a dangerous variant first identified in the United Kingdom spreads.
"I think what you could see is a plateauing for a period of time before we continue on a downward decline -- in large part because (the UK variant) is becoming more prevalent, in large part because we're pulling back too quickly, with respect to taking off our masks and lifting the mitigation," he said.
Gottlieb also warned that the emergence of virus variants could change the nation's trajectory.
"The only thing that can be a real game changer here is if you have a variant that pierces prior immunity, meaning it reinfects people who've either already been infected or who have been vaccinated," he said.
Gottlieb's comments come as the number of US Covid-19 cases has plateaued at about 50,000 new cases per day over the last seven days. Several experts have warned of another surge as the US races to vaccinate and stay ahead of the variant.
"This is crunch time," Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN on Saturday. "This is going to be our most difficult period right now in terms of seeing who wins out."
With about a quarter of all Americans having received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine -- and about 13% fully vaccinated -- doubling down on safety measures now is what could help curb another surge, experts have repeatedly stressed.
"If we can hang on another month, another six weeks, that's going to make a huge difference," Hotez added.
However, air travel is hitting pandemic-era records and spring break crowds are swelling. In Miami Beach, officials declared a state of emergency Saturday in response to crowds the mayor says have been "more than we can handle."
And at least a dozen governors and multiple local leaders have eased restrictions this month, while several have done away with mask mandates completely.

Administrators at Duke University ordered all undergraduate students to stay in place for one week to contain a growing coronavirus outbreak connected to "recruitment parties for selective living groups," according to an all-campus communication.
"Over the past week more than 180 students are in isolation for a positive COVID 19 test, and an additional 200 students are in quarantine as a result of contact tracing," wrote administrators of the school in Durham, North Carolina. "This is by far the largest one-week number of positive tests and quarantines since the start of the pandemic."
The stay-in-place order, issued Saturday, is in effect until the morning of Sunday, March 21. Duke withdrew its men's basketball team from the Atlantic Coast Conference basketball tournament last week because of a positive Covid-19 test.
"This action is necessary to contain the rapidly escalating number of COVID cases among Duke undergraduates, which is principally driven by students attending recruitment parties for selective living groups," the announcement said.
"If this feels serious, it's because it is. This stay-in-place period is strongly recommended by our medical experts."
All in-person coursework, including lab work, will be remote with "VERY few exceptions," and students are required to stay in their residences at all times "except for essential activities related to food, health, or safety," including surveillance testing.
On-campus students will be allowed to socialize only outdoors and in groups of three at most, and group activities are not permitted even with masks. Dining is pick-up only.
Common spaces will be closed, and off-campus students are banned from going onto campus and are encouraged to stay home. Students returning from travel will be required to submit negative tests.

Four weeks after the economy exited recession and Nigerians looked forward to a rebound going into the second quarter of the year, it was an anti-climax yesterday, with latest economic indices, which showed citizens will face tougher times as the fast-rising debt, inflation and employment figures galloped, raising fears of a more challenging future.
At a glance, Nigeria’s economic outlook looks red: Inflation gallops to 17.33 per cent, highest level since March 2017; foreign trade deficit sunk to N7.37 trillion, lowest since 2016; unemployment rose to 33.3 per cent, third highest in the world; and external reserves falling to its lowest in 10 months at $34.74 billion with a decline of $632.9 million.
The headline inflation has stoked multiple socio-economic crises, the highest in four years, year-on-year (YoY) in February. Inflation had not reached this rate since February 2017 when it was 17.78 per cent.
Beyond the statistics, the inflation pattern and distribution is worrisome, economists have said, pointing at the food inflation, which jumped to 21.79 per cent in the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday.
For the second time back-to-back, YoY food inflation has outgrown the rate at any other period since 2009. In January, food inflation was 20.57 per cent. The next worse month was September 2017 when the inflation rate was 20.32 per cent, a situation many economists, including Prof. Ken Ife, a consultant to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the World Bank, said does not bode well for efforts to close income inequality.

Our country must effectively respond to the current difficulties by developing the economy, expanding employment, and preventing the spread of the epidemic. At the same time, we call on developed countries to provide necessary assistance.

The Presidential Tasks Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has insisted that the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is safe for Nigerians despite the growing global concerns over possible side effects.
The National Incident Manager (NIM) of the PTF on COVID-19, Dr Mukhtar Muhammad, made this known on Monday in Abuja at the joint national briefing of the taskforce.
According to Muhammad, the clinical trials had shown that the side effects are “generally mild’’.

He said that the WHO had in the last three days, through a series of briefings, vouched for the vaccine’s safety and efficacy, and that it had been proven that it had about 70 per cent efficacy level.
He, however, advised those who might have received the vaccine, but who have felt symptoms of its reactions for more than 24 hours, to report through the appropriate channels at the state level.
“The arrival of the vaccines is something that is very good and exciting in the sense that a combination of the vaccine and the non-pharmaceutical interventions can help us see the light at the end of the tunnel within a very short period of time.
“However, we have suffered a major setback in the last few hours, regarding the content safety and efficacy of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine.
“We have seen in the news how some countries have deferred the usage of this vaccine or have suspended its use. That list of the European countries is growing.

“However, it is very reassuring to see that the regulatory agencies in those countries have continued to emphasise that the vaccine is safe and that the incidence of blood clots reported in the patients is not higher than the risk of blood clotting in people who are not vaccinated. That is really something reassuring.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some countries in Europe have suspended the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine over concerns that the jab may cause blood clots, even though medicine regulators and the WHO say there is no evidence of any problem.
Germany, Italy, France, Spain and the Netherlands became the latest countries to pause the rollout of the vaccine on Monday.
Norway, Denmark and Bulgaria suspended their programmes last week.

Nigeria has seen the second highest number of COVID-19 cases in Africa, with more than 159,000 cases and over 1,900 deaths.
With two lockdowns that have forced the country’s economy to contract into a recession, and an underfunded public health care system that has buckled under the weight of the pandemic, Nigeria needs to contain the virus and end it as soon as possible. 
Although experts have said Nigeria is under testing its 200 million-strong population — COVID-19 tests can cost as much as N50,000 ($122), which is 60% higher than the country's monthly minimum wage — many Nigerians either don’t believe there is COVID-19 in Nigeria, or think it's been blown out of proportion by authorities. 
In fact, the Kogi state governor has repeatedly denied the existence of the virus and the state has refused to test residents, reporting only five cases since the beginning of the pandemic. 
In other parts of Nigeria, people can be seen not wearing face masks or following social distancing protocols in public spaces, despite warnings from authorities and the Africa CDC on the possibility of a second wave of coronavirus in Nigeria. 
Parties are still happening in Nigeria’s commercial capital of Lagos, where more than 55,000 cases have already been reported, without any COVID-19 prevention measures in place.  
All of this is happening while the country distributes its first batch of 4 million COVID-19 vaccines — through the COVAX Facility, co-led by the World Health Organisation — as a recent spike in COVID-19 cases in Nigeria demonstrates the country’s urgent need for a coronavirus vaccine. 
This is only enough for 2 million people, which means the majority of the population have no idea if and when they will receive the vaccine. 
Mistrust in public health information concerning the COVID-19 pandemic, misinformation, and non-adherence to mask wearing and social distancing protocols are the last thing Nigeria needs. 
Global Citizen spoke to six Nigerians across different walks of life about their COVID-19 experiences, how it has affected their lives, and why they think it is important for other Nigerians to wear a mask in public and follow social distancing protocols. 
Global Citizen: Do you know how you contracted COVID-19? If yes, how?
Ademola Ogunbanjo, corporate executive: I don’t know how I caught the coronavirus for sure — I stayed home from March when we started working from home and ordered everything online. However, I suspect I may have contracted it from my steward who was going out without my knowledge at the time. I got sick in May. 
Aderinola Odugbesan-Thomas, lifestyle influencer: No, I'm not sure how I caught it, I tried to retrace my steps but couldn't figure it out.
Toke Makinwa, media personality: Thinking back now, the only activity that occurred in the last two weeks of me contracting COVID-19 was the #EndSARS movement. I think it was definitely the [protest] walk. I did have a face mask on but there were too many people and there were times I had to take off my face mask to maybe drink some water or help feed people that came out.
Denola Grey, actor and fashion consultant: I actually don’t know. I have a few theories but I was pretty much a hermit all through March when we went into lockdown and toward the end of the year. I was extremely careful but somehow I still caught it. I have a theory that it came from outside our home, but I can’t say for sure. 
Hamzat Lawal, activist: I honestly do not know how I contracted COVID-19. I was very conscious [of wearing] my face mask, ensured physical distancing, and always washed my hands but for some reason I contracted it and I really can’t say how I got it. 
Niyola, singer and songwriter: I have no idea how I contracted the virus. I travelled and was ready to return. I was following due protocol of testing before travelling when I found out I was positive.

NEW YORK -- A year ago, Elvia Banuelos’ life was looking up. The 39-year-old mother of two young children said she felt confident about a new management-level job with the U.S. Census Bureau — she would earn money to supplement the child support she receives to keep her children healthy, happy and in day care.
But when the coronavirus was declared a global pandemic last March, forcing hundreds of millions of people into strict lockdown, Banuelos’ outlook changed. The new job fell through, the child support payments stopped because of a job loss and she became a stay-at-home mom when day cares shuttered.
“The only thing I could do was make my rent, so everything else was difficult,” said Banuelos, of Orland, California.
Millions of Americans have experienced a devastating toll during the yearlong coronavirus pandemic, from lost loved ones to lost jobs. More than 530,000 people have died in the United States. Those losses haven’t hit all Americans equally, with communities of color hit especially hard by both the virus and the economic fallout.
A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that compared with white Americans, Black and Hispanic Americans are more likely to have experienced job and other income losses during the pandemic, and those who have lost income are more likely to have found themselves in deep financial holes.
That’s on top of Black and Hispanic Americans being more likely than white Americans to say they are close to someone who has died from COVID-19 and less likely to have received a vaccination. The pandemic has killed Black and Hispanic Americans at rates disproportionate to their population in the U.S., according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Banuelos, who identifies as Latina, said the disparity in pandemic experiences between “the upper class and people who are in a tighter situation” became glaringly clear to her early on in the pandemic. Even after two rounds of federal direct stimulus checks, she felt she was further behind than well-off Americans.
The relief “didn’t last that long,” Banuelos said.
Overall, 62% of Hispanic Americans and 54% of Black Americans have lost some form of household income during the pandemic, including job losses, pay cuts, cuts in hours and unpaid leave, compared with 45% of white Americans.
For other racial and ethnic groups, including Asian Americans and Native Americans, sample sizes are too small to analyze in the AP-NORC poll.
Jeremy Shouse, a restaurant manager from North Carolina, saw his hours greatly reduced during the early months of the pandemic when the small business was forced to shut down. Shouse, a 33-year-old Black man, said the restaurant has since reopened but went from making more than $5,000 in-house per day prior to the pandemic to only $200 on some days.
“One year later and things still aren’t the same,” Shouse said, adding his wages have dropped 20%.
About 6 in 10 Hispanics and about half of Black Americans say their households are still facing the impacts of income loss from the pandemic, compared with about 4 in 10 white Americans. Black and Hispanic Americans are also especially likely to say that impact has been a major one.
“We find that systemic racism plays a huge role in this process,” said Rashawn Ray, a fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institute who co-authored a recent report on racial disparities and the pandemic in Detroit. “I think what we’re going to see once the dust settles is that the racial wealth gap has actually increased.”
There have long been racial disparities in how Americans experience economic downturns and recessions. However, following a recovery from the Great Recession and well into the Trump administration, the unemployment gap between Black and white Americans narrowed amid strong job growth and economic activity. But a recent analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found a gap that had declined to as little as 3 percentage points rose to 5.4 percentage points last August, erasing some of the gains made during the recovery.
The AP-NORC poll also finds Hispanic Americans are especially likely to think it will take a long time to dig their way out of the financial hole. About half of Hispanics say that they are still feeling the effects of income loss and that it will take at least six months to recover financially. About a third of Black Americans say the same, compared with about a quarter of white Americans.
Forty-one percent of Hispanic Americans say their current household income is lower than it was at the start of the pandemic, compared with 29% of Black Americans and 25% of white Americans.
And about 4 in 10 Black and Hispanic Americans have been unable to pay a bill in the last month, compared with about 2 in 10 white Americans.
For people of color, the trauma experienced due to economic turmoil has been compounded by immense personal losses. About 30% of Black and Hispanic Americans say they have a close friend or relative who has died from the coronavirus since last March, compared with 15% of white Americans.
Debra Fraser-Howze, founder of Choose Healthy Life, an initiative working to address public health disparities through the Black church, said she is confident in the Black community’s ability to recover economically and medically.
“The emergency economic situation of the community is dismal,” Fraser-Howze said, “and it’s going to be worse for a long time. But we are a community of survivors — we came through slavery and Jim Crow. We figured out how to stay alive. I do believe and have faith that our community will come back.”

Kano government says there would be four phases for the COVID-19 vaccination exercise in the state.
The Kano State government has designated 509 health facilities for administering COVID-19 vaccines.
The leader of the state Technical Response Team on COVID-19, Tijjani Hussaini, disclosed this on Monday at a sensitisation meeting with security agencies held at Government House, Kano.
In a presentation, titled 'COVID-19 Vaccine : Roll Out Plan in Kano State' Mr Hussaini said: "In Kano, we have identified 509 health facilities that will be used as COVID-19 vaccination centres.
"We will use Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Muhammadu Abdullahi Wase Teaching Hospital and Dala Orthopedic Hospital."
Mr Hussaini said there would be four phases for the vaccination exercise in the state.
"The first phase will focus on frontline health workers, the second phase focuses on the remaining health workers and people above 50 years, the third phase will focus on people with underlying health issues and the fourth phase will focus on other target population."
He urged people to register for COVID-19 vaccine online, so that yhe federal government could allocate enough doses to the state.
In his address, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje said the government decided to kick off the sensitisation campaign with the security agencies, being one of the categories of the frontline population.
"COVID-19 vaccine will follow the same pattern on how to reach the public, with what was obtained during polio vaccine. We also need to follow the same pattern with that of our effort during the first wave of the COVID-19.
"Our health workers are well trained for that.m as they are recognised to be some of the best in the country. They performed wonderfully well before and during the first wave of the pandemic. They are still sustaining the tempo," the governor said.
"During this last lap of the fight against COVID-19, we will win the fight again. In fact, we are ready for this stage, the final stage."
Mr Ganduje said all categories of people would be involved in the sensitisation programmes designed to be implemented in phases.
He said the second category for the sensitisation meeting after security agencies are health related professionals.
In a presentation titled "COVID-19 vaccine: facts, misconception and myths," a professor of Public Health from Bayero University, Kano, Mukhtar Gandanya, assured that the vaccine is not harmful and debunked all misconceptions surrounding its safety.
The sensitisation meeting was attended by representatives of the police, Army, Air force, Nigerian Civil Defense, Immigration Services, Correctional Service, National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency, State Security Service, and State Hisbah Board, among others.

A Mobile Court in Benin on Friday convicted 33 people for not wearing face masks, improper disposal of refuse and displaying wares in unauthorised places.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Edo government imposed the use of face masks as a strategy to curb the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19).
The prosecuting counsel, Mr G. O. Odeyibo and A. Ayo, told the court that the 33 accused, who subsequently pleaded guilty, were apprehended within the Benin metropolis.
Presiding Chief Magistrate Rusberth Imafidon convicted the 21 face mask violators and directed them to do community service for three hours daily for two days. He gave them no option of fine.
He also sentenced the six convicts, who did not dispose off their wastes properly at the Oba Market, to do community service of three hours for one day. He also did not give them an option of fine.
Imafidon further sentenced the six other traders, who displayed their wares on a walkway, to community service of three hours per day for three days or pay a fine N3,000 each.
The community service includes clearing drains, picking trash, compulsory community sensitization and grass cutting.
The Chief Magistrate pointed out that doing community service was in tune with non-custodian sentence.
He said correctional officers would oversee the convicts while serving their punishments.

About 100 demonstrators burned masks outside Idaho's Capitol in Boise on Saturday as a statement against pandemic restrictions, according to authorities and people who tweeted from the scene.
No one was arrested, and organizers had permits, but the rally was under review because a fire was started, Idaho State Police said in a statement.
"During the event, an open flame was ignited in a barrel," police said. "Those involved with the event were informed both before and during the event that open flames are not allowed on State Capitol grounds."
Video and photos showed children present and even participating.
A point person for the rally, conservative activist Darr Moon, the husband of Republican state Rep. Dorothy Moon, said it was one of multiple Burn the Mask rallies across the state Saturday organized by several groups. He posted photos on Facebook of a similar event in Rexburg.
Moon said because the state is mostly rural it has had low Covid-19 infection numbers, and masks and other pandemic restrictions aren't always needed.
"Certain health districts are mandating or certain towns are mandating wearing masks and we just don't have the numbers here," he said. "The Covid numbers are very low. We've flattened the curve a long time ago and people want to go back to work, they want to have a normal life."
According to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center about 1 in 4 people who've tested for the virus in the past week in Idaho have turned up positive. That's down from the state's all time high the week of Dec. 6, when two-thirds of those tested were positive.
The state has recorded 1,876 pandemic deaths, according to NBC News' tally.
The state "strongly recommends" masks, but they are not mandated, although some cities and counties require them. Both indoor and outdoor gatherings are limited to 50 or fewer people. Tables in bars and restaurants must be at least six feet apart, and all patrons have to stay seated.
Republican Gov. Brad Little tweeted Thursday, "Keep practicing the things we know work. Wear your mask. Wash your hands. Stay home if you’re sick."
On Tuesday Idaho's House State Affairs Committee opened the way for debate on a bill that would prohibit mask mandates by government entities.
"We're not against face masks," Moon said. "You know, some people might need to protect themselves. There are certain portions of the population that are elderly ... they have issues. For healthy-bodied people, we want to go back to work.
"Our livelihoods have been put in jeopardy because of all the executive orders and mandates."

Wear your mask. Wash your hands. Stay home if you’re sick. Covid-19 isn't over yet

Having two vaccines is good. But three is better — and it could make a major difference in getting the pandemic under control.
"It could be a total game changer," said Dr. Muriel Jean-Jacques, an assistant professor of medicine at Northwestern University.
Millions of doses of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson will soon be available in the U.S., a much-anticipated development that could help turn the tide of the pandemic by vastly speeding the rate at which people are vaccinated.
Experts say the newly authorized vaccine could play a key role in staving off another surge of infections, particularly as the recent sharp declines in reported cases of Covid-19 appear to be leveling off and rising once again.
"We've never had to vaccinate our whole population at the same time before — not to mention the rest of the world — so having more vaccines will make that easier," Jean-Jacques said.
The single-dose vaccine, manufactured by a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary called Janssen Biotech, received emergency use authorization from the FDA on Saturday. The company shipped out 4 million doses Monday, with 16 million more doses expected by the end of the month.MARCH 2, 202110:27
The vaccine's authorization is a significant milestone, because it will help ease the supply and distribution bottlenecks that have hampered the rollout of vaccines across the country, said Dr. Stella Safo, an HIV primary care physician who is an assistant professor of medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
"It's invaluable," she said. "The more options we have, the better. It's really a thing to celebrate."
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine does not require ultra-cold storage conditions, as the vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech do, and it can instead be kept in regular refrigerators. That could ease some distribution challenges, particularly in rural communities.
And the vaccine requires only a single dose, unlike the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, which require two shots three to four weeks apart.
A single-dose vaccine could help boost the country's rate of vaccination, and increasing the number of people vaccinated each week will be critical for containing new outbreaks, especially as more contagious variants of the coronavirus become more widespread.
An analysis by the Food and Drug Administration found that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was 85 percent effective at preventing severe Covid-19 and 100 percent effective at preventing death. In the U.S., the single dose was 72 percent effective at preventing moderate to severe disease.
Moderna's vaccine is 94 percent effective at preventing symptomatic Covid-19, and Pfizer's vaccine was found to be 95 percent effective. But experts said the three vaccines should not be compared based on those numbers alone, because they all provide strong protection against severe disease.
"All three of them are really quite good, and people should take the one that's most available to them," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Center for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."
The Johnson & Johnson clinical trials also took place later in the pandemic and in regions where worrisome variants of the coronavirus have emerged.
"We're not comparing the same thing, because the pandemic has changed," Safo said. "The reality of where we are now is very different compared to the summer, when those other vaccines were first evaluated."
Scientists have been particularly concerned about how well the current vaccines will protect against the variants that are circulating and new ones that may emerge.

The efforts of local and international actors in Nigeria’s response to COVID-19 helped in curtailing a larger spread of the disease, an official of the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.
Walter Mulomo, the country representative of WHO, said since the beginning of the outbreak in Nigeria about a year ago, the global health agency has been engaging the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the health ministry and several other stakeholders in a multi-sectoral plan to combat the disease and its adverse impacts.
Mr Mulomo made this known in a video interview published by the WHO to mark one year of COVID-19 in Nigeria.
Saturday marked exactly one year since medics were summoned to what became the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Nigeria. Since then, over 155,000 infections have led to more than 1,900 deaths.
Nigeria, like most African countries, has not suffered from the worst effect of the pandemic, unlike its European and American counterparts, and Mr Mulomo believes the management and strategic response of various stakeholders played a part.
According to the official, WHO’s partnership with local and international actors led to the mobilisation of over $73 million used in the supply of resources needed to start the COVID-19 response in Nigeria.
“Nigeria has experienced two waves since the beginning of the outbreak. The first wave peaked around August 2020, and the second wave started in December,” he said.
Mr Mulono said the response effort has started to pay off with the recent decrease in daily infections.
Nigeria on Sunday recorded its lowest daily infection and death toll in about six months with 240 new cases and two fatalities, according to the country’s health authorities.
Since the increase in infections officially declared the second wave of the pandemic last December, Nigeria had averaged over 1,000 cases daily.
But in the past one week, daily cases have fallen below 700 suggesting the worst phase of the viral infection may have passed.
WHO has been involved in the global coordination for mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic, within the broader United Nations response.

New cases fell as much as 25% in the week ended Feb. 7 and 23% in the week ended Feb. 21, before plateauing last week, according to a Reuters analysis of U.S. state and county reports.
The country logged an average of over 68,000 new cases per day for the week ended Feb. 28, with deaths averaging at 2,055 per day. (Open tmsnrt.rs/2WTOZDR in an external browser to see a related graphic with state-by-state details.)
“I remain deeply concerned about a potential shift in the trajectory of the pandemic. The latest CDC data continue to suggest that recent declines in cases have leveled off at a very high number,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Walensky said she was alarmed by some local governments rolling back restrictions on masks and social distancing just as more infectious variants of the virus are spreading. “We stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained,” she said.
Twenty-nine out of 50 states reported more new infections last week compared to the previous seven days, whereas only seven states in the prior week reported weekly increases, according to the Reuters analysis.
New York had the highest number of new cases per 100,000 residents last week, followed by New Jersey and South Carolina.
As of Sunday, 15% of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of a vaccine and 7.5% has received two doses, according to the CDC. The country administered an average of 1.6 million shots per day last week.
Deaths linked to COVID-19 rose 5.5% in the week ended Feb. 28 to 14,387. Cumulatively, over 513,000 people have died from the virus in the United States, or one in every 636 residents.
The average number of COVID-19 patients in U.S. hospitals fell 15% to 52,000 last week, the lowest since early November, according to a Reuters tally.

The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation and former Nigerian Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has revealed that Nigeria’s COVAX vaccine supplies will soon be on the way while stating that the WTO must be part of the process for transparent vaccines delivery.
The WTO boss disclosed this in a social media statement on Wednesday evening, where she expressed joy that Ghana had received 600,000 COVAX vaccines.
She said, “Very happy to see first delivery of #COVAX supported vaccines to Ghana… Excited to see more countries following. Nigeria’s supplies should be on its way soon.
“No trade restrictions or bureaucracy should get in the way. The WTO must be part of the solution.”
What you should know 
Nairametrics reported that Ghana had received the first shipment of Covid-19 vaccines from COVAX, a global scheme to procure and distribute inoculations for free, as the world races to contain the pandemic.
“The 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine licensed by the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, the Serum Institute of India, are part of an initial tranche of deliveries headed to several low and middle-income countries,” the WHO said.



This is the best news I have heard recently! I hope Nigeria’s supplies will arrive as soon as possible.

Top U.S. infectious disease official Anthony Fauci on Tuesday told CNN that he expects the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to soon relax some COVID-19 recommendations aimed at curbing its spread for people who have been vaccinated.
“I believe you’re going to be hearing more of the recommendations of how you can relax the stringency of some of the things, particularly when you’re dealing with something like your own personal family, when people have been vaccinated,” Fauci said, adding he expected the new guidance “pretty soon.”

The near-simultaneous detection of SARS-CoV-2 variants from the four corners of the globe deepens our uncertainty regarding the pandemic's future and our ability to control Covid-19. How serious the problem will be will depend on how many different variants there are, how they differ from one another, how capable they are of reinfecting people, and resisting current and future vaccines. 
In this context, here we describe the newfound Nigerian variant (B.1.525). The Nigerian isolates carry mutations mirroring those seen in previous variants and some unique to their structure. 
B.1.525 was first detected by genome sequence in mid-December in Nigeria but was also quickly found in cases in the United Kingdom, France, and elsewhere. After only two months, B.1.525 represented over 20% of genomes sequenced in Nigeria. It has been detected in more than 200 cases globally. 
The mutation of B.1.525 may increase transmissibility, virulence, and immune escape. The amino acid substitutions Q52R and A67V are located in the spike protein's N-terminal domain, as are the deletions at positions 69-70 and 144. (See figure). The two point mutations are unique to the B.1.525. Both deletions are characteristics of the UK variant B.1.1.7. The deletion of 69-70 is also found in several naturally occurring variants. No specific function is as yet assigned to the N-terminal domain. Many mutations (and even multiple deletions) in this region are not deleterious to either the transmission, replication, or virulence. The N-terminal domain is highly antigenic. The primary effect of mutations in this region is likely neutralization escape. 
The amino acid substitution at position 888 is in the membrane-proximal stem region of the spike protein, nearby a similar change at position 870 found in a neutralization escape variant isolated from a person with persistent SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Among the point mutations and deletions in the spike protein, B.1.525 carries several ubiquitous in SARS-CoV-2 variants today. D614G confers increased transmissibility and is present in nearly all SARS-CoV-2 variants at this stage. The mutation E484K is also present in the South African and Brazilian strains. Amino acid 484 is located in the receptor-binding motif. The E484K change confers approximately three-fold resistance to several Covid vaccines and tenfold resistance to most convalescent antibodies. 
The amino acid substitution at position 677 ( Q677H) is identical to that found in variants recently described in the United States. These mutations occur in the S1 portion of the spike protein found far from the receptor-binding domain. Like the D614G mutation (also present in the Nigerian variant), the change at position 677 may increase the stability of the S1-S2 association and thereby increase transmissibility. The 677 mutations may also favor the open rather than closed conjugation of the receptor-binding domain. 
The variants of the virus are becoming more and more diversified. When the variants become more complex, this is indeed a big test for the vaccine, so come on!

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — As many states continue to struggle with COVID-19 vaccine distribution, the White House is promising the United States will have enough doses for every American by the end of July.
The Biden administration says it’s working as fast as it can to speed up the vaccine distribution process and ramping up its effort to get more shots into the arms of Americans.
“From 11 million doses last week to 13.5 million doses this week,” White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said. He added, “We’re doubling the weekly supply to local pharmacies.”
The push comes as the demand for vaccine doses continues to outweigh the supply. President Joe Biden indicated in a CNN Town Hall on Tuesday that would not be the case by the summer.
“By the end of July, we’ll have over 600 million doses – enough to vaccinate every single American,” he said.
Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, lawmakers are working to pass President Biden’s $1.9 trillion aid package. It includes $20 billion for vaccine distribution.
Several states are still vaccinating frontline essential workers, Americans 65 and older and those with high-risk medical conditions.
“When your turn to get vaccinated comes up, get vaccinated,” National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci urged.
The White House says the number of cases and new hospital admissions are on the decline. But, they warn, now is not the time to let down your guard.
“While cases and hospitalizations continue to move in the right direction, we remain in the midst of a very serious pandemic,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said.
President Biden is scheduled to tour a Pfizer manufacturing site in Michigan on Friday and meet with workers producing the COVID-19 vaccine.