Several challenges are hampering the delivery, acceptance and use of contraceptives in Nigeria.
Poor funding is the major reason Nigeria failed to meet the pledge it made in 2012 to achieve a modern contraceptive prevalence rate (MCPR) of 27 per cent among women by 202O, health experts have said.
The family planning (FP) 2020 goal was to enable 120 million additional women and girls of reproductive age, globally, to have access to contraceptives by the year 2020.
At the dawn of the deadline, the FP 2020 target indicators show that Nigeria has only 12 per cent MCPR for women in the country.
FP advocates say the government continuously failed to meet its counterpart funding commitment for the goal thereby hindering progress.
PREMIUM TIMES had reported how no money was budgeted for counterpart funding in the 2019 FP budget.
But apart from poor budgetary allocations, several other challenges are hampering the delivery, acceptance and use of contraceptives.
A coalition of health advocacy groups are now taking the lead in confronting several obstacles hindering the progress of family planning initiatives in Nigeria.
Nigeria Family Planning Conference 2020 (NFPC)
Health minister Osagie Ehanire at the 2020 biennial Nigeria Family Planning Conference (NFPC) held in Abuja last December announced the extension of the 2020 target to 2024.
"This target once again has been rebased to 27 per cent by the year 2024 to allow more time for ongoing efforts to yield results, given the changing realities and emerging challenges, including those imposed by the COVID-19 Pandemic," the minister said.
The Advancement of Family Planning (AAFP) in partnership with the health ministry and a cross-section of development partners organized the 6th NFPC held between December 7 and 11, 2020.
AAFP is a national coalition of FP advocates that evolved into a civil society organisation that has been driving FP agenda in Nigeria for years.
The theme of the event was 'Post FP2020 Agenda and Safeguarding Investments in Emergencies: Adaptation, Innovation, Resilience'.
Last Tuesday, a report and a communique detailing the outcome and recommendations from the NFP conference was released.
The report highlighted various gaps and obstacles that could scuttle the 2024 target.
It also underscored efforts and the role of AAFP and other supporters such as the Development Research and Project Centre (dRPC)/PACFAH@scale project in improving FP services.

The United States is on track to have gathered an oversupply of hundreds of millions of coronavirus vaccine doses as soon as July, even while many countries in the developing world will have to wait years to vaccinate a majority of their populations, according to a report by the Duke Global Health Innovation Center.
The estimates, included in the paper alongside recommendations, come as the Biden administration faces mounting pressure to facilitate equitable vaccine distribution around the world. The United States has pledged money to the global immunization effort, but has resisted calls to share vaccine technology or donate surplus doses.
On Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a fundraising event for Covax, a World Health Organization-backed push to distribute coronavirus vaccines, particularly to low- and middle-income countries, and called on other nations to do more.
Covax aims to secure and distribute enough vaccine to reach up to 20 percent of the population in 92 participating target countries by the end of 2021. In February, the Biden White House pledged up to $4 billion in support, reversing a Trump administration decision to opt out.
At a virtual event on Thursday, Blinken urged countries to give more, saying an additional $2 billion could help Covax reach 30 percent, rather than 20 percent, of target populations this year. “Just think for a moment of all the people whose lives would be impacted by hitting that higher target.” he said.
The secretary of state said countries must support vaccine manufacturing, but stopped short of announcing any specific policies or plans. He did not address the issue of surplus U.S. doses.
On Wednesday, Oxfam released a letter signed by more than 100 former heads of state and Nobel laureates calling on President Biden to waive intellectual property rules for coronavirus vaccines and “put the collective right to safety for all ahead of the commercial monopolies of the few.”
“Leadership from the US on safe, effective, and equitable global access to Covid-19 vaccines is imperative,” the Duke paper argues, pushing for Washington to increase funding for vaccine-sharing programs and to donate excess doses and use its clout to open up vaccine manufacturing.
Another proposal, put forward in a letter backed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), calls for the United States to donate 10 percent of its excess doses over the summer, moving to 50 percent by the end of the year, and argues that Biden should deliver a speech this spring to make the case to the American people.
Under the leadership of Gayle Smith, Blinken’s new coordinator for global coronavirus response and health security, the ONE Campaign, a nonprofit organization, called on wealthy countries to donate 5 percent of their surplus doses once they’ve vaccinated 20 percent of their populations.The proposals come just after the United States surpassed that 20 percent target — and as the virus spreads uncontrolled in much of the world and more-virulent variants continue to take hold.
The United States will probably have “at least 300 million excess doses or more” by the end of July, the Duke paper’s authors estimate, even as vaccination programs are extended to the vast majority of U.S. children.
The estimate is based on the assumption that the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca receives emergency-use authorization and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is used widely, despite rare side effects.
The oversupply in the United States forms a stark contrast with the situation in many poorer parts of the world, where vaccination programs have been slow to begin amid problems with supply and distribution, and could ultimately prolong the pandemic and hamper a U.S. recovery.
The Biden administration has pledged to donate doses. “If we have a surplus, we’re going to share it with the rest of the world,” Biden said last month, when pressed on the issue. “We’re going to start off making sure Americans are taken care of first, but we’re then going to try to help the rest of the world.” Blinken has made the case that protecting Americans requires international action. “This pandemic won’t end at home until it ends worldwide,” he said at a news conference on April 5. But no global plan to donate doses has been specified.
The world’s poorest 92 countries will not be able to reach a vaccination rate of 60 percent of their populations until 2023 “or beyond” if current distribution trends continue, the Duke paper estimates.
The authors include former U.S. officials such as Mark McClellan, who served as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration under President George W. Bush, as well as Krishna Udayakumar, founding director of the Duke Global Health Innovation Center.
While the U.S. has a surplus of vaccines, most countries still have a shortage, and while the U.S. will fund vaccines for poor countries, they will not break the vaccine monopoly, and the intellectual property remains in their hands.

With 964,387 vaccinations carried out as of 6th of April, Nigeria, which received 3.92 million vaccine doses, has carried out more vaccinations than any other country in Africa except Morocco.  However, the country has only administered the first shot, no one has been fully vaccinated.
According to the chart of the 10 African countries with the highest COVID-19 vaccinations, released by the WHO, as of the 10th of April, Morocco, that received 8.61 million vaccine doses, had fully vaccinated 4.13 million persons with two doses each, representing 11.3 percent of the population. Trailing Nigeria on the chart is Ghana, followed by Rwanda, Senegal,  Kenya, Mauritius, Angola, and Seychelles in that order.
According to the WHO, the 10 countries that have vaccinated the most have used at least 65 percent of their supplies and carried out over 90 percent even as less than 2 percent of the 690 million COVID-19 vaccine doses administered to date globally have been in Africa. Forty-five African countries have received vaccines, and 43 have begun vaccinations with nearly 13 million of the 31.6 million doses delivered so far administered. Poor vaccine rollout preparedness, including training of health workers,  and coordination has helped some countries quickly reach a large proportion of the targeted high-risk population groups such as health workers. Some African countries have halted the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine after administering half of the allocated doses as a precaution against shortages.

The Nigerian economy is losing several billions of naira to capital flight due to the inability of available docking facilities in the country to dry dock vessels of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Company.
In line with International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations, every vessel must undergo dry-docking once every three years in order to retain their safety classification and insurance cover. It costs between $300,000 and $500,000 to dry-dock a vessel, according to prevailing international rates.
Dockyards in Nigeria include: Niger Dock, Dormanlong, Kaztec Engineering, Naval Dock, among others. They were established to conserve foreign exchange, building indigenous capacity as well as promoting technological advancement in the nation.
However, the vessel management company of NLNG, NLNG Ship Management Limited (NSML), over the weekend, said none of the dockyards available in Nigeria can dry dock any of her LNG vessels.
Speaking in Lagos, the managing director, NMSL, Abdul-Kadir Ahmed said his company would have wanted to dry-dock its 11 LNG vessels and one LPG vessel in Nigeria due to the huge revenue such would generate for the country, but for lack of dry-docking facility that can handle an LNG vessel in the country, the company is forced to dry-dock her vessels outside the country.
He said,“Capital flight is an issue when it comes to dry docking of our LNG vessels. However, underpinning that issue of capital flight is the capacity and ability to do it here in Nigeria. As a Nigerian ship management company, it’s so much easier for me to dry-dock our vessels here in Nigeria and that is if there is anywhere, I can do it but, at the moment, there is no facility in Nigeria that can dry-dock vessels of the sizes that we manage.
“I don’t want to sound critical but realistic. There is currently no facility in Nigeria that can handle any of our LNG vessels. I am not saying there are no dry-docking facilities in Nigeria but, if you understand the nature and size of an LNG vessel, then, we will all know that there is nowhere in Nigeria that such vessels can be dry-docked as at today.”
Ahmed, however, disclosed that the company planned to set up a standard dry-docking facility in the country to put an end to capital flight that is occasioned by dry docking vessels outside Nigeria.

As the rest of the world grapples with the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, in Nigeria, hundreds of patients have been left unattended as doctors say there is no going back until their needs are met.
An indefinite strike by doctors since last Thursday has paralyzed medical services at public hospitals in Nigeria -- leaving hundreds of patients stranded.
Some of the patients say the government should do what is necessary so that the doctors can resume work fully.
“I advise the government to be serious with the doctors. I am here and I see how it is, it is not easy. Government should take the lives of its people very seriously,” said Nehemiah Josua, Patient.
However, scores of patients say the strike could aggravate their pains and health conditions as medics stopped working -- adding that they have to wait for hours to see an available doctor.
“Instead of the government to maintain and increase the facilities in the hospitals and pay the doctors to do their work, they prefer to go outside the country for treatment,” said Eze Kelvin, a patient.
“I think the position of doctors in this country is very important, so whatever they are demanding to improve their services towards patients, the government should meet such demands,” Margret Iyara, a patient said.
According to the Public Relation Officer, National Association of Resident Doctors, Dotun Osikoya it is unfortunate they have to go on strike during this critical period -- adding that they are open to dialogue with the authorities.
“What are we actually asking for? It is about our welfare, our training as resident doctors. Some of our members are being owed 2-3 months' salary in some federal institutions. We have in some states like Abia state Teaching Hospital, they are being owed 20 months’ salary, In Imo teaching Hospital, it's 5 months' salary, it's wrong because these people have families,” Osikoya added.
Despite risks associated with their profession, there have been numerous complaints of poor remuneration and welfare of health workers in Nigeria.

Long Beach has become the latest jurisdiction to open the door to widespread use of the COVID-19 vaccine, and announced on Thursday that it will start vaccinating residents 16 years and older.

Most children with a serious inflammatory illness linked to the coronavirus had initial Covid-19 infections with no symptoms or only mild ones, new U.S. research shows.
The unusual post-infection condition tends to be milder in kids who were sicker with Covid-19, although more than half of affected youngsters received intensive hospital care, according to an analysis by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published Tuesday in JAMA Pediatrics.

The NPHCDA disclosed this on its official Twitter handle on Wednesday.
The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that Nigeria kicked off vaccination since March 5, 2021, commencing the exercise 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.
It noted that the proportion of eligible people vaccinated in the country is 35.7 per cent as of March 31.
The agency said that the COVID-19 vaccination has started across all states except for Kogi, which is yet to receive doses for the exercise.
Kogi, which had reported only five cases since the beginning of the pandemic, was not supplied with doses of the vaccines due to the fact that its cold store is still under repairs following vandalisation during the EndSARS protest.
Meanwhile, the agency said in a tweet on last Monday that it met with Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, to resolve issues around vaccine storage and provision of security at the Cold Store.
According to the tally posted as of March 31, the agency had administered 718,412 doses of the vaccines since the beginning of vaccination in the country.
The NPHCDA is yet to disclose what number of vaccine doses have been distributed across the nation, and how many was left at its national cold store as of March 31.
The Nigerian immunization agency said that 718,412 people had received their first doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
It stated that the vaccinated people would take their second doses after 12 weeks of vaccination to be fully vaccinated.
According to it, Lagos, has vaccinated 136,356 people; making it the highest in the country.
“This is followed by Ogun with 50,870, Kaduna-46,474, Katsina- 37,819, Bauchi- 33,368 and Kano- 33,258.
“The states with the lowest number of vaccinated people are Abia-697 and Taraba-1,568 so far,” it stated.
It also said that it plans to vaccinate 109 million people against the COVID-19 virus over a period of two years.
NAN recalls that Nigeria commenced COVID-19 vaccination in early March, having received 3.94 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines through the COVAX facility.
The country recently received another 300,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from telecom giant, MTN, as part of the latter’s contribution to Africa.


This is a good development. With the popularity of vaccination, our lives will get better and better.

Since it broke out in China more than a year ago, the deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has hit every aspect of life, halting progress in every human endeavour.
Total lockdowns, social distancing, wearing of facemasks and other measures taken to mitigate its spread have impacted negatively on all sectors of global economy with some suffering devastating blows.
Tourism, a gold mine that rakes in billions of dollars annually, appears worst hit as international travels were banned, while social gatherings and non-essential activities were grounded in most countries of the world.
In Nigeria, the sector suffered a huge blow as all tourist sites were shut down.
Worried by that negative impact and dwindling fortunes, the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) recently organised a ‘stakeholders’ forum in Jos to brainstorm on ways to recover from the impact of the menace.
John-Likita Best, Managing Consultant, Tourism Ideas Promotion Services, painted a scary picture of the situation when he disclosed that 120 million jobs were at risk globally, due to the negative impact of COVID-19.
Quoting United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNTWO) report, he said that N1.2 trillion dollars was being lost globally, because of the pandemic.
In a paper titled: “The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Tourism and Hospitality Industry in Nigeria and the Way Forward”, he reported that international tourists arrivals worldwide was reduced by 1.1 billion.
The Director General of NTDC, Folorunsho Coker, said that the NTDC was aware of the far-reaching impacts of the virus on tourism and hospitality eco-system in Nigeria, hence the initiative to put together the stakeholders forum.
Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, all our tourist attractions have been closed, causing a heavy blow to the economy. Resuming tourism after the epidemic is facing great challenges. While doing a good job of preventing the epidemic, we must keep on fighting.

According to the official, over N2.3 trillion ($6.04 billion) has been earmarked for the Economic Support Package (ESP) to be implemented by the Nigerian authorities in June 2020. This was to address the economic consequences of the Covid-19 crisis, which slowed down business activities in the country.

Thus, the two million jobs created or saved concern "in particular the MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises, editor's note) that benefited from the Survival Fund; the wage support programme; the rehabilitation works that were launched; including the 774,000 jobs created around public works in each of the 774 local government areas of the country," said Laolu Akande.

Despite this announcement, statistics indicate that the labour market situation has been severely deteriorated by Covid-19. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria's unemployment rate rose to 33.3% of the labour force in the last quarter of 2020 from 27.1% in the second quarter of the same year. In a report released this year, the IMF said Nigeria needs to create up to 5 million jobs per year over the next decade to avoid an explosion in its unemployment rate.

With 162,489 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 2,041 deaths, Nigeria is one of the West African countries most affected by the pandemic in a context that has already been made difficult by the fall in oil prices. In 2020, its economy recorded a historic recession, estimated at -3% of GDP by the AfDB.

For 2021, the institution projects the country's growth at 1.5%, due in particular to the "stimulus measures described in the Economic Sustainability Programme (ESP) and the 2020 Finance Act" which "could stimulate non-oil revenues".

The government's economic recovery plan for Covid-19 has succeeded in creating 2 million jobs to combat rising unemployment, which is a good thing!

Golden State Warriors players scored Covid-19 vaccinations more than three weeks ahead of California giving shots to the general population, the club said Thursday.
An undisclosed number of players and coaches have received their vaccinations, but Warriors Senior Vice President Raymond Ridder declined to reveal further details.
“The players and coaches who received the vaccine were eligible under the most recent state and CDC guidelines,” Ridder said in a statement to NBC News.
The San Francisco-based franchise is the latest professional basketball team to receive vaccines, even as shots remain in short supply for millions of Americans not of a certain age or suffering from an underlying health challenge.
The Atlanta Hawks, New Orleans Pelicans and Portland Trailblazers have all acknowledged receiving Covid-19 vaccines.
"There are plenty of people in California, who have chronic illness, who have disabilities, who have barriers to vaccination, who are still waiting to get vaccinated," said Nancy Berlinger, a bioethicist at the Hastings Center, a research institute in Garrison, New York.
"Since it's happened, since the team said this happened, they should be transparent about how they got access."
Without a greater explanation, the public could be left to wonder how much money and power played in opening doors to vaccines, according to Berlinger and others.
"If you're an athlete and the next thing we know you're vaccinated and you and your team and your owner have nothing to say, that really undercuts trust in the system," said Arthur Caplan, founding head of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU School of Medicine.
Currently in California, most of those vaccinated are 65 and older.
Californians 16 and older are not eligible for vaccines until April 15. Those 50 and older will be eligible on April 1.
For Californians not meeting those benchmarks, eligibility is being limited to those working in various high-risk jobs, living or working in high-density settings or people suffering from various illnesses or medical conditions.
Those conditions include cancer, Down syndrome, pregnancy, kidney and heart disease, obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
Ridder said he could not discuss what conditions qualified any of the Warriors: "To elaborate more would be a violation of privacy/HIPAA rules."
The Los Angeles Lakers are also reportedly in line to receive vaccinations, though L.A. County's top health official said: "Those doses are not coming from L.A. County doses because we don't know anything about this.''

An official had announced MTN's donation of 7 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines to African countries.
Nigeria has received 300,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from telecom giant, MTN.
The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, while speaking at its weekly briefing, on Monday, said the PTF received the vaccines on Sunday.
"Yesterday, Sunday, 21st March 2021, the PTF received 300,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines from MTN Nigeria," he said.
"This is acknowledged with thanks as we encourage other partners to contribute towards the fight against COVID-19."
An official had announced MTN's donation of 7 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines to African countries with Nigeria expected to receive 1.4 million doses by the end of March 2021.
Having received 3.94 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines in early March, Nigeria has since commenced vaccination beginning with healthcare workers.
Last week, authorities in Austria said they halted use of the AstraZeneca vaccines while investigating the death of one person and the illness of another after taking the shots, according to Reuters.
In a swift move, over a dozen countries including Germany, France and Italy said they were halting the use of the vaccine or some particular batches of it.
However, countries like Germany and France have since reversed the suspension following confirmation by both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) that the shot is safe and effective against the virus.
Amidst safety concerns, some high-income countries like the UK and developing countries such as Nigeria and Ghana have chosen to continue the rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
The European drug regulator said it would continue to study possible links between very rare blood clots and the vaccine.
Vaccine safety
At Monday's briefing, the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, said the AstraZeneca group has assured the public of the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Abdullaziz Abdullahi, he said government representatives met with the AstraZeneca group last week.
"The meeting provided an opportunity for one-on-one clarification on the accines and the outcome was a reassurance of the safety and efficacy of the vaccine against COVID-19."
Mr Ehanire said Nigeria is yet to record any unusual side effects among those who have received the vaccine.
"NAFDAC is monitoring the process as part of a global tracking of adverse effects of the vaccine."
He explained that anyone who received the vaccine and is experiencing any adverse reaction should report to NAFDAC using the Med Safety App.
The minister also noted that there are reports of racketeering in some of the designated vaccination centres.
"This is not necessary as vaccination has been scheduled in phases such that frontline health workers and those at higher risk of the infection are vaccinated first after registration at the portal," he said.
COVID-19 Vaccines
Mr Mustapha said some Nigerian scientists have produced at least two potential COVID-19 vaccines which are awaiting clinical trials and certification.
He said this is a welcome development that will open a new vista in scientific breakthrough and will boost the morale and image of the medical industry in the country.
"I call on all relevant agencies to provide the required support and enabling environment for smooth conduct of the remaining protocols for the certification of these vaccines to encourage and motivate other researchers," he said.

About 122,410 Nigerians have received jabs of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, said on Monday.
Mr Shuaib while speaking at the weekly briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 said Nigeria has not recorded any serious adverse reaction following the administration of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines.
“So far, 122,410 people have been vaccinated with Oxford Astrazeneca vaccine in Nigeria,” he said
“No Nigerian so far has developed any known severe side effect, while we have observed that there might be some mild symptoms like pain and swelling at the site of the vaccination, body pains and mild fever.”
He explained that one can take the vaccine and have other diseases that are completely unrelated to the vaccination process.
Mr Faisal noted that the agency will continue to collaborate with the NAFDAC ‘pharmacovigilance team’ to monitor the administration of the vaccine and document any adverse reactions.
This, he said, is to assure Nigerians that the government is honest and transparent in its choice of the vaccine to protect the citizens against the virus which has claimed over 2,000 lives in the country.
Nigeria in early March received 3.94 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine through the COVAX facility, led by the World Health Organisation, and has commenced vaccination beginning with healthcare workers and other provides of essential services.
The country also received 300,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from telecom giant, MTN, on Sunday, according to the Chairman of PTF on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha.

No fewer than 2.3 million Nigerians registered their preparedness to receive the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine jab within 48 hours of the registration of the e-portal in the first week of March as Nigeria received samples. Their enthusiasm was at variance with the initial scepticism that visited the idea of the vaccines in Nigeria.
A survey of 1100 Nigerians between October and November 2020 by the Edelman Trust Barometer 2021 found that vaccine hesitancy was a high 59 per cent in Nigeria. Reluctance was 64 per cent globally. Hesitancy combined with a low trust environment where only 24 per cent of Nigerians believe in government and trust overall is at 49 per cent.
Proactive communication and reaching persons at the grassroots made a difference in changing Nigerians’ attitude to the vaccine.
Experts and manufacturers rolled out the vaccine in December 2020 globally. It came one year into the devastation the virus first spotted in Wuhan, China wrought on the world. The rollout happened rapidly in China, Europe and the United States of America, among other countries.
Nigeria secured four million doses of the AstraZeneca brand from India, courtesy of the Covax Facility. It arrived in Nigeria on 2 March 2021. The government and citizens alike were excited.
Before the vaccine’s arrival, the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 (PTF) worked assiduously to prepare Nigerians to accept the vaccine despite a few misguided comments on its safety and efficacy. Secretary to the Government Boss Mustapha led the PTF to collaborate with other agencies to prepare the grounds.
PTF understood the public’s genuine scepticism about the new vaccine and their resistance and undertook the daunting task of reversing such perception many weeks before its arrival in the country. It directly sent out messages to counter the negative perceptions of the vaccine’s safety and efficacy and that it has no adverse effect on recipients. In charge of the vaccination programme in the country, the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency engaged in sensitisation and awareness programmes to correct the negative perception. It reached out to critical stakeholders, especially traditional rulers and leaders of major religions, to accept and convince their subjects and brethren on the vaccine’s safety.
These efforts must have yielded fruits. Nigerians welcomed the arrival of the vaccine with great enthusiasm. Moreso, the top-bottom approach vaccination strategy adopted by the PTF for administering the vaccine has helped build confidence in the masses that there will not be any adverse effect.
The phased distribution to the States began with the vaccination of all frontline health workers, supporting staff and strategic leaders. As a mark of leadership and confidence building, President Muhammed Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo were vaccinated in the glare of television cameras before the members of the PTF and some journalists took their turn.
So far, the vaccine distribution across the 36 States is on course with no noticeable hitches. By 8 March 2021, about 33 states and the FCT had taken delivery. It is noteworthy that the PTF has mapped out the deployment of vaccines to the States based on assessing their level of preparedness.
Some of the parameters used for the assessment include adequate maintenance of their cold chain storage facilities, proper preparation of logistic transportation to the ward/ health facility, sufficient security in place during transport and at vaccination sites, completion of training of health workers, efficient social mobilisation activities, and adherence to the protocol for vaccine deployment.
It is equally encouraging that the PTF will be working with the private sector-led CACOVID, which has provided a cargo plane to transport the vaccines to all local airports across the country. States without a functional airport, according to the PTF, will have their vaccines transported by road using vans with fitted Cold Cabins from the nearest airport. They will store the vaccines at the State Cold Stores, from where they will transport them by road to LGA Cold Stores.
The PTF also plans to monitor activities once the vaccines are in the States strictly. PTF would work with the Federal Ministry of Health, NPHCDA and independent bodies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Department of State Security, Independent Corrupt Practices Commission and Civil Society Organizations. The PTF would ensure compliance by States/health facilities/health workers and sanction defaulters who deviate from the standard protocol and guidelines for the vaccination programme.
The PTF plans to ensure the vaccination of about 70 per cent of the population n the next phase. The plan involves vaccination of the elderly from 50 years and above. There are two sub-groups; the vaccination of persons 60 and above first, followed by 50 – 59 years. Eligible citizens who have not registered electronically, PTF says, would be assisted at the designated health facility to ensure a seamless exercise.
The third phase of the vaccination process will take care of those between 18- 49 years with co-morbidities (such as hypertension, diabetes, lung disease, other heart diseases, liver or renal disease). Immunisation of individuals ages 50 and above with co-morbidities would happen with their age groups.
The fourth phase would involve vaccination of the rest of the eligible population between 18-49 years.
It is worthy to note that the authorities would assess the level of preparedness of the States before deploying vaccines at each stage. The Federal Government assures that it has placed accountability measures to ensure strict compliance with the vaccination process. Their health providers will evaluate pregnant women to weigh the benefit versus risk.

Violence which spread throughout Borno state, in northeast Nigeria, has forced people like Adama out of their homes. Adama now lives in a camp for displaced people in Pulka, a small garrison town located 115 kilometres southwest of Maiduguri, the state capital. She is only one of around 37,000 displaced people trying to survive here.
“We have to be grateful that we now have water, but we don’t usually have enough water when we enter the dry and hot season,” says Adama.
The dry, hot season in the part of western Africa known as the Sahel usually lasts from November until May. Not a single drop of rain touches the cracked earth for nearly seven months, while the Harmattan, a dry wind coming from the Sahara Desert, brings sand and hot air during the day and cold air at night.
Lack of water leads to lack of resources, illness
The temperature can go from 9 to 35 degrees Celsius in a day. This extreme climate was challenging for local farmers even before the armed conflict in Borno began. The situation now, after 10 years of violence, has worsened due to the high number of displaced people, limited farming land and clean water, and a lack of other basic resources and means to produce food.
Even if people somehow manage to produce food, often they have to exchange it for water. In some places, groups are making money by selling water from pre-existing water points or those built by humanitarian organisations, to displaced people, sometimes by community leaders. Often the only water that people can get is polluted or not properly treated with chlorine, which can cause health problems, especially among children who are one of the most vulnerable groups.
Organisations in charge of water and sanitation in the area recently built an artificial lake, or a ‘pond’ as it is called by locals. However, due to a chlorine treatment unit not working and no existing connection to the pumping system, the pond has had little impact, and is mostly used by people to do laundry or water their cattle.
“The problem of insufficient water is very serious,” says Fati, another displaced person who has settled in Pulka. “When we have money, we buy water from the well, but if we don’t have any, we have to fetch it from the pond and this makes our children sick.”
Water trucking was also introduced by different water and sanitation organisations as a temporary solution. However, logistical issues due to frequent closures on the main road to Maiduguri mean this option is not reliable, leaving Pulka residents with no choice but to use the pond. Even when there is enough water, the bigger issue is the quality of this essential resource.
People are trying to find a way to make ends meet
Most people do not have the arable land or water to farm or grow food in the displaced people’s camps, because there is not enough space; the situation outside the camps is also too dangerous. Farming land is located on the periphery of Pulka, outside the trenches and fences that make the town more resistant to attacks and intruders, but which also cuts off people from the outside world. In such conditions, stress, tension, even conflict, among people is to be expected.
“Those of us with four or five jerry cans are usually asked to wait for the pushcart owners from the community to get water before we can get water,” explains Maryam, another camp resident. “There are men who are in control of the water points; they are the ones that usually tell us to wait our turn in the queue.”
“But we don’t usually wait,” Maryam continues. “We force our way to get the water whenever the person at the water point has had their fill. And this, in most cases, leads to scuffles and injuries.”
Polluted or untreated water badly affects children
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) runs a 97-bed hospital in Pulka, which offers free-of-charge general and specialist healthcare to all residents, including displaced people. Roughly 58,000 patients were treated in the hospital’s outpatient department in 2020; respiratory tract infections and polluted water-induced diseases are the vast majority of illnesses treated. MSF also conducts regular health education in the displaced people’s camps about the importance of clean water, especially when water is a scarce and very valuable resource.
Cecilia came to the hospital because her baby had diarrhoea.
“He has abdominal pain and a runny nose. The abdominal pain makes him pass watery stools,” says Cecilia. “We usually get our drinking water from the solar borehole in the morning. If we didn’t go in the morning, we wouldn’t get any water.”
“We sometimes drink the water from the local pond, but only if we have the chemicals to treat it,” Cecilia continues. “But for now, we don’t drink the water from the pond because children play and have their bath in it.”
Mohammed, another patient in the hospital, called on water and sanitation providers to take serious measures to improve the current conditions.
“We get our water from the pond. But the water has lots of dirt in it; it’s not treated and that is why we constantly have abdominal problems and related illnesses,” says Mohammed. “Our major problem here in Pulka is the water, as it gives us abdominal pain. For about two weeks now, I’ve not been feeling well. We are appealing to those in charge to fix our boreholes, as some of them are not functioning.”
“There is a clear lack of coordination and communication among different water and sanitation organisations here, which impacts the situation,” says Siham Hajaj, MSF head of mission in Nigeria. “The people of Pulka need immediate action from humanitarian organisations, which need to improve both the access to, and the quality of, the drinking water. Unless water and sanitation organisations in Pulka act right now, we will witness even more suffering by people there.”

The defendant allegedly represented himself as an American citizen affected by COVID-19, and obtained $8,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) from Virginia, United States.
The Federal High Court in Kaduna has ordered the remand of Collins Samuel, a Nigerian, for allegedly obtaining $8,000 as COVID-19 benefit from the U.S. state of Virginia.
The spokesperson for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Wilson Uwujaren, said in a statement on Thursday that the trial judge, P. Mallong, ordered the defendant to be remanded in the commission's custody.
The judge issued the remand order following Mr Samuel's arraignment by the EFCC on one count of impersonation and obtaining by false pretence.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The commission stated the defendant was arrested in Jos, Plateau State, "where he fraudulently represented himself as Ashley Coopper, an American citizen affected by Covid - 19, and obtained $8,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) from Virginia, United States."
"Investigation revealed that Collins redeemed the $8,000 benefit through bitcoin wallet addresses he got from various cryptocurrency traders," the statement added.
The charge reads, "that you Collins Samuel sometime in February, 2021 in Jos, Plateau State, within jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did commit an offence to wit; impersonation when you fraudulently held yourself as one Ashley Cooper, a citizen of the United States of America and through that identity you applied and received a total sum of $8,000 (United State Dollars) from the State of Virginia as " Pandemic Unemployment Assistance ) with the intent to gain advantage for yourself and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 22 (2) (b) (1) & (ii) of the Cyber Crime ( Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act, 2015."
The judge adjourned the case till March 22 for hearing of the defendant's bail application.
In a related development, the commission also stated that Precious Musa was arraigned before the judge on three counts of internet-related fraud on Thursday.
Internet fraud suspect also arraigned
The defendant, according to EFCC, was arrested in Keffi Local Government Area of Nasarawa State following information "which linked him to a series of fraudulent activities that borders on false representation, identity theft and obtaining by deception. He was particularly alleged to have defrauded a victim the sum of $17 000 USD."
One of the charges preferred against him reads: "that you Precious Bala Musa sometime in 2020 at Keffi, Nasarawa State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court together with one "Samuel Uche" and others currently at large fraudulently obtained the password of one Irene Hackett and hacked her bank account and dishonestly retrieved the sum of $3,500 USD, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 22 (2) and punishable under Section 22 (1) of the Cybercrime ( Prohibition Prevention, Etc) Act, 2015."
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges, prompting the EFCC counsel, P.C. Onyeneho to ask the court to fix a date for commencement of trial while the defendant is remanded in the Correctional Service's custody pending trial.
Counsel for the defendant, C.J. Nwogu, however, asked that the defendant be remanded in EFCC custody pending the determination of his bail application.
The judge remanded the defendant in the custody of the EFCC and adjourned till March 18for hearing of bail application.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A year after meatpacking worker Sandra Silbert found herself praying in the locker room before her shifts and making her own masks to protect against Covid-19 on the assembly line, the timeline for vaccines to protect essential workers is still hazy.
"They don’t care [about] us. They don’t care in the beginning of the pandemic, and they don't care now,” said Silbert, who has worked in the hambone department at the Sioux Falls Smithfield plant for 15 years. "If we were a priority, they would give us the vaccine. But when people treat us like that, we feel alone.”
Companies like Smithfield were slow to enact safety precautions at the beginning of the pandemic, leading to the first major outbreaks at locations across the country. The company said, “There is an awareness that food and agricultural workers are a high priority for the vaccine.”
Keira Lombardo, Smithfield’s chief administrative officer, added, “Priorities have shifted in the past two months in a range of states, and that has lowered the priority status of our critical and essential employees.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that food processing workers get vaccine priority — even before people older than 65 or younger people with underlying health conditions — but most states didn't lay out their vaccination phases that way. Only 12 states include food processing workers in vaccination access, while large meatpacking producing states like South Dakota, Texas, Minnesota and Georgia don't.
South Dakota ranks food processing workers in Phase 1E, after populations like teachers and funeral service workers get vaccinated.
Asked for comment about why the phases were broken down the way they were, Daniel Bucheli, communications director for the state Health Department, wrote: "We look forward to vaccinating essential food service workers. ... Given South Dakota's record progress on vaccination efforts, provided an increase in vaccine allocation from the Federal Government, such should start in the near future."
The United Food and Commercial Workers, or UFCW, the union that represents the top 10 food processing companies nationally, has been pushing for companies and states to prioritize such workers.
“Simply put, the failures in early vaccine distribution under the past administration have left millions of Americans and essential workers defenseless,” the UFCW wrote in a statement this month. “Governors must immediately work with CEOs in these industries to ensure the vaccine is free for all essential workers and that workers have paid time off to receive each dose.”
Other advocacy groups point out that it's immigrant workers who are doing the work as they risk their health.
“It's very frustrating to see that when the first outbreak happened, it was at a meat processing plant, because there were no safety measures that were taking place in March, and the people working in that industry in our state that keeps our state going are immigrants and refugees,” said immigration lawyer Taneeza Islam, executive director of South Dakota Voices for Peace. “It’s troublesome — whether it's a misunderstanding or whether it's actual bigotry.”

"Most governors have agreed to flag off on March 10 while the statewide rollout of COVID-19 vaccine will commence from the 12 of March."
The Nigerian government on Monday said it has started distributing the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines to various states across the country.
The Executive Director of National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, made this known at the weekly briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19.
He said adequate provision had been made to deploy the vaccines to all states and vaccination sites where people would be vaccinated according to set priorities, beginning with the health workers and other support staff.
"All things being equal, the delivery of the vaccines will be completed tomorrow," Mr Shuaib said.
He explained that the delivery of the vaccines to the states is predicated on satisfactorily meeting the conditions to keep them safe and potent.
"We are designating Vaccine Accountability Officers in the states and LGAs to closely monitor the management and utilisation of the vaccines."
He said state launch of the COVID-19 vaccination for health workers is slated for March 9 at the state treatment centres, barring any prevailing local conditions.
"Most governors have agreed to flag off on March 10 while the statewide rollout of COVID-19 vaccine will commence from the 12 of March," he said.
Nigeria on Friday commenced the vaccination of its citizens against COVID-19, beginning with healthcare workers.
About four million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines were delivered to Nigeria through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Assess Facility (COVAX) on Tuesday.
Cyprian Ngong, a medical doctor, became the first person to receive a jab of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines in Nigeria. Three other health workers also received jabs during the flag-off event.
President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo received jabs of the COVID-19 vaccines on Saturday to drive vaccine acceptance.
Members of the PTF also received jabs of the vaccines on Monday.
A report published by the Punch newspapers on Friday had disclosed that the government earmarked N10.6 billion to transport COVID-19 vaccines to the 36 states and the 774 Local Government Areas as well as the Federal Capital Territory and its five area councils. That amount, if true, would be considered highly inflated in a country battling with official corruption.
The report quoting a document titled, 'Estimated Budget for States Rollout of COVID-19 Vaccines (end-to-end),' stated that N1.4 billion was also set aside for the procurement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) while N373 million was earmarked for the purchase of Adverse Events Immunisation kits (AEFI).
According the Punch, the document was presented to the 36 governors during a meeting between representatives of the Federal Ministry of Health and the Nigeria Governors Forum on Thursday.
But Mr Shuaib while addressing journalists on Saturday said there is no truth in the report.
"I'm hearing this from you for the first time. It doesn't make any sense that on one hand, we have communicated clearly to Nigerians that CACOVID has provided a cargo plane that will help deliver the vaccines from Abuja to all states that have functional airports," he said.
"For those with no airport, there is a delivery van that will convene the vaccines from the airport to those states with no functional airport."

International travelers, including U.S. citizens, are currently required to have a negative coronavirus test to fly to the United States. There is no such requirement for domestic travelers, but that could change.
Let's connect the dots.
According to reports, the Biden administration is considering requiring testing for people just flying within the United States. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a recent interview they were actively talking with the CDC about the idea.
Still, that doesn't mean the idea will fly.
Objections from transportation industry
Several airlines have already said they don’t like it. Trade organizations have also been critical, citing everything from the cost to already struggling airlines to evidence that transmission aboard planes is already low.
Vaccine passport possible 
Travel experts are torn, saying it would discourage some travelers but encourage others who would feel safer flying. 
Even others insist the focus should be on vaccines not testing. Of course, that raises questions about whether travelers will be required to carry a vaccine passport if they want to fly. 
That idea is already being debated in the European Union.

(CNN)With every Covid-19 vaccination, the United States inches closer to defeating the pandemic that has killed over half a million Americans and left countless more with long-term complications.
But major challenges stand in the way. Some Americans are ditching personal responsibility and forgoing masks, even though the highly contagious B.1.1.7 variant has spread to at least 46 states and Washington, DC.
"That strain is increasing exponentially. It's spiking up," said Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious diseases specialist and epidemiologist. "So we are probably right now on a tipping point of another surge."
Research shows that in the US, the B.1.1.7 variant is 59% to 74% more transmissible than the original novel coronavirus.
And the current rate of vaccinations might not be fast enough to fend off a major B.1.1.7 surge in the coming weeks.
"At 2.9 to 3 million doses of vaccine a day over the next six to 14 weeks, when this surge is likely to happen, is not going to really take care of the problem at all," Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.
Osterholm said the US should take a lesson from Europe, which has struggled with the B.1.1.7 strain after it was first detected in the United Kingdom.
Just one month ago, B.1.1.7 made up around 4% of coronavirus cases in the US, among those that have undergone genomic sequencing. "Today, it's up to 30 to 40%," Osterholm told NBC on Sunday. "And what we've seen in Europe, when we hit that 50% mark, you'll see cases surge."
After weeks of declines, new Covid-19 cases have basically plateaued at high levels each day.
On average, more than 60,000 Americans were infected every day over the past week, according to Johns Hopkins University. That's slightly less than the peak of the summer surge, when 67,030 infections were reported on July 20.
The US shouldn't loosen coronavirus restrictions until daily new cases fall below 10,000, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.
He said it's "inexplicable" that some states are rolling back safety measures such as mask mandates, when masks are needed to help fend off B.1.1.7 and other concerning variants.
"I understand the need to want to get back to normality, but you're only going to set yourself back if you just completely push aside the public health guidelines -- particularly when we're dealing with anywhere from 55 (thousand) to 70,000 infections per day in the United States," Fauci said.
Despite health leaders' warnings, several state leaders announced they were easing Covid-19 restrictions.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced last week he was lifting the statewide mask mandate and doing away with any capacity limits on businesses starting this Wednesday
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves also said he was lifting all county mask mandates and would allow businesses to operate at full capacity without any state-imposed rules.

After a rough winter, things may turn around for the airline industry in a big way, buoyed most of all by vaccinations.
"I think we're going to see a jailbreak this summer as more people get vaccinated," Cowan aviation analyst Helane Becker told Yahoo Finance.
If April 2020 was the bottom, with about 87,000 people traveling per day, Becker said things will be wildly different this year. By around March 20, passenger volume will cross the 1 million per day mark, she said.
“Memorial Day weekend we think the recovery will start in earnest and go through the summer,” said Becker.
However, there’s one big catch that actually is bullish for the U.S.
“It’s going to be domestic travel — it’s not going to be international,” she said. Any international travel that does happen, she added, would be the Carribean and México.
"I don't think people are comfortable yet traveling eight hours on a plane to get to Italy or France or Spain,” she said.
Becker said getting everyone comfortable enough to travel might require a vaccine passport, a new kind of control akin to the post-9/11 adjustments to air travel.
"We got used to taking off our shoes and going through metal detectors. We got used to taking our coats off and toiletries out of our bags," she said. "We'll get used to this idea in a couple of years.”
Still, testing will remain in place for a while — something that may change the kind of trips people take. Tests might reduce the amount of long weekends people might take, but shouldn’t be a problem for longer week-length stays, Becker said.
All of this is likely to be just what the airlines need at the moment. Last year, they lost around $35 billion and have braced for another rough 2021.

The Trader Joe’s employee appealed directly to the CEO.
In a letter citing a medical journal and experts who study respiratory transmission of the coronavirus, Ben Bonnema called on the grocery chain’s head, Dan Bane, to adopt more stringent safety protocols. Among his requests: improving filtration, requiring masks without exception and adopting a “three-strikes” policy for removing uncooperative customers from stores.
“We put our lives on the line everyday by showing up to work,” wrote Bonnema, who was a crew member at a New York location. “Please, show up for us by adopting these policies.”
The company responded soon after, he says. It fired him.
Bonnema’s story went viral over the weekend after he posted about it on Twitter, prompting outrage and threats to boycott the chain.
Some of the experts to whom his letter referred, who this month wrote to the Biden administration urging that steps be taken to combat airborne transmission in workplaces, said this reinforced the need for action.
“We wrote this letter to protect people like Ben,” tweeted Kimberly Prather, a professor at the University of California at San Diego and one of 13 experts who wrote to the White House. “His letter is an excellent science-based request. We have been shopping there for 20 yrs. We will stop until Trader Joe’s takes this seriously.”
A spokeswoman for the grocery chain, Kenya Friend-Daniel, said in an email to The Washington Post that “misinformation” was circulating about the circumstances of Bonnema’s termination. She said he was fired “because of the disrespect he showed toward our customers” and added: “Nothing is more important at Trader Joe’s than the safety of our Crew Members and customers.”
The company’s coronavirus safety measures include requiring face coverings, providing employees with gloves and masks, pre-shift wellness checks, enhanced cleanings and increased sick time, according to its website.
But Bonnema, who declined an interview request, said in his letter to Bane that additional measures were needed. He wrote that it was not enough to exceed standards set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, saying the agency had “downplayed the dangers of aerosols since the pandemic’s origins.” The CDC for months went back and forth on the role the tiny droplets play in transmitting the virus, even as evidence grew that they were a factor.
Trader Joe’s should follow the advice of scientists like those who sent the letter to the Biden administration, Bonnema wrote. He called for the chief executive to enhance HVAC systems in stores and set occupancy limits based on carbon dioxide levels. He suggested that no one be allowed inside without a mask, arguing that the chain meets the Americans With Disabilities Act’s accommodation requirement by offering to shop for those who can’t or won’t wear masks.
In calling for a “three-strikes” rule, Bonnema wrote that he was “shouted and sworn at by a customer who would not wear his mask above his nose, despite Mates already asking him to do so.” The customer was allowed to continue shopping.
Bonnema wrote that he was contacting Bane directly because “these changes can only come with your approval.”
The result was a termination letter. The Feb. 26 document, which Bonnema shared on Twitter, said his recommendations went against company values.
“In a recent email, you suggest adopting a ‘3 strike’ policy against customers and a policy enforcing the same accommodation for every customer with a medical condition that precludes them from wearing a mask,” the letter said. “These suggestions are not in line with our core Values. In addition, you state that Trader Joe’s is not ‘showing up for us’ without adopting your policies. It is clear that you do not understand our Values. As a result, we are no longer comfortable having you work for Trader Joe’s.”
Bonnema posted what he says is his August employee review, in which Trader Joe’s gave him high marks across the board. He was rated as meeting expectations in every category and praised for humor, kindness and embracing “the Kaizen spirit” — a reference to the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement used by the company.
He was commended for the “dedication and care” he showed to customers, with the reviewer writing: “You continue to have thoughtful interactions with them at the register and on the sales floor.”
Friend-Daniel, the Trader Joe’s spokeswoman, did not respond to an inquiry about his performance review.

The House Budget Committee has approved legislation advancing President Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, setting a path for intense debate in the Senate.
The legislation is set for a vote on the House floor at the end of the week. The Senate is then expected to take up the legislation and attempt to modify it to ensure it can pass procedural hurdles while still satisfying all 50 Senate Democrats.
Republicans have generally rejected the need for such a sweeping relief package. Many, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., say Congress should wait to see the economic impact of the relief measures that were approved in December. Democrats, including Biden, have insisted that more relief is needed now, particularly for lower-wage workers and people who have been unable to find new jobs in the pandemic.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki has told reporters that the legislation is aimed at helping people who are most at risk as the economy remains frozen by the virus.
But Senate Democrats remain split over some key elements, like a plan to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 over the next four years. Leaders are focused on working out any differences among Democrats before March 14, when current federal unemployment benefits are scheduled to expire.

On a farm in Plant City, Florida, María Alvarez and her husband have been working throughout the pandemic, picking what’s in season and planting for the next.
Alvarez, 34, is worried about getting infected with Covid-19 while she works with dozens of other migrant workers during shifts that last up to 12 hours.
“When we arrive to pick up the boxes, we’re very close to each other," she said. "Then we head back to go picking and we’re still close. There’s no social distancing."
Alvarez is eager to get vaccinated, saying it would be "a shield" for her.
Farmworker organizations are pleading with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to make vaccinating such farmworkers a priority. Advocates cite the risks facing workers who live and work in crowded conditions and are often not given protective equipment by employers, making them vulnerable to infection.
“Now what happens when you have people living three families to a house and you’re denied them vaccination? It’s like a death sentence,” said the Rev. Frank O’Loughlin, 79, a Catholic priest and founder of the Guatemalan-Maya Center in Lake Worth, Florida, which provides support to migrant farmworkers.
When O’Loughlin heard Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ past remarks associating the spread of Covid-19 on farmworkers and day laborers, he saw an opportunity for his nonprofit to help inoculate farmworkers.
DeSantis broke with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and announced in December that the state would focus on vaccinating residents over 65 after the first round went to health care workers, instead of prioritizing essential workers such as public transportation employees or teachers.
In a Jan. 11 letter obtained by NBC News, several organizations, including O'Loughlin's, wrote to DeSantis, urging him to "prioritize essential farmworkers for the Covid-19 vaccine independent of their immigration status," as well as improve health care access and coronavirus testing.
“In many ways, recognizing farmworkers as essential has kept the people in Florida from falling into the uncertainty and cynicism that results from empty grocery store shelves,” the letter reads.
Florida, with a population of over 21 million, has had the third-highest number of Covid-19 cases in the U.S. over the past seven days, just after Texas and California. It has had the fourth-highest death toll over that time, after California, Texas and Indiana.
Vaccinations are the latest hurdle for farmworkers since the pandemic began. When the spring harvest was underway, organizations were forced to beg the state for medical supplies and protective equipment that arrived late. Over the summer, there was a surge in Covid-19 cases in agricultural communities but testing was limited. Doctors Without Borders, an international humanitarian group, sent teams to Florida and helped set up mobile clinics.
“Farmworkers are uniquely vulnerable to infection,” said Oscar Londoño, executive director of WeCount!, an organization out of Homestead, a city south of Miami with vast agricultural areas, and one of the groups that signed the letter to DeSantis.
Vaccinating farmworkers would reduce hospitalization and mortality rates, Londoño said, pointing out farmworkers' lack of access to adequate health care and paid sick days. Some workers go to work feeling ill because they're afraid of losing their jobs if they call out sick, he said. Londoño said it was a mistake for the governor to break with CDC guidelines.
The letter to the governor stated that among 600 farmworkers in Palm Beach County who were regularly tested for Covid-19, the positivity rate was consistently 30 percent, a high number that worries advocates.
To date, O’Loughlin said they have not heard back from DeSantis’ office regarding the letter. “And we have not done well in persuading the agricultural industry to speak up,” he said.
DeSantis’ office did not respond to requests by NBC News for comment.
Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay, who spoke to NBC News on Feb. 18 after the story first published, said she and her team have been vocal about prioritizing vaccines for the county's farmworkers. But she said an executive order would have to determine that, which would then allow her county to start the process. She fears though it might be too late for a two-dose vaccination to take place before the end of May if that isn’t decided soon.
“Once May comes around, you start to see that population of farmworkers migrate north, they head into Georgia, they head into the Carolinas, you even see them move as far north as upstate New York and Michigan,” Commissioner McKinlay told NBC News from West Palm Beach.
“So if we’re here now near the end of February, if we vaccinate them, if we wait a few weeks more and we get the first vaccine in them, if somehow, miraculously, somebody declares them a priority, which I think they need to be, you could be in a situation where you put the vaccine in their arm, you wait that 21 to 28 days in between vaccines, and by the time that comes around, they’ve gone to a different state, and we’ve lost that opportunity to track them, and to make sure they’re fully protected,” she said.
Commissioner McKinlay said she sent a letter to the governor on Feb. 23 urging him to include farmworkers in the list of those who are eligible to get vaccines.

Breaking through barriers, misinformation

For Herlinda, 40, an undocumented farmworker in Palm Beach County, buying her own personal protective equipment has become part of her job as she works the field, adding compost and picking and cleaning flowers that are sold to landscapers, wholesale companies and other buyers.
“We’re not safe at work. All of a sudden, you get ill and one doesn’t know,” said Herlinda, who is being identified only by her first name because of her immigration status. “I need to support my children and if I get ill [for] two, three weeks, that’s a lot for me. That’s why I worry a lot,” she explained.
Florida’s surgeon general announced in January that those seeking shots would have to show proof of residency, amid concerns that nonresident visitors were flying to Florida to get vaccinated. Many farmworkers are guest workers with temporary visas or no legal documents, and showing a utility bill or rental agreement could be complicated.
Farmworker advocates say vaccinations have to be done regardless of farmworkers’ immigration status.
Misinformation that has spread in Spanish has also taken a toll. Nezahualcoyotl Xiuhtecutli, a general coordinator at the Farmworker’s Association of Florida, said some of the farmworkers he has contacted have expressed a hesitancy about getting vaccinated.
"What I have heard a few times is, 'We’ll just let those who are eager to get it first. If they don’t die, then I can go get it,'” said Xiuhtecutli.
The language barrier also worries advocates. Isaret Jeffers, founder of Colectivo Arbol, told NBC News that most of the forms and information regarding Covid-19 are in English, but most of the farmworkers speak Spanish or Indigenous languages.
As part of a grassroots effort to inform migrant farmworkers about Covid-19, O’Loughlin said his center has been calling a 1,000 or so farmworker families, speaking to them in their native languages and sharing pertinent coronavirus information in areas with a scarcity of information.
Florida is a specialty crop state with more than 47,000 farms running on 9.7 million acres, according to scientists at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. "Many of the fruit and vegetable crops are labor intensive and harvested by hand because of their fragile nature,” according to a spokesperson for the institute.
Across Florida, there are about 138,000 full-time and part-time jobs in agriculture, according to the spokesperson. The information shows that almost half (48 percent) are hired domestic workers and almost a quarter (24 percent) are working through the federal Temporary Agricultural Workers program and 28 percent are sole proprietors.

Nigeria’s latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reveals that an unexpected growth of 0.11 percent (year-on-year) in Quater four (Q4) has moved Africa’s largest economy out of recession. 
The economy suddenly came out of a recession as growth in agriculture (3.42 percent) and telecommunications (15.9 percent) balanced a fall in oil production. The gross domestic product grew 0.11 percent in the three months through December from a year earlier, compared with a decline of 3.6 percent in the third quarter, the bureau cited in its report. 
This shows the significant contributions of the non-oil sectors to the oil-dependent economy in 2020 when the world’s economy was shut down by a global oil price slash and the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. 
As of Q3, the economy had fallen into a full-blown recession as the country recorded a rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). GDP also slumped (in real-time) by -3.62 percent (year-on-year) in Q3 2020. This marked a full-blown recession and second consecutive contraction from -6.10 percent recorded in the second quarter (Q2 2020).
In December 2020, the NBS stated in a publication that the October 2020 CPI increased by 14.23 percent (year-on-year). The rise represents 0.52 percent, compared to the rate recorded in September 2020 (13.71 percent). 
However, the latest GDP report indicates that the service sector contributed 54.28 percent to the GDP in Q4 2020, followed by agriculture (26.95 percent) and industries (18.77 percent). The non-oil oils sector which grew by 1.69 percent accounted for 94.13 percent while the oil sector contributed 5.87 percent to the total GDP for Q4 2020.

Every day, a Pasadena, California-based company ships eight cargo jets loaded with COVID-19 tests to the United Kingdom.
Innova Medical Group's top executive would like to use the rapid tests to slow infections closer to home. Los Angeles County hospitals overflowed with patients amid record deaths this winter during the darkest phase of the pandemic.
But Innova has not yet secured Food and Drug Administration authorization to sell the tests in the United States. Instead, test-packed jets fly overseas to serve British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's "moonshot" of mass testing. 
“I’m a bit frustrated,” said Daniel Elliott, president and CEO of Innova Medical Group. “I think we’ve done everything we’ve possibly had to do, need to do and have been asked to do to get the testing through the approval process.”
More studies are underway to demonstrate the accuracy of Innova's test, which costs less than $5 and can deliver results within 30 minutes. Researchers at Harvard, the University of California, San Francisco and Colby College have evaluated the test and other private research groups are conducting trials on people with or without coronavirus symptoms, Elliott said.
Experts say the United States could quickly expand the nation's limited testing supply and improve speed by authorizing rapid, paper-based antigen tests such as Innova's diagnostic. Advocates say these tests are cheaper, easier to make and can be used two to three times each week to detect when someone is infectious and likely to pass the virus to others.
The drawback: Rapid tests are less precise when compared to lab tests, which take longer to complete and cost $100 or more.
The Biden administration is endorsing both methods – investing in quick and cheap antigen tests and lab-based polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests, which have been the mainstay since last spring. 
Earlier this month, administration officials announced six unidentified suppliers will deliver 61 million rapid tests by the end of summer. The Department of Defense also reached a $230 million deal with Australia-based Ellume to open a U.S. factory and make 19 million antigen tests each month, 8.5 million of which will be provided to the federal government.

Even as cases continue to decline and more Americans receive their vaccines, the coronavirus isn’t likely to go away anytime soon, health officials say.  
The nation’s top infectious diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci dismissed the idea that COVID-19 would be eradicated in the next several years at a webinar hosted by think tank Chatham House in November.
“We need to plan that this is something we may need to maintain control over chronically. It may be something that becomes endemic, that we have to just be careful about,” he said.
So, what is an endemic disease and how would COVID-19 become one? Experts say there are multiple endemic diseases in the United States that could foreshadow what the disease caused by the coronavirus may look like in the upcoming years.
What does endemic mean?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines endemic as the “constant presence and/or usual prevalence” of a disease within a population in a certain geographic area.
An endemic disease spreads at a baseline level every year without causing major  disruption to people's lives, said Dr. Donald Burke, professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. 
“Things that are endemic are present for long periods of time without interruption, continuously circulating in the population," like the common cold, he said. 
A disease can be endemic in one country but can be considered an outbreak or an epidemic in another country, explained Dr. Pritish Tosh, an infectious diseases physician and researcher at the Mayo Clinic.
For example, malaria is considered endemic in some parts of the world where mosquitos carry the parasite. However, a high number of malaria cases in the United States would be considered an epidemic if it were not contained.

The warning by the federal and some state governments, including Lagos State to impose another lockdown in order to keep down rising cases of COVID-19 is timely, going by the reality of the pandemic. Nigerians ought to be very alarmed, and to adopt the right attitude in support of government in appreciation of life and health. Although, Nigeria is still under-testing, available statistics show that the number of COVID-19 cases and the death rate in the country are spiking.
Obviously, health facilities across the country are being stretched, signposting that official measures being taken by governments across the country against the spread of Coronavirus pandemic may appear to be inadequate. But the greatest threat to curtailing the disease is by far the carefree and sometimes unbelieving attitude of Nigerians. Most Nigerians have shown little or no respect for basic rules such as wearing face mask, keeping social distancing and regular washing of hands. Yet, the hospitals are overwhelmed, not discounting the fact that test and treatment are expensive; leaving the risk of death on the prowl. Indeed, the curve is rising and the Federal Government has threatened a second lock down!
Notwithstanding, individuals across the social divides appear to be throwing caution to the wind as observance of safety protocols is low, which may account for the spike in the number of cases leading. This is worrisome because the highly infectious and virulent new variants/second wave of COVID-19 and increasing fatality should be a concern to all and sundry.
Since another lockdown appears not feasible, the government’s management of the situation with the off and on stay-at-home directive to Grade Level 12 and below to work from home is notable. Nigerians should not push the government to make good its threat of a second lockdown, because of the harsh economic realities this will entail. Also, the chances of getting palliatives during a lockdown are practically nil.
While COVID-19 has been in Nigeria for close to one year, the risk perception is still low among Nigerians; and those in charge of COVID-19 risk communication, should realise that the country has reached a tipping point, which requires a change of strategy. Thus, the need to change messaging to inculde evidence on the rate of infection and death. Messages should also highlight the benefits of not shutting down markets, schools, places of worrship and other public places; reducing loss of livelihoods; not infecting the elderly or high risk family members, particularly by those that are asymptomatic; and reduced access to medical services.

WASHINGTON — As the Biden administration tries to streamline the federal government’s pandemic response, it’s also gearing up for a sweeping campaign encouraging Americans to get the coronavirus vaccination when it becomes available to them, according to administration officials.
That effort for now, however, is narrowly targeted at Americans who are eligible to receive the vaccination — particularly among communities where people may be skeptical of taking the shots — as the government grapples with low supply issues, officials said.
“The last thing we want to do is say, ‘Go out and get your shot,’ if there’s no supply,” an administration official explained.
The targeted campaigns that have already begun in the Biden administration’s initial weeks are largely focused on minorities, and there have been some efforts to address vaccine hesitancy in rural communities and among military families, according to officials.
Several new efforts to reduce vaccine hesitancy that the Biden administration initiated are aimed at Black Americans, 43 percent of whom say they want to “wait and see” how the vaccine works for others before getting it themselves, according to a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
For one new effort, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working with NFL Alumni Health, including legendary players Warren Moon and Franco Harris, to encourage African Americans to get the vaccine.
The CDC also is funding efforts for groups like the National Urban League and the Conference of National Black Churches to build confidence in the vaccine. And there’s a new social media campaign — #VaccineReady — during Black History Month to reduce vaccine hesitancy, facilitated by the Office of Minority Health at the Department of Health and Human Services.
On Monday, Morehouse School of Medicine, in partnership with HHS, plans to launch its National Covid-19 Resiliency Network that includes a digital component that helps people find locations for coronavirus testing and the vaccine using their ZIP codes.
At the same time, the administration is trying to reduce skepticism about the vaccine within other communities, including military families. On Thursday, first lady Jill Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley appeared in a virtual forum with Blue Star Families to encourage members of the military and their families to get the vaccination. “When your turn comes up, please get vaccinated,” Fauci told the forum.
Blue Star Families CEO Kathy Roth-Douquet said the group found in a recent survey that more than half of the respondents “did not feel comfortable at this time getting the vaccine, and many remain undecided.”
“Their concerns range from distrust of the vaccine development process to its safety, overall efficacy and to the potential for unknown side effects,” she said during the virtual event.
Similar concerns are found in rural communities. The Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that residents in rural America are far more likely to say they will “definitely not” get the vaccination than those in urban areas, by a difference of 21 precent to 8 percent.
Beyond some of the targeted vaccine-confidence efforts, much of the messaging coming from the Biden administration is familiar: wear a mask, socially distance.
For a broader campaign when the vaccine supply has increased, administration officials are looking for ways companies might help, exploring ideas such as giving employees a day off of work to get the vaccination. They’re also discussing how to reach a range of audiences, possibly through sports organizations from the NFL to NASCAR and a range of celebrities to local doctors and pastors in communities across the country.
“Certainly part of our commitment is launch a massive public affairs campaign,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday. “Takes a little time to get all your ducks in a row and get that going, but part of what we're also trying to do is utilize our experts to be out there publicly.”
The administration faces significant challenges in reaching its goal of herd immunity by the summer, as evidenced by a Monmouth poll released Wednesday.
More Americans are expressing concern about the impact of the coronavirus than at any time during the pandemic, it found. Even so, 1 in 4 of those polled say they will avoid getting the vaccine if they can help it.
CORRECTION (Feb. 6, 2021, 1:39 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated the name of the government's primary health agency. It is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, not the Centers for the Disease Control.

The U.S. Senate is politically split with 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats, but leaders of the two parties agreed Wednesday that Democrats will hold the majority of the seats on each of the chamber’s issue-related committees where legislation is first drafted.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer announced the agreement with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and said the chamber’s organizing resolution would be approved later in the day.
If they vote as a 50-member bloc, Democrats control the Senate because of the tie-breaking vote from Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, who presides over the chamber.
Schumer and McConnell negotiated for a month over the legislative rules for the next two years before McConnell agreed to Schumer’s demand for control.
With Democrats holding the majority of seats on each of the Senate’s 20 standing committees, it could possibly be easier for new President Joe Biden to advance his legislative priorities. But even then, lawmakers sometimes do not agree with the stances adopted by presidents of their own party.
In the 100-member Senate, members of the minority party – now Republicans for the next two years -- often object to legislation proposed by a president of the opposite party, now the Democrat Biden, who took office two weeks ago.
In debate before the full Senate, some minority party lawmakers often filibuster against legislation they don’t favor, forcing at least 60 senators, some from both parties, to join to vote to break the filibuster and then vote on the legislation itself.

The Lagos State Government has announced that the testing of Covid-19 at its public health facilities cannot be used for travel purposes adding that anyone wishing to test as a requirement for travel or other work-related requirements must do so at any of the 21 private laboratories accredited by Lagos State for COVID testing.
This was disclosed by the Lagos State government in a statement on Sunday evening.
” 34,094 have recovered in community, while 9,856 are currently active in the community. Over the last 12 months, about 3,988 COVID-related patients have been admitted into the various care centres across the State; with a registered fatality rate of approximately0.63% (301 deaths),” the Lagos State government said.
The statement revealed that Lagos State currently has 21 private and 4 public health laboratories accredited for Covid-19 testing so far, and a total of 316,801 samples have been tested, with 47,871 diagnosed as positive.
“The test positivity ratio for January 2021 is 24%, which means that one out of every four tests returns positive. This is the highest monthly average recorded in the last six months,” it added.
The State added that testing is free in its public health centres for anyone experiencing symptoms but warned that results from public health facilities cannot be used as Covid tests to travel out.