Portugal has opened its borders for American tourists who can now enter the country with only a negative Coronavirus test result, which should be provided upon arrival.
According to a press release issued by the Portuguese government on Tuesday, travellers two years of age and older must be tested with a PCR test within 72 hours before departure or a rapid antigen test within 24 hours of boarding, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
However, there are still Coronavirus restrictions being applied in many Portugal regions. For example, masks are mandatory at beaches while entering and moving around, and a social distance of 1.5 meters (about five feet) must be applied while lounging. Social distancing and face covers are also mandatory in closed public spaces.
United Airlines is the first US flight to resume travelling to Portugal this summer, as the company announced. The daily flights will be departing from New York, and Newark, New Jersey, and are set to begin on July 1.
Besides Portugal, American tourists are welcomed in many European countries due to the country’s vaccination rollout rates, which are among the top ones in the world.
Spain has also opened its borders for US citizens that are vaccinated with Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen, Sinopharm, or Sinovac-CoronaVac. A document proving that at least 14 days have passed since the last shot or the single-shot vaccine has been administered to the holder.
For American tourists interested in visiting France, the country permits visits by only providing proof of vaccination with one of the European Medicine Agency authorised vaccines. For unvaccinated travellers, US citizens must provide a PCR or antigen test taken 72 hours before arrival.
Italy too allows restriction-free entry for vaccinated American tourists who have travelled through COVID-tested flights, approved by the Italian Ministry of Health that imposes testing on travellers before departure.
The only Italian companies running these flights are Alitalia and Delta, whereas the American flights operating these flights are:
New York – Milan Malpensa
New York – Rome Fiumicino
Atlanta – Rome Fiumicino
Atlanta – Milan Malpensa
Denmark and Greece are both fully open for American tourists as long as they provide vaccination proof that the holder has been vaccinated with one of the EMA-authorised vaccines at least 14 days before arriving at the destination.
The Irish government also welcomes US citizens restriction-free once the EU COVID-19 passport will be implemented, which is set to happen from July 19. For American tourists willing to visit Cyprus for summer vacation, the authorities require only a PCR test documentation that proves the test was taken 72 hours before the departure.
Other countries allowing American tourists to enter the country without undergoing quarantine are Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Malta, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Ukraine. Croatia still has some strict restrictions in place for American travellers, although these restrictions may soon change with the most recent update of the EU recommendation for reopening the borders to epidemiologically safe third countries, in which the US has been added.

Customers who want to drink, dine and relax and enjoy live music at the flagship restaurant of City Winery in New York must present a certificate of COVID-19 vaccination to enter. But this is not needed in most other dining establishments in the city. And there is no need for brewery locations in other U.S. cities
If City Winery tried to do something like this in its Atlanta and Nashville operations, “we would have no business because basically too many people opposed it,” said CEO Michael Dorf.
Across the United States, many disaster-stricken companies eager to return to normal have been reluctant to require customers to provide vaccination certificates. Many members of the public and politicians in many places have made it clear that they do not care about this idea.
In fact, there are many more states that have banned vaccination certification policies than have created smartphone-based programs to allow people to digitally display their vaccination status.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommends that those who have not been fully vaccinated wear a mask when dining or gathering indoors. But few states need it, and most businesses rely on voluntary compliance—even in places with low vaccination rates where COVID-19 cases are rising.
Digital vaccine verification programs can make it easier to implement safeguards and contain new outbreaks.
Alan Butler, executive director of e-Privacy, said: “But this is only effective when large-scale adoption, and large-scale adoption requires trust and practical support for what the state health department is doing. All states exist." Information Center for Nonprofit Organizations in Washington.
Hawaii is the only state that enforces a certain version of a vaccine passport. It requires travelers to upload photos or PDF copies of their Hawaii vaccination documents, or pass a COVID-19 test before arrival to avoid having to quarantine for 10 days.
Earlier this month, California became the third state after New York and Louisiana, providing residents with a way to voluntarily display their digital proof of COVID-19 photos. None of these states need to use their digital verification systems to access public or private sector locations.
In contrast, at least 18 states led by Republican governors or legislatures prohibit the creation of so-called vaccine passports or public entities from requesting vaccination certificates. Some of them — including Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Montana, North Dakota, and Texas — also prohibit most companies from denying services to people who have not been vaccinated.
"Texas is 100% open, and we want to make sure you can go where you want to go without restrictions," Governor Greg Abbott said when signing the law against vaccine passports.
The ban does not apply to the demands made by employers on their employees. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Texas dismissed the lawsuit of 117 Houston hospital employees who questioned workplace requirements for vaccinations. More than 150 people were later fired or resigned because they were not allowed to shoot.
In Louisiana, according to a bill passed by the Republican Party that may be vetoed by Democratic Governor John Bell Edwards, public facilities must not ban unvaccinated people until the COVID-19 vaccine is fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration. . Currently, these vaccines are distributed under emergency authorization from the FDA.
In May, Louisiana launched a program that allows residents to use the state's digital driver's license LA Wallet to add their COVID-19 vaccination records.
But its scope of influence is still limited. Approximately 105,000 people have activated the COVID-19 verification feature. This accounts for approximately 14% of people who have a digital driver's license, and less than 4% of the 3.1 million people who have a driver's license in Louisiana.
Democratic Rep. Ted James wrote a bill to create a digital driver’s license. He said he had only used the feature once—showing an Uber driver in Nevada that he did not need to wear a mask. But James said he has not been asked to show it in Louisiana, and he doubts he will.
"Earlier this year, I felt that at some point, unless we were vaccinated, our travel and going to certain places would be restricted," James said. Now, "I don't think we will have certain types of requirements."
As a step towards reopening, New York launched the Excelsior Pass in March, the first state system to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination or recent negative test numbers. As of early June, more than 2 million people have obtained digital passes—about one-fifth of the number of people vaccinated.

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved N18 billion as take-off grants for the establishment of four universities of technology and health sciences.
The universities of technology will be located in Jigawa and Akwa Ibom States, while the universities of health sciences will be established in Azare, Bauchi State and Ila Orangun, Osun State.
The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, said yesterday in Abuja that the approval was to fulfill Buhari's promise to establish an apex National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Abuja with six satellite universities of technology - one in each of the six geo-political zones.
The minister, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mr. Sonny Ochono, said the new universities of technology would be established this year, while the upgrade of four others and the National Institute of Technology would come on stream next year.
He stated that after a review of the policy by key stakeholders in the education sector, it was resolved that the federal universities of technology located in Yola (North-east), Akure (South-west), Owerri (South-east) and Minna (North-central) be upgraded and equipped.
According to him, two additional universities of technology located in Jigawa and Akwa Ibom States will also be established.
He said: "Similarly, a National Institute of Technology (NIT) shall be established in Abuja. The institute shall be patterned after similar institutions in Singapore and Malaysia to serve essentially as a postgraduate centre devoted to research and innovation, drawing the best graduates from the six universities of technology, as well as other exceptional graduates from reputable universities within and outside Nigeria.
"With the recent establishment of the only federal government-owned University of Health Sciences, Otukpo in Benue State and the huge gap in doctor-patient ratio, as well as in medical research and production of pharmaceutical products, government recognised the compelling need to establish two other specialised universities in health, nutrition and medical sciences to be located at Azare, Bauchi State and Ila Orangun, Osun State.
"These shall lay a solid foundation for building national preparedness and resilience in anticipation of future challenges in the health sector while reducing medical tourism to countries like India, UAE, Egypt, Europe, and the USA," he said.
According to him, to ensure early the take-off of the institutions, the president approved a take-off grant of N4 billion each for the universities of technology and N5 billion each for the universities of health science from the funding resources of TETFund.

Undoubtedly, the demand for more food consumption is the case globally, mainly due to the increasing populationyear on year. One of the extreme challenges that Africa faces, particularly Nigeria, is that of feeding its growing population amidst other perennial issues.
Consequently, this makes hunger, undernutrition and food insecurity prevalent across the continent despite government agriculture andfood business sector supports. Without mincing words, food insecurity might worsen if the population continues to grow and a corresponding reaction to arrest the situation is not in sight.
In Nigeria, each year the country losses and wastes a substantial portion of its total food production which is never preserved despite hunger and undernutrition that exist.One of the key reasons is that food loss and food waste continue to grow without any significant intervention by government or businesses.
The magnitude of food loss and waste, FLW, is undeniably common and high in the country along the food supply chain, particularly from the North to the South of the country.The loss and waste problem has been neglected for so long and the last few years have witnessed a consistent increase as a result of heightening insecurity, movement and transport restrictions due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic,street trading, open animal grazing, decrepit infrastructure, illiteracy, inconsistent power supply, environmental pressure, lack of innovation and climate change.
Though food loss and waste are a global problem, it appears it is more prevalent in Nigeria now with the current realities. Therefore, persistent food loss and food waste amid starvation should not be overlooked. This piece is, therefore, a wake-up call.
While I agree that both "food waste" and "food loss" signify the food portion that is wasted and not eaten, the terms are different but often use interchangeably. Painfully, both are damaging to the economy, businesses, households, and the well-being of the populace. The fact is food loss and waste are quite different anyway in terms of origin and scope and the true difference lies in exactly where the waste occurs.
According to literature, food loss typically takes place at the harvest, storage, transportation, and sometimes at processing, and distribution stages in the food value chain. In Sub-Saharan Africa, post-harvest food losses are estimated to be worth the $4 billion annually - or enough to feed at least 48 million people, according to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation, FAO, of the United Nations. In my opinion, the large chunk of this may likely be from Nigeria, considering the population and economic size of the country in Africa.
Further findings in the report indicated that some of the leading causes of food loss are poor storage, insecurity, loss during transportation, insufficient and inefficient agro-processing skills among smallholder farming communities, and lack of innovative approach to preservation and insufficient infrastructure.

The 2021 Global Peace Index (GPI) has ranked Nigeria 146 among 163 independent nations and territories, according to its level of peacefulness. Nigeria moved one step from 147 in 2020, though it still ranked eighth among the least peaceful countries in Africa after South Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Central African Republic, Sudan and Mali.
In the report released yesterday, Nigeria finished with 2712 points and was graded low on the state of peace out of very high, high, medium, low and very low on the chart.
The GPI, produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), measures the state of peace in countries. It assesses countries in three domains, including the level of societal safety and security, the extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict and the degree of militarisation.
Describing the situation, the report said Nigeria continues to face challenges on both safety and security and ongoing conflict domains. The conflict between government forces and Boko Haram in the Northeast led to an estimated 1,606 people killed in 125 fatal incidents in 2020, making an average of 13 deaths per violent event in the Boko Haram insurgency of last year.
“Over the last year, the country has recorded further deteriorations in militarisation and ongoing conflict and an overall deterioration in peacefulness,” the report added.
The data also recorded that civil unrest in sub-Saharan Africa rose by more than 800 per cent over the period with Nigeria accounting for the highest number of demonstrations and the most increase in civil unrest.
The 15th edition of the GPI also measured the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on peace. This looked especially at the impact of the pandemic, and in particular, how its economic consequences will increase the risk of severe deteriorations in peace over the next few years.
Civil unrest rose 10 per cent globally, driven by the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic caused a global rise in civil unrest and political insecurity, according to the GPI report. There were 14,871 violent demonstrations, protests and riots recorded globally in 2020.
The report said COVID-19 was a “multiplying force” in future political instability and civil unrest. It added the level of this unrest going forward is likely to hinge on the speed and effectiveness of economic recovery. Countries with less debt and higher levels of positive peace were more likely to recover faster.
Iceland remains the most peaceful country in the world, a position it has held since 2008. It is joined at the top of the index by New Zealand, Denmark, Portugal and Slovenia. Mauritius is the most peaceful African country ranked 28th, followed by Ghana (38), Botswana (41), Sierra Leone (46) and The Gambia (53).
Afghanistan remained the world’s least peaceful country in the world for the fourth year in a row, followed by Yemen, Syria, South Sudan and Iraq.
At the presentation of the report held virtually, Steve Killelea, CEO of the IEP said: “There has been a very slight decrease in peacefulness in 2020. That was mainly caused by an increase in the number of violent demonstrations and the levels of political instability. This year’s results show that the average level of global peacefulness deteriorated by 0.07 per cent, which is the ninth deterioration in peacefulness in the last 13 years.
“Part of that was fuelled by lockdowns from COVID-19 and the economic issues that followed. India, Eastern Europe and the United States showed the most deterioration on that level due to the rise in demonstrations over coronavirus-related restrictions.”
2020 will be etched in human memory as the ‘Year of Protests and Pandemic’. #EndSARS protest against police brutality in Nigeria reverberated across the world the same way the #BlackLivesMatter jolted the world in response to the George Floyd incident in the USA.
According to Killelea, the effect of the pandemic has been mixed. “Initially, we saw a drop in the number of homicides and violent crimes as lockdowns were put in place. But that changed after a period of time. It is still too early to fully gauge the long-term effects of the pandemic on peace,” he said.
In 2020, the world witnessed almost 15,000 violent protests and riots. The damage it caused came with a hefty price of about $15 trillion or 11.6 per cent of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Among those, more than 5,000 were pandemic-related and were recorded between January 2020 and April 2021.
The economic impact of violence to the global economy in 2020 was $14.96 trillion in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. This figure is equivalent to 11.6 per cent of the world’s economic activity or $1,942 per person. The economic impact of violence increased by 0.2 per cent during 2020.
This was mainly driven by an increase in global military expenditure, which rose by 3.7 per cent, however, the economic impact of terrorism fell by 17.5 per cent.
The $14.4 trillion is equivalent to the entire economy of China. If humanity were to reduce violence by 10 per cent per annum, the savings of $1.4 trillion would equate to adding an economy the size of Russia or Brazil every year to the global fold.
During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, 255 million full-time jobs were lost. However, among high-income countries, nations that operated with high levels of Positive Peace had the enabling environment to protect their workforces from the worst impacts of the pandemic.
According to World Bank estimates, the global economy shrank by 4.3 per cent in 2020, wiping out trillions of dollars, as countries already facing economic hardship sank further into debt. A report by Oxfam International estimates that it could take more than a decade for the world’s poorest to recover from the economic fallout of the pandemic.
Other key findings from the report are: There was an increase in military expenditure as a percentage of GDP for the second straight year, with 105 countries deteriorating on this indicator. Despite the overall deterioration on the safety and security domain, there were a number of indicators that improved, including the internal conflict and terrorism impact indicators. Deaths from terrorism have been decreasing for the past six years.

High inflation driven by soaring food prices has pushed seven million Nigerians into poverty, the World Bank said.
In a new report, it commended Nigeria for buttressing its economy from fallout from the coronavirus pandemic but called for urgent measures to brake inflation and protect livelihoods.
A major crude exporter, Africa’s largest and most populous economy again slipped into a recession in late 2020 hurt by lower oil prices and the pandemic, but unexpectedly emerged from the slump in February.
In May, year-on-year inflation dipped to 17.93 percent, just below the four-year high of 18.17 percent registered in March, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
The food price increase in May was at 22.28 percent.
“Food prices accounted for over 60% of the total increase in inflation. Rising prices have pushed an estimated 7 million Nigerians below the poverty line in 2020 alone,” its report published on Tuesday said.
The World Poverty Clock, which uses UN, IMF and World Bank data to monitor progress against poverty, reports Nigeria had 41 percent of its population or nearly 87 million people living in extreme poverty on less than $1.90 per day.
The World Bank report applauded government reforms to offset the crisis and help recovery, including cost-cutting and adjustments to energy subsidies, but those measures needed to be sustained.
“Nigeria faces interlinked challenges in relation to inflation, limited job opportunities, and insecurity,” said Shubham Chaudhuri, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria.
“While the government has made efforts to reduce the effect of these by advancing long-delayed policy reforms, it is clear that these reforms will have to be sustained and deepened.”
Nigeria needs urgently to reduce inflation by promoting inclusive growth and job creation and helping small and medium businesses gain access to finance, it said.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the oil price crash have hammered Nigeria’s economy, which gets 90 percent of foreign exchange earnings from petroleum exports, pushing it into its second recession in four years.
As well as inflation, a rise in joblessness has left a third of Nigeria’s workforce unemployed at the end of 2020, according to the statistics office.

Nigeria Immigration Service oga don announce di reopening of Passport application and payment portal starting from 12 midnight June 8, 2021.
Comptroller General, Muhammad Babandede say di reopening go allow eligible passport applicants to apply and make payments for di various categories of passports.
Nigeria Immigration Service bin suspend fresh passport application for May to clear di backlog of passport application wey don already dey ground.
But with di reopening wey go begin from midnight today, new Passport application and payment regime don start.
Why Nigeria bin suspend International passport issuance?
Nigeria Immigration Service bin suspend fresh passport application for May 2021 to clear di backlog of passport application wey don already dey ground.
Di "situation no go allow di Nigerian Immigration Service to accommodate new applications especially as we dey consider our desire to ensure say pipo wey come to our offices comply wit all di COVID-19 protocols.
Na wetin di Comptroller General of di Nigeria Immigration Service, Muhammad Babandede bin explain give kontri pipo.
Im tok say dem don direct Passport Control Officers to continue to send out short message notifications for collection to all applicants wey don submit.
Those wey submit functional contact details/numbers for dia applications na im dem send notice to.
Dis na as "dem dey intensify effort to clear up di remaining applications for some Centres."
Different categories of Nigeria new travel document
Nigeria Immigration Service [NIS] recently introduce a new travel document "Nigeria Temporary Passport" for Nigerians abroad wey need to travel back home but no hold standard passport for hand.
Na for March 2021 Nigerian goment officially launch di new temporary type electronic passport [e-passport] dem call Nigeria Temporary Passport to replace paper-based Emergency Travel Certificate.
Apart from di temporary passport, oda travel documents like di diplomatic [red] passport and Ecowas passport dey wey di immigration service dey issue.
Two types of passports dey for all dis categories wit 64 or 32 pages; Di five and 10-year duration international passport.
Di one of 10 years cost pass di one of five. Na President Muhammadu Buhari goment introduce 10-years valid period for Nigerian International Passport.

There is a global consensus on the importance of strengthening health systems to deliver quality and affordable healthcare to communities, to make them more effective and efficient, and to prepare, detect and respond to disease outbreaks.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Universal Health Coverage (UHC) means that all individuals and communities receive adequate health services without suffering financial hardship. It includes the full spectrum of essential, quality health services, from health promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care across the life course.



Currently, most low-and-middle-income countries are implementing strategies that aim to accelerate progress towards UHC. At the first-ever UN high-level meeting on UHC in September 2019, member states reaffirmed their commitment to achieving UHC by 2030 and asserted the right of people to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health as an integral part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Health security involves preventing, detecting and responding to infectious disease threats of international concern to limit the impact on lives, and the well-being of people and countries. Low and middle-income countries like Nigeria consistently respond to different disease outbreaks, including the Ebola Virus Disease in 2014 and Lassa fever outbreaks and currently the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasised the need to build resilient health systems to prevent disease outbreaks and provide quality healthcare according to the needs of the populace.



Legislating Nigeria to Universal Health Coverage

Achieving UHC for Nigeria requires coordinated efforts from stakeholders at different levels in the country. The legislature, both at the federal and state levels, are critical stakeholders in ensuring the creation of evidence-based health policies and providing oversight for the effective implementation of these policies.

The Legislative Network for Universal Health Coverage (LegNet4UHC) was launched in 2017, gathering legislators from the 36 states of the Federation -- Speakers of the State Houses of Assembly, House Clerks, Chairs of Health and Appropriation -- for learning, knowledge and experience sharing on a wide variety of health issues as they relate to the legislature. Its overall objective is to effectively leverage statutory functions of the legislature in Nigeria for improved health financing, toward effective and efficient utilisation of the resources for Universal Health Coverage.



The Network recently concluded its fourth annual summit, themed "Universal Health Coverage and Health Security: Two Sides Of A Coin For An Efficient Health System". The summit convened under the leadership of Senator Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe, Chairman Senate Committee on Health and Chairman Legislative Network for Universal Health Coverage, Senator Chukwuka Utazi, Chairman Senate Committee on Primary Health Care and Communicable Diseases, and Honourable Tanko Sununu, Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Healthcare Services.

The focus of the summit was to review the progress of legislative programs towards UHC and set a new legislative health agenda for the year while reviewing the current situation of Nigeria's health system and how it has fared in response to disease outbreaks, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also identified how the legislature can contribute to strengthening the health system to better respond to disease outbreaks through their legal capacities.

The Summit explored ways to accelerate the implementation of the National Health Act and the importance of legislative frameworks at the sub-national level. Participants discussed the extent of BHCPF implementation, and the steps required to accelerate progress. Lawmakers were exposed to the concept of Human Capital for Development (HCD) including the contribution of health to the HCD.

Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe in his opening remarks, said, "The purpose of this summit is to review the state of our health system in the light of emerging pandemic like the COVID-19 to strengthen our health security. Universal health coverage and health security are interrelated, and we have to ensure that all health needs of people are met with sufficient quality without leading to financial hardship."

Nigeria agritech Thrive Agric to boost incomes of 50,000 farmers after securing $1.75 million grant

Thrive Agric, a Nigeria agritech offering smallholder farmers access to finance, high-quality farm inputs, data-driven advisory services, and a marketplace for their produce. The tech-driven startup is looking to support over 50,000 smallholder farmers around Kaduna, Kano, and Kebbi states, growing rice, soybeans, and maize. This is part of its commitment to strengthening agricultural value chains across the country.

The one-year ambitious plan by Thrive Agric is financed by the West Africa Trade & Investment Hub (Trade Hub) which is USAID-funded, through a $1.75 million co-investment grant. Aside from this capital infusion, Thrive Agric is looking to raise $10 million for the endeavor.

Thrive Agric has already supported over 140,000 farmers across Nigeria, with the support required to increase the capacity of their supplies, quality, and food safety standards for both the domestic and export markets. The company achieved this by bundling a variety of products and services out of the reach of smallholder farmers, distributing them in rural areas through their networks, and partnering with other agricultural organizations to expand these efforts. Participants will receive advisory services, support on pre and post-harvest logistics, link to credit and agricultural insurance products, access to current and future mobile apps.

Thrive Agric uses the Tradr mobile app to give farmers direct access to providers of seeds and inputs, farm machinery, and off-takers. The Tmoni mobile app offers a phone digital wallet used for sending, receiving, saving, and borrowing money.

Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine made headlines in early April after six women developed extremely rare blood clots following vaccination. 
Use of the one-dose shot was paused for several weeks but lifted on April 23 after both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control found the vaccine was overall safe and effective.
Despite that, doubts about the J&J vaccine, particularly in older adults, continue to linger on social media.
"The clinical trial indicates that in subjects 65 years and older, the (J&J) vaccine may be only 39% effective, and in subjects 75 years or older, the age group that comprises about 60% of all COVID-19 deaths, the vaccine may be 0% effective," claims a May 18 Facebook post by a California-based anti-vaccine group called Physicians for Informed Consent, or PIC.

The post, which includes a chart detailing these and other alleged statistics, also claims the vaccine "may not be effective" in people 60 years and older with severe risk factors for COVID-19.
PIC general counsel Greg Glaser told USA TODAY the numbers in the post and its accompanying table were largely based on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's emergency authorization memorandum for J&J's vaccine and PIC's own compiled references.
But in reality, the numbers PIC puts forth each overstate or oversimplify data contained in the FDA's official findings.
39% is from a confidence interval
Glaser, the PIC attorney, said the group drew its figures from Table 12 of the FDA's EUA memorandum. The table presents vaccine efficacy, or VE, as percentages observed at 14 and 28 days after vaccination.
The values listed for the 65 years and older show J&J's COVID-19 vaccine is quite efficacious – 76.5% after 14 days and 68.6% after 28 days. That's actually better than the numbers for the 18 to 64 age group, which were 64.7% and 65.1%, respectively.
Because these numbers are based on a sampling of the general population – around 40,000 participants across the United States, South Africa and Latin America – 76.5% and 68.8% represent only estimates of vaccine efficacy, specifically what is called point estimate, said Dr. Angela Branche, co-director of the Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit at the University of Rochester Medical Center. 
Point estimates are typically accompanied by a range of values called a confidence interval, which is where PIC gets its "39%" effectiveness. The 95% confidence interval reported by J&J means there is a 95% likelihood the actual value is between 39% and 85%. PIC references only the low end of that range and ignores the actual estimate value of 68.6%. 
"What (PIC) is reporting here is extremely misleading because you cannot interpret confidence intervals as efficacy. Efficacy is what it is – it's a point estimate," Branche told USA TODAY. 
Confidence intervals themselves only express the precision scientists are able to assign to that number but aren't used to represent vaccine efficacy, said Dr. Matthew Laurens, an infectious disease specialist and vaccine researcher at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. 
Laurens said the range of the confidence interval is a product of how many people are enrolled in the study.
"If you look at the confidence interval for the 18 to 64, it's much tighter because the numbers (of participants within that age group) are much higher. The more people we include, the more precision we have with the vaccine efficacy," he said.
Despite there being not as many older participants as younger ones, Laurens said what was especially telling about J&J's vaccine is that it performed well against other COVID-19 variants. 
"Of the three vaccines that have received emergency authorization in the United States, (J&J's vaccine) is the only one that has been tested in clinical trials in South Africa (and Brazil)," he said. "Those variants were tested by this vaccine, still protected and still showed efficacy no matter the region whether it was North America, southern Africa or Latin America."  
This consistency across geographies, age and race is far more crucial and spoke to the fact J&J's vaccine efficacy resided in the upper 60% range than the lower bounds of a confidence interval, Laurens emphasized.

Rising violence in northwest Nigeria’s Zamfara state is stoking a humanitarian crisis, according to international medical charity Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF).
The region has struggled with decades-long communal clashes over resources but more recently some groups have become more violent – looting, stealing and kidnapping for ransom, and people are fleeing to areas where aid groups are struggling to respond.
In a statement published on Thursday, MSF said it had already treated 10,300 children in Zamfara between January and April for severe acute malnutrition, measles, malaria and other conditions.
“This is 54 percent higher than in the same period last year,” said an MSF doctor, Godwin Emudanohwo.
“People here need food, safe water and vaccinations now. Families tell us they won’t be able to farm for the new season, which means a new cycle of hunger.”
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Nearly 700,000 people were internally displaced in northwest and north-central Nigeria in February, including more than 124,000 in Zamfara alone, according to the UN’s migration agency, IOM.
The authorities are struggling to respond in a region that has already recorded the highest poverty rate in Nigeria, the International Crisis Group (ICG) think-tank said in a report.
“As of 2019, all seven states in the zone had poverty levels above the national average … Millions lack access to basic health care and clean water, and immunisation coverage is far below national goals,” it said.
In Zamfara state, criminal gangs known locally as bandits have set up camps in Rugu forest, which they use as a springboard for attacks in neighbouring Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi and Niger states.
Security forces, who are also battling a more than decade-long armed rebellion in the northeast of the country, are being stretched thin.
As violence spirals in the northwest, sexual violence has intensified, MSF said, as gunmen assault some of their kidnapped victims.
Fear of travelling along dangerous roads means that rape survivors often seek support late, or not at all, the aid group said.
“What is happening here is a humanitarian emergency that needs urgent attention and a fast and proper response,” said Froukje Pelsma, MSF head of mission in Nigeria.

Some COVID-19 vaccine myths are extremely wrong. However, they spread like wildfires on social media and can play a role in persuading some people to postpone shooting.
Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said that some people who write or spread rumors try to attract attention or profit by spreading lies. She said the people who spread the rumors received more than $34,000 in donations from their Facebook page.

"Don't be fooled by these people," Ferrer said. "Social media enables... the spreaders of rumors themselves really make money by spreading harmful lies."
The following are some factual statements designed to refute the rumors that Ferrer heard recently.
The vaccine cannot spread the virus.
The existing COVID-19 vaccine in the United States is unlikely to spread the coronavirus. Ferrer said that these vaccines do not contain any part of the coronavirus-"live, dead, part or all."
"Therefore," she said, "people who are vaccinated will not be infected with COVID-19."

Nigeria has awarded the rights to develop marginal oilfields to 50% of the 161 firms shortlisted after they met all the conditions, the petroleum regulator said on Tuesday.
Nigeria is looking to production from the fields to bolster state finances and increase local participation in the oil sector, which provides the bulk of the country's foreign exchange.
The award comes a year after the marginal field bid round in 2020 in which 591 companies applied to win 57 oil fields located onshore, swamps and offshore, said Sarki Auwalu, head of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
Some of the indigenous oil firms include: Shafa Exploration, Matrix Energy and Vhelblerg Exploration.
Oil minister Timipre Sylva said in March the country expected an income of $600 million from the awards and that half the successful firms have paid, with a deadline of April 20 for the rest.
Marginal fields are smaller oil blocks that are typically developed by indigenous companies. The new licensing round, launched last June, is the first marginal field round since 2002.
Of the 24 fields awarded in the last auction in 2002, only 13 are producing. The government revoked the 11 non-producing licences, though there are ongoing legal challenges.
While local companies have become increasingly important to the industry, it remains dominated by international oil majors.

The Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Abdulrosheed Adewale and the Mai of Tula in Gombe State, Dr. Abubakar Buba, Atare II, have called on Nigerians to live as brothers for the war against insecurity to be won.
The monarchs expressed concern that security challenge could not be won with frosty tribal sentiment but only with cooperation among various ethnic groups.
The call was made, yesterday, at the Oluwo’s Palace, Iwo, Osun State, when Oba Adewale received the Secretary to the Gombe Council of Traditional Rulers, Mai of Tula, Buba.
A statement issued after the visit, read: “The fragility of the current security challenge calls for caution among Nigerians. Such challenge cannot be won on ethnic ground but rather through cooperation and understanding by seeing one other as a Nigerian. The cooperation will help to flush out black sheep in different ethnic groups and not an outright condemnation of a tribe.
“Kidnapping and banditry are not fought and won on tribal lines. Without cooperation, security issue may not be addressed. Our problems are created collectively, solving it separately, is a fallacy.
“We urge the government to provide programmes that could foster peace, ensure harmonious coexistence and promote ethnic strength in our diversity.”
“Unarguably, the good ones among the Fulani are still needed to identify culprits or strangers committing crimes among them.
“The government must equally empower traditional institution to be constitutionally recognised. We are closer to the grassroots but there is little to what could achieve without constitutional empowerment. The government must look into this, as a matter of urgency.”

As Nigeria joins other nations to mark the 2021 Children's Day, WebTV highlights some of the corporate organizations in Nigeria, that have developed products or programmes to support the Nigerian child.
 
Financial Products
The Nigerian banking industry has been proactive in providing products and schemes that enable parents to plan the future of their children through savings and investments.
 
Some of the products include; 'Smart Kids Save' by Guaranty Trust Bank designed to encourage savings amongst children, the 'Early Savers Account' by Access Bank, the 'SWEETA' savings account for children by Fidelity Bank, the 'ZECA' the Zenith Bank Children's Savings Account, 'FirstKids' savings account by First Bank and FCMB's 'Easy' Account which lines up amongst products targeted at encouraging a children's savings culture.
 
The products provide the basis for future investment plans for children and encourage personal financial planning that could cover children's education and children's future non-educational financial needs.
 
Financial Literacy and Inclusion
Financial literacy and awareness for children are critical for a nation seeking to build a strong economy. Capital exchanges in the country such as the Nigeria Exchange Group (Formerly the Nigeria Stock Exchange) and the FMDQ Exchange have both driven financial education initiatives for children and teenagers.
 
From 2000 the NGX through its "National Essay Competition" has supported 15,000 pupils and 2,000 schools across the country challenging them to develop financial market knowledge and skills.
 
The "FMDQ Next" initiative was launched in 2018  by the FMDQ Securities Exchange to make financial market education accessible to students.​ Through summer camps and holiday sessions, the FMDQ Next has equipped children with basic knowledge of how the capital and the financial market operate.
 
Literacy Programme
Lafarge Africa Plc has since 2014 supported Nigeria's education system through the "Bridge the Literacy Gap Together" initiative which has so far served 700,000 pupils nationwide from 1,665 schools across 544 local government areas (LGAs).
 
The children learn creative writing and the annual National Essay Competition covers pupils aged between 7 and 10 years in public primary schools and the Intermediate category for pupils aged between 11 and 14 in public junior secondary schools.
 
This is one of the company's social engagements designed to address the deficiencies in the education system and improve reading and writing amongst Nigerian children. 
 
Sports and Talent Development
Nigeria apart from its profile as Africa's most populous nation is also blessed with enormous talents in sports, creative arts, music, and film production.
 
In the area of football, Nigeria has produced stars like Stephen Keshi(Late), Rashidi Yekini(Late), Austin Okocha, Kanu Nwankwo, and John Mikel Obi.
 
Leading media group Channels Television has invested in the development of football talents of Nigeria through the "Channels International Kids Tournament".
 
Since 2009 the Channels tournament with the participation of over sixteen states has discovered gifted football players in the country and is serving as the route for nurturing the next generation of the Golden Eaglets, Flying Eagles, and Super Eagles national football teams. 
 
2021 Theme
The theme for the 2021 International Children's Day "Unite to reverse the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on children" is instructive as it calls for more concerted efforts from the government in partnership with the private sector, in addressing the issues of poverty, malnutrition, poor infrastructure for learning and insecurity.
 
While acknowledging the private sector for the unrelenting support to children, there is still a lot to be done in ensuring that the issues of "Out-of-School Children", "Child Bride", "Child labour" and "Violence against Children" are tackled and reduced drastically in Nigeria.

Nigeria’s Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19 has declared 90 passengers who arrived in Nigeria from Brazil, India and Turkey between 8th May 2021 and 15th May 2021, through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja as persons of interest (POI), noting that they posd considerable danger to public health.
The committee said it will disable the travel passports of the affected passengers for a period not less than one year, cancel visas or permits of foreign nationals among them and may prosecute them.
The 108 passengers, which include Nigerians and foreigners, were accused of violating Nigeria’s COVID-19 travel protocol by evading the mandatory 7-day quarantine for persons arriving from restricted countries.
Official figures showed that out of 90 defaulters, 63 Nigerians, 26 Indians and one Dane.
Four of the Nigerian defaulters arrived through Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, while 42 arrived via Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.
Seven other Nigerians listed under “Other Categories” all arrived from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The PSC issued a travel advisory for passengers arriving in Nigeria from Brazil, India and Turkey on May 1, 2021. The advisory was a part of the precautionary measures put in place to mitigate the risk of importing variants of COVID-19 and break the chain of transmission to the population.
The chairman of the committee Boss Mustapha recalled that under the new measures, passengers arriving from/or that have visited any of the three countries within fourteen (14) days prior to the visit to Nigeria, are required to follow mandatory arrival quarantine and testing protocols in designated facilities.
“The Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) has however observed that while most of the arriving passengers dutifully observed the guidelines, some (Nigerians and Foreigners) have violated them,” Mustapha said in a statement on Sunday.
“They must therefore transport themselves safely, to the nearest state public health departments within 48hrs of this notice for immediate evaluation and call the Port Health Services, Federal Ministry of Health on 08036134672 or 08032461990 for further directions.”

We must do our best to maintain the current regulations. The epidemic is now in a severe period, especially after the mutated virus appeared in India. We must strictly abide by the regulations.

Brig. Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim, the Director General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has said it will not force Corps Members to take COVID-19 vaccine.
The DG said he would rather advise that the vaccine was good for personal protection against contracting the deadly Coronavirus.
Ibrahim said on Friday in Abuja during a nationwide virtual address to the 2021 Batch ‘A’ Stream II Prospective Corps Members, as contained in a statement.
The statement which was signed by the Public relations and press Director, Mrs Adeyemi Adenike stated that the address was ahead of corps members’ official induction in the 37 NYSC Orientation Camps across the country.
He urged corps member to make themselves available to officials from the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), whenever they visited the camps to administer the vaccine on camp participants.
“Adhere strictly to all COVID-19 safety protocols, don’t expose yourselves to danger, and get vaccinated,” Ibrahim said.
The Director-General advised them to abide by the Oath of Allegiance of the Scheme, the NYSC byelaws and NYSC Act in order to maintain good conduct throughout their service year.
“NYSC doesn’t habour criminals; it shuns cultism, cybercrime and other social vices. You must be disciplined, committed, patriotic and maintain good record throughout your service year,” he said.
He further admonished them to take full advantage of their service year to empower themselves and also develop their host communities with viable projects that would impact positively on their living standard.

As part of efforts towards curtailing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria, the federal government on Monday launched a sensitisation campaign.
Tagged ‘Powerful H.A.N.D.S,’ the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, while speaking at the launch, said the campaign is targeted at select states with high COVID-19 cases in the country.
He listed the concerned states as Lagos, Oyo, Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, Rivers and the federal capital territory, FCT.
Mr Ihekweazu said the initiative aims at increasing the number of Nigerians who practice COVID-19 preventive measures, which includes regular hand washing.
“This will last for an initial period of four months while communicating the main message that “THE POWER TO STOP COVID-19 IS IN OUR H.A.N.D.S,” Ihekweazu said.
He noted that the pandemic has led to the rapid development of diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines, “reflecting remarkable human capacity to build on years of existing research to bring about exponential scientific innovation.”
He, however, said the initiative, as a national social and behaviour change campaign, is simpler to curb the spread of the virus.
The director general gave the H.A.N.D.S’ acronym to mean; “H – Have your hands washed or sanitised frequently; A – Always cough or sneeze into your elbow; N – No going out without face mask; D – Distance of at least two arm’s lengths should be maintained; S – Stay indoors and self-isolate if you feel sick.”
The NCDC boss said although the pandemic fatigue is understandable, it is important for everyone to continue to adhere to all non-pharmaceutical measures already put in place.
“Wash your hands with soap and water, use alcohol-based sanitisers, ensure physical distancing, do not attend large gatherings, especially those without adherence to COVID-19 protocol,” he said.
As some countries are experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases, Nigeria has continued to record low cases for almost three months.
As of Thursday, Nigeria has recorded 165,852 COVID-19 cases, according to an update by the NCDC.

The United States will send an additional 20 million doses of approved COVID-19 vaccines to other countries by the end of June 2021.
This was announced by U.S. President Joe Biden, DW reported.

"We know America will never be fully safe until the pandemic that's raging globally is under control," he said.
The U.S. will not expect any favors in return from those nations that will get the vaccines, he said.
The U.S. government announced earlier that it would donate 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine abroad, which has not yet been federally authorized.
The additional 20 million doses are U.S.-approved vaccines for emergency use, namely BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson.
The U.S. government has previously donated four million doses of AstraZeneca to Mexico and Canada.

Poachers recently killed an elephant in Ogun State, south-west Nigeria. This was the second in the area in two years. It raises concerns about Nigeria’s dwindling elephant population. This is important as Nigeria is now one of Africa’s primary export hubs for ivory.
It also raises concerns about Nigerians’ attitude towards biodiversity conversation.
Awareness and understanding of biological diversity determines the conservation of threatened species  in many regions of the world.
Based on this, in 2010 the Convention of Biological Diversity set new targets for achieving biodiversity action plans at various levels. These are known as the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.
First among the targets is raising people’s awareness of biodiversity conservation. This is the first step towards achieving conservation success and Sustainable Development Goal 15 – halting biodiversity loss.
Biological diversity benefits are enormous. Plants and animals provide many services. These range from food to shelter, medicine, aesthetics, ecotourism opportunities and jobs.
A visit to natural sites to view endangered or rare animals is also one of the mainstays of economies of some African nations like Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Such visits also have benefits for people’s health.
Despite its numerous benefits, biodiversity is still not well appreciated or promoted in Nigeria. People don’t bother about the conservation status of such animals before killing them for food or money. Poaching of rare and endangered animals does not receive a corresponding level of punishment in Nigeria. It is also not perceived as crime by many poachers. This is not the case in East and Southern Africa. There, poaching is criminalised and arrests are publicised to serve as deterrent.
Furthermore, there is little or no data on poachers for Nigeria unlike some East and Southern African nations.
An example of poaching in Nigeria was the 2019 killing of a whale washed ashore in the Niger-Delta region. Also, the killing of manatees in the Benue River and the Niger-Delta region.
What Nigerians said about biodiversity
My research group sought to appraise the level of biodiversity conservation awareness by Nigerians, using a structured questionnaire.
A total of 1,124 respondents which included 839 professionals (those with tertiary education) and 285 non-professionals (those with basic or no formal education) participated in the survey. The respondents were drawn from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory. They were asked different questions to test their knowledge of biodiversity, conservation, National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, and their understanding of the importance of biodiversity to the nation’s ecology and economy.
As a party to the Aichi Biodiversity Targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Nigeria formulated a policy document towards realising those targets. This document is known as National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. It has 14 targets, 21 impact indicators and 67 actions. The first target aims at raising the level of awareness of biodiversity conservation among Nigerians to 30% of the entire population by 2020.
Our findings revealed that Nigerians still don’t know enough about biodiversity or why it’s important. Awareness is low (less than 30%) among those with basic or no formal education. Many of our respondents were unaware of any national biodiversity action plan (43.8% for professionals were aware and 12.1% for non-professionals). The ecotourism potential of many states is not being promoted enough, in the opinion of the respondents.

As documentary showcases failures, challenges of National response
Panellists and other eminent Nigerians at the Lagos premiere of a documentary on the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria have called for an effective national health insurance scheme, strengthened primary health care system, and sustainable public-private partnerships, PPP, and a holistically restructured health sector, among others.
The documentary titled: "Unmasked: Leadership, Trust, and COVID-19 in Nigeria", was an eye-opener to what transpired during the response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria in 2020.
The 95-minute documentary showcases the failures and challenges of the response and essentially serves as catalyst for a conversation on the shortcomings in the nation's public health sector that were unmasked by the pandemic.
A collaborative effort between Daria Media and Zuri24 Media, filmed with the support of MacArthur Foundation and PLAC, the film aims to bring about solutions to healthcare challenges in Nigeria.
The documentary was a rare opportunity to look at what the COVID-19 pandemic exposed about the Nigerian response and to ensure that the nation learned lessons and got things right in the future.
The conversation focused on the issues thrown up by the documentary, specifically on public and private sector collaboration for the development of a robust and effective public health care system, and identification of strategies to bridge the lapses and gaps to response efforts during future health emergencies.
Among the salient issues identified by the documentary were a lack of political will, poor leadership, collapsed or collapsing healthcare system, lack of adequate emergency preparedness, a weak health infrastructure, persistent brain drain, and lack of functional hospital equipment.

The Federal Competition & Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has issued notices of commencement of investigation and summons two hospitals accused of medical negligence leading to the deaths of the patients in their care.
Premier Medical Specialist Centre and Beachland Hospital were alleged to be responsible for the death of Peju Ugboma and Omolara Omoyajowo respectively, last week.
Akin Abayomi, the Lagos State commissioner for health, had earlier directed the state’s Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFMAA) to investigate the allegations of unprofessional conduct leveled against Premier Specialist Medical Centre, Victoria Island, leading to the death of Mrs Ugboma, a chef.
In its statement on Monday, the FCCPC said the initial information it gathered was sufficient for the Commission to open an investigation into the cases.
“As such, the Commission has today issued Notices of Commencement of Investigation & Summons to Produce (NCISP) to relevant persons/entities,” Babatunde Irukera, FCCPC’s chief executive, said.
“The Commission is also communicating with the Medical & Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), to expand engagement to the extent that any pertinent conduct may be otherwise unprofessional and, or may be subject of any disciplinary process (if applicable).”
While Mrs Ugboma died days after undergoing fibroid surgery at Premier Specialist Medical Centre, Ms Omoyajowo reportedly gave up. the ghost after she was admitted at Premier Hospital, Arepo, in Ogun State.
Mr Irukera said Section 17(a), (e), (s) and (y) of the Federal Competition & Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) mandates the commission to enforce “any enactment with respect to the protection of consumers, conduct investigations into matters related to consumer protection; ensure consumer interests receive due consideration, and provide redress to obnoxious practices; ensure service providers comply with local and international standards of safe service delivery.”

A Nueces County resident was recently diagnosed with a COVID-19 variant that originated in Nigeria and potentially decreases the effectiveness of vaccines and treatment.
The person diagnosed with the B.1.525 variant is a man in his 40s who has recovered from the illness without hospitalization, a news release from the Corpus Christi-Nueces County Public Health District said.
His symptoms included shortness of breath, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, and loss of taste and smell. He is undergoing extensive contact tracing.
The B.1.525 variant was first discovered in Nigeria in December 2020. Shortly after, cases of the variant were found in the United Kingdom and France. The variant is defined by the CDC as a “variant of interest” and may be more contagious and cause more severe illness.
Officials are urging the public to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and to continue to wear face masks, wash their hands and maintain distance.
“The more people that get vaccinated, the faster Nueces County will reach herd immunity and the closer we will be to obtaining normalcy in our community,” the news release stated.

Dexa Medica, a leading multinational pharmaceutical company in Nigeria, has launched a first of its kind, herbal cough syrup, Herbacough, aimed at providing better cough remedies to Nigerians.
At the launch of the product, held in Lagos, the company’s Country Manager, Nigeria and West Africa, Dhanang Anggoro, revealed that the herbal syrup was an improvement from every other types of syrups which were banned in the country, due to their addictive tendencies, and abuse.
According to him, with the rainy season fast approaching, Nigerians need to have the syrup in their homes to tackle cough which is the common illness suffered by many people during the period.
“As the rainy season has arrived, the air will be colder. Cold air is believed to absorb extra moisture, making virus and bacterial particles more able to survive in the air.
“Generally, the common illness suffered by many people in the rainy season is cough. If your health and immune system are not properly maintained, coughing can attack you for weeks and interfere with your productivity.
“In fact, apart from interfering with daily activities, if not addressed immediately, coughing can quickly be transmitted to anyone.
“Currently there are many herbal and chemical cough medicines that have been provided in the market. However, the many types of cough medicine actually make it difficult for people to find what cough medicine to consume.”
Anggoro noted that chemical cough medicines (non-herbal), generally have various side effects, such as causing drowsiness and heart palpitations, hence the herbal syrup is a better option for Nigerians as it has no side effects, nor addictive tendencies.
“Another problem that causes consumers to worry about choosing cough medicine is that they often have difficulty recognising the type of cough they have.
“Therefore, Dexa Medica, which is a leading multinational pharmaceutical company, is continuously committed to conducting research with natural ingredients to produce effective and safe drugs to use, launched its newest product, Herbacough.
“Herbacough is the right solution for whatever type of cough you have. Herbacough has four advantages, namely relieves all types of coughs, relieves sore throat, eases breathing, and warms the respiratory tract.
“Herbacough is the only herbal cough medicine in Nigeria that is processed with the latest fractionation technology, which is an extraction process to find a specific fraction in the form of Reconyl Active Substance.
“The fraction is obtained from saga leaves, the fruit of the god’s crown, legundi leaves, and ginger rhizome. Through the latest fractionation technology, Herbacough is proven to work fast, effectively treat cough and sore throat problems, and is safe for consumption by all family members.
“Herbacough is not an ordinary herbal cough medicine. Besides having a good taste, Herbacough also works to suppress coughs, as an anti-inflammatory (soothes sore throat), as well as a tracheoplasmolytic (relieves the respiratory tract),” he said.
Speaking with THISDAY, a Public Health Physician, Dr. Shallom Oni, said the product contains less alcoholic substance, and it “is non-addictive like the codeine-containing types, banned in 2018 by Nigeria.
“Significantly, it is non-drowsy unlike most syrups with dextromethorphan, guaifenesin, phenylephrine and Robitussin,” he noted

Outdoor activities are safe without masks — regardless of whether a person is vaccinated — as long as people are either alone or with immediate family members, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. And fully vaccinated people can gather safely outdoors without masks in small groups.
The new guidance is part of an update from the agency on what activities are safest for Americans, depending on whether they are fully vaccinated; that is, those who are two weeks out from their last dose of Covid-19 vaccine.
"Over the past year, we have spent a lot of time telling Americans what they cannot do, what they should not do," the CDC's director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said at a briefing Tuesday. "Today, I'm going to tell you some of the things you can do if you are fully vaccinated."
People who are fully vaccinated should also feel comfortable without face coverings outside with other small groups when it's unclear whether others have had their shots.

While the Covid-19 vaccines have been shown to be extremely effective, they should not be relied upon for absolute protection.Because the vaccine is 95 percent effective, not 100 percent.

Vaccines are vital to the prevention and control of infectious-disease outbreaks. They protect us from the time we are children into adulthood. Today there are vaccines available to protect against at least 20 diseases, such as diphtheria, tetanus, influenza and measles. Together, these vaccines save the lives of up to 3 million people every year.
Stopping a pandemic requires using all the tools we have available. While wearing masks and physical distancing helps reduce our chances of being exposed to the virus or spreading it to others, these measures are not enough. The COVID-19 vaccine is a critical tool in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several factors contribute to the public acceptance of vaccines including concerns about safety and efficacy, as well as the spread of misinformation -- which is particularly rampant in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Misinformation about vaccines is not new in Nigeria. For example, during the monkeypox outbreak in 2017, there was a widespread rumour that the military was injecting school children with the monkeypox virus. This fake news led to the closure of schools, low immunisation rates for other vaccine-preventable diseases during the period, and general widespread panic.
In March 2021, Nigeria received 3.94 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to stop the spread of the coronavirus and save lives. Acceptance of the vaccine is instrumental to ending the pandemic, especially in the face of prevailing conspiracies and myths about the vaccine. To guide needed communications and engagement strategies to support the rollout of the vaccine, in February 2021, Nigeria Health Watch conducted a COVID-19 Household Vaccine survey.
Understanding COVID-19 perception to drive vaccine acceptance advocacy
The survey sought to investigate public knowledge and perception of both the vaccine and its acceptance. The overarching goal was to understand the behavioural and cultural insights of the public on COVID-19 vaccines and to use the findings to guide advocacy and social mobilisation interventions towards the acceptance of vaccines in Nigeria.
The survey was carried out in Bauchi, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Kebbi, Lagos and Niger states as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Two Local Government Areas were randomly selected per state, one urban and one rural to fully represent both rural and urban perceptions. A total of 1,089 respondents participated in the survey -- 730 respondents in the urban areas and 359 in the rural areas. This was a cross-sectional study design with mixed methodology that adopted both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies which included face to face household interviews, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions.
The survey sought to determine the respondents' general attitude when faced with health challenges. Quantitative results revealed that about three out of four respondents indicated that the first thing they do when they or a family member is unwell, is visit the General Hospital. Urban dwellers are however twice more likely to take a family member to a General Hospital compared to rural dwellers who are more likely to go to a local health clinic. But in-depth interviews revealed that some respondents prefer to drink local herbs or visit traditional healers, others prefer to go to a chemist or pharmacy first. Most respondents agreed that they would eventually go to the hospital when their conditions get worse.

The NCDC disclosed this on its official Twitter handle on Monday.
It said, however, that there was a downward trend in the number of coronavirus tests conducted each day.
The NCDC said it had focused on convincing Nigerians of the continued importance of testing, particularly for people with symptoms and people with co-morbidity who might have been exposed to the virus.

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) can power a stronger recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, due to their innovative and opportunity-seeking nature, but they need more support.
Participants at the 7th edition of the Empretec Global Summit held online on 20 April heard that policymakers need to adapt policies and institutions to support MSMEs.
Such support should be aligned with the priorities of the post-COVID-19 social and economic recovery, said UNCTAD Acting Secretary-General Isabelle Durant.
“Short-term support measures such as relieving tax burdens on MSMEs, extending debt finance and employment support are certainly needed and should be continued,” Ms. Durant said.
“Yet at the same time, it’s important to invest in long-term structural policies, such as digital and financial inclusion, as well as entrepreneurial skills capacity development,” she added.
Backbone of global economy
MSMEs constitute the backbone of the global economy, accounting for two-thirds of employment globally and between 80% and 90% of employment in low-income countries.
At the same time, they are disproportionately affected by pandemic-related shocks. They are overrepresented in non-essential services sectors hardest hit by confinement measures. Many MSMEs have suffered huge revenue losses while others have shut down.
MSMEs’ smaller size allows them to be flexible and adapt to new environments such as the one created by COVID-19.
Not only can they help overcome previous constraints related to lack of productive capacities and economic diversification in many low-income countries but also enhance a strong and sustainable recovery.
Unleashing entrepreneurial potential
The summit’s participants shared good practices on enhancing the role of entrepreneurship and MSMEs, with a special focus on UNCTAD’s Empretec programme, which relies on a unique behavioural approach for entrepreneurship capacity development.
UNCTAD’s head of enterprise, Tatiana Krylova, said the Empretec methodology aims to identify, then unleash the personal entrepreneurial potential of each participant of the programme through behavioural change.
This includes assessing individual differences in a person’s desire to achieve excellence in entrepreneurship and fostering capacity through an interactive training approach. She said Empretec is a “4U” programme – “unleashing, unique, universal and uniting.”
Ms. Krylova said: “During the pandemic, Empretec has continued proving itself as one of most impactful means to facilitate and boost entrepreneurship.”
She encouraged more entrepreneurs and MSMEs to join the programme in their respective countries to facilitate their contribution to post-COVID-19 recovery in the MSME sector.
How countries are supporting small businesses
Nigeria’s minister of state for industry, trade and investment, Mariam Katagum, said her country is supporting MSMEs through grants to address their financing needs.
“Supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses by creating opportunities for MSMEs to thrive is essential for increasing productivity, creating jobs and boosting our economy,” Ms. Katagum said.
She said Nigeria recently revised its national policy on MSMEs to strengthen their resilience in the face of the pandemic, adding that more policy frameworks were in the pipeline to support startups in the digital economy.
Other high-level panelists related good practices and lessons learned from Angola, Argentina, Brazil, Ghana, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay, noting Empretec’s important contribution in their respective countries.
“Empretec is undoubtedly a transformative experience, a milestone in the lives of many,” said Bruno Quick, the technical director of Brazil’s micro and small business support service agency, SEBRAE.
Amid the pandemic, he said, the programme has continued to prove that through entrepreneur behaviour, it’s possible to promote entrepreneurship and help small businesses find opportunities in high-risk environments.
Entrepreneurs’ experiences
The event included an interactive session with entrepreneurs from the Empretec network, who shared their success stories during COVID-19 pandemic.
“COVID-19 caused us heavy losses because we couldn't access our farm due to movement restrictions,” said Bosun Solarin, who runs Dasun Integrated Farms Ltd, an agroprocessing firm in Nigeria.
She explained how she adapted to the new normal after the pandemic by tapping into digital technologies and creating demand for her products.
Brazil’s Agda Oliver said during the country’s lockdown women in business were significantly more affected than men. She emphasized the importance of personal entrepreneurial competencies cultivated by the Empretec programme in boosting her resilience.
The summit also saw Empretec directors and graduates from Angola, Benin, Dominican Republic, Nigeria, Romania and Russia explain how the Empretec methodology helped them emerge stronger from the pandemic.
They examined factors that have helped certain MSMEs survive and others thrive amid the pandemic and how to facilitate their green, inclusive and resilient recovery.
The summit was attended by about 600 participants from 64 countries and followed by nearly 3,000 viewers from 94 countries on Facebook and UN WebTV.

TO mitigate a possible third wave of COVID-19 infections in Nigeria, amid the escalating cases and deaths in India and other countries, eminent experts in medicine and related field, have charged the Federal government to temporarily shut the nation’s international airports to flights from the high-burden countries. 广告 The experts, who made the call in an urgent advisory under the aegis of the Academy of Medicine Specialties of Nigeria, cautioned that transmission of the virus is still active in the country although at a low level. In the advisory, the President of the Academy, Prof Oladapo Ashiru remarked: “In view of the current trends regarding the third wave, the Academy of Medicine Specialties and our Rapid-Response initiative group of the Academy of Medicine Specialties feel that we should close our international airports to all flights for at least two weeks. “The ongoing transmission in the country is caused largely by inbound passengers from India and those countries with surges in the cases reported daily. Many of them travel into Nigeria on indirect flights. Nigeria cannot afford to have a third wave,” he stated. Ashiru, who affirmed that this third wave is affecting not only India but France, Germany, Italy, etc., etc., admonished the federal government to be proactive. Noting that only a small percentage of the population has been vaccinated, he stated that all the theories speculated for immunity such as heat, sun, and other endemic immunities also apply to India. “Our testing strategy should still be PCR based, but look for some other gene aside from the S gene. There is an urgent need to enforce the use of PTF regulations of social distancing, hand sanitisers/washing, and wearing of face mask. “Prof Christian Happi a Fellow of the Academy also reports that We have found 5 sequences of the India B.1.617 in the country, specifically in Edo and Osun states. “A new B.1. 1.318 variant that emerged in Nigeria with major characteristics of other VOCs is spread out of the country in January this year and is creating havoc in Mauritius Island. “The B.1.525 that we discovered in Nigeria late last year is now the dominant variant in Nigeria (spreading faster than the UK B.1.1.7). This lineage is also spreading at a super-fast speed in the UK and other European countries. “The B.1.525 is now also the second most popular variant in Africa after the B.1.351Y V2 from South Africa. These are our most recent findings at African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases, ACEGID, based at Redeemer’s University, Ede,” he noted. It will be terrible if we allow the importation of new variants into Nigeria — Prof Damen In his reaction, the National President, Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria, AMLSN, Prof James Damen, said: “The Nigeria government must be proactive to protect its citizens from new variants of SARS-COV-2 (coronavirus) from other countries by putting restrictions of travels to countries recording increasing cases. “We must ban flights coming into our country from such countries. We need to also improve testing and surveillance and ensure compliance with safety measures. “It will be terrible if we allowed the importation of the new variants of Covid into our country. We have suffered a lot from the effects of COVID-19 in this country,” he asserted Travel tests, self-isolation protocols will mitigate the spread — DG NCDC But in a response to the calls for shutting down international airports, the Director-General of the NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, acknowledged that Nigeria remains at risk of a large outbreak but stated that the travel tests and self-isolation protocols would mitigate the risk of spread of the virus and its variants from other countries. Ihekweazu regretted that the COVID-19 situation in India was a sobering and devastating reminder of the impact of the virus, adding that, many other countries were also recording a surge in cases which reminds the world that the pandemic was not over. “There is no doubt that Nigeria remains at risk of a large outbreak. We must do all we can, as government and citizens, to prevent this occurrence. We urge all Nigerians to see our COVID-19 response as a joint responsibility. “The travel tests and self-isolation protocols are in place to mitigate the risk of spread of the virus and its variants from other countries. Please adhere to this as a small price to pay to protect our country. “We also appeal to institutions to continue enforcing adherence to public health and social measures – proper use of face masks, regular handwashing, and physical distancing remains important to prevent further spread of the virus.” He urged eligible Nigerians to get vaccinated, noting that the more people are vaccinated, the less likely the country would have a large outbreak.

FORT ERIE, Ontario — Here in this border town just across the Niagara River from New York state, televisions carry stations from Buffalo. In recent weeks, the news from the U.S. side has been somewhat irksome.
In Erie County, N.Y., everyone 16 years of age and older became eligible for a coronavirus vaccine this month. On the Canadian side, meanwhile, inoculations have been mostly limited to people 40 years and older, Indigenous adults, and other priority groups. And they’re getting only the first shot, for now.
“It’s a point of frustration within Canada and within Niagara,” said Wayne Redekop, Fort Erie’s mayor. “Residents are looking to see who’s getting vaccinated and where. … It seems like if you’re in the United States and you want a vaccination, you can get it.”
After a bumpy start, Canada’s vaccination rollout has picked up pace in recent weeks. Still, the sight of the United States — a neighbor with which the country frequently compares itself — awash in vaccines and racing ahead to inoculate the population is fueling frustration.

Vaccination is the most important thing now . The government should try its best to solve the problem and let the people accept it voluntarily, instead of having such a chaotic situation. In the face of a pandemic, we must work together to solve the problem.

Health officials want media attention given to Tuberculosis as COVID-19
Tuberculosis, a pulmonary disease characterised by persistent coughing, killed more Nigerians in 2019 than the COVID-19 pandemic has so far done, health officials have said.
The 2020 WHO 'global tuberculosis report' indicated that an estimated 150,000 Nigerians died of TB in 2019 alone while the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said 2,061 persons have died of COVID-19 in the country since the index case in February 2020.
The different datas suggest that COVID-19 has so far killed only about 1.4 per cent of the number killed by TB in 2019 alone.
This data on TB was discussed in Maiduguri on Tuesday at a media orientation on Tuberculosis organised by Breakthrough Action, an NGO supported by USAID.
The WHO report on TB said Nigeria has one of the highest numbers of people dying from the disease, "but only 31 per cent of the affected population have so far registered for treatment."
It is estimated that 18 persons die of TB every hour in Nigeria.
The media training had participants joining in through Zoom from seven states of Nigeria and was aimed at using the media to rekindle awareness of the disease.
An official of the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme (NTBLCP), Ebere Okoh, said the outbreak of COVID-19 last year has worsened the situation of the disease in Nigeria as patients suffering from the disease did not get access to medical treatment due to the lockdown.
Tuberculosis is also a serious disease, and we must also pay great attention to it and prevent it. Although the pandemic is now an immediate killer, we must also pay attention to preventing chronic cough.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Most of the prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Tuesday, the U.S. military said a day after resuming an effort to inoculate them that was halted months earlier after criticism from Congress.
Thirty-two of the 40 prisoners held at the U.S. base in Cuba have received the first dose, Southern Command said in a brief statement. It provided no further details, including why the eight remaining men have not received the vaccine. The prisoners are not required to be vaccinated.
The announcement in January that the military intended to offer the vaccine to prisoners sparked intense criticism, particularly among Republicans in Congress, at a time when COVID-19 vaccines were just being rolled out to troops and civilians at Guantanamo and were not widely available in the United States.
The military resumed the vaccinations on Monday, the day that the vaccine became available to all Americans older than 16 in the U.S. and all adults at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, on the southeastern coast of Cuba.
A senior defense official told the AP earlier that vaccinations were being offered to comply with legal requirements regarding the treatment of prisoners and to help prevent COVID-19 from spreading to troops and others on the base. No cases of COVID-19 have been reported among the prisoners.
Strict quarantine procedures had already sharply curtailed activities at Guantanamo and halted legal proceedings for prisoners facing war crime trials, including the men charged in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack. The vaccination effort is expected to enable court hearings to eventually resume at the base.
The Biden administration announced in April that it would conduct a full review of detention center operations with the goal of eventually closing the facility, which opened in January 2002 to hold people suspected of links to al-Qaida and the Taliban after the Sept. 11 attacks.
At its peak in 2003, the detention center held nearly 680 prisoners, and it drew widespread condemnation over the treatment of the men held there, most without charges.
Closing it has proved a challenge because the U.S. has sought to continue holding and prosecute some prisoners, but Congress has prevented the transfer of anyone held there to facilities inside the country.
Those still being held include Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, who, along with four others, faces trial on charges that include murder and terrorism over the Sept. 11 attacks. The long-stalled case remains in the pretrial stage, and no hearings have been held in more than a year because of the pandemic.