In 2017, Nigeria detected its first monkeypox case in 39 years. What most people don't know is that that the first sign of the disease was picked up on Twitter. The data was collected by Nigeria Centre for Disease Control's event-based surveillance system which monitors "chatter" on social media. This type of disease detection is far from rare in Nigeria, where major disease outbreaks are common, and Twitter has become a vital tool in responding to disease risks and forestalling uncontrolled epidemics. Yet, on the 4th of June, the Government of Nigeria announced an indefinite ban of Twitter, restricting access for millions of Nigerian users.
COVID-19 is no exception. When Nigeria's first COVID-19 case was announced, NCDC had around 100,000 Twitter followers. Within three months, this number reached over one million, one of the highest for any government institution. The agency was obviously meeting a need by providing Nigerians with reliable, real-time information on the pandemic.
Recognising the value of communicating through social media, NCDC implemented a COVID-19 communications campaign tagged #TakeResponsibility, which reached as many as two million Twitter users in a single week in 2020. Nigeria's National Primary Health Care Development Agency which leads the Federal Government's immunisation programmes also uses Twitter to inform the public about health issues and to address vaccine hesitancy.
One of the major challenges faced by countries across the world as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic is the spread of misinformation. In recognition of the critical importance of social media, Twitter partnered with the World Health Organization (WHO) and public health institutes such as NCDC to flag misinformation and direct users to official sites for accurate information. Future research will quantify the value of this strategy, but it has probably saved many lives.
In many other areas, the Twitter ban could be a matter of life and death for a significant number of Nigerians. Outside natural causes, the leading causes of death in the country are infectious, maternal and neonatal diseases. The most common of these are diarrheal diseases, malaria, neonatal disorders, lower respiratory infection and HIV/AIDS. But now they also include COVID-19 which has been made even worse by ongoing outbreaks of cholera and Lassa fever. Communications tools like Twitter provide a highly cost-effective mechanism for information sharing, especially in a sector that is severely underfunded and has little or no budget for more traditional paid-for advertising in newspapers or on television.
Beyond the urgency of infectious disease outbreaks, Twitter has numerous other uses that contribute to the country's health. For example, there are medical doctors who use the app to share health tips and advice and to debate important issues across the sector. Respected health advocates such as Nigeria Health Watch use Twitter to share informed commentary. Sharing information and connecting with others through Twitter can be beneficial to mental health, as I have found as a Nigerian expatriate, living a long way from family and friends.
There is no doubt that there are risks associated with the app, such as the faster dissemination of misinformation, anxiety driven by "information overload", digital harassment and cyber bullying. While Twitter can do more to address these issues, it has begun to respond and the public health uses of the app, in my view, significantly outweigh any downsides.
I am therefore urging the Government of Nigeria to think of the public health benefits that Twitter provides to the over 40 million Nigerians that use the app and to explore ways of working with Twitter, in order to lift the ban immediately and avert future occurrences. I also hope that other health leaders including the heads of WHO and Africa CDC will remind the Nigerian government of the role that Twitter and other social media platforms play in promoting good health, detecting outbreaks of dangerous diseases and fighting misinformation. In short, Nigeria needs Twitter to save lives. #KeepItOn.


Information circulation is very important in the current society. Especially in the recent state of repeated epidemics. Twitter is a common information exchange platform in our lives. Not being able to use Twitter will cause us to miss a lot of information.

A Presidential aspirant for the 2023 election, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, has said that the president Nigeria deserves should be one that has the capacity to manage diversity equitably and peacefully, create wealth and exterminate poverty.
Speaking with The Guardian at Umuahia, the Abia State capital, the Abia State-born politician and also the current National President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) faulted the extant Nigerian Constitution on the basis that it is not a document prepared by Nigerians.
“This document we operate as constitution was imposed by the military government in our then quest for democratic governance,” he said. He said that the said constitution, which Nigerians call for its amendment, over-concentrated power at the centre and has not devolved power appropriately to the federating units, namely states, local councils, hence the Federal or Central Government became very over-bearing against the federating units.
Besides, he said that the extant constitution had made governance very expensive going by the duplication of offices at the three levels of government and the bi-cameral legislature.
He, therefore, urged that unicameral legislature be considered, including part-time for lawmakers, stressing that the bi-cameralism at federal and state levels has subjected 70-80 per cent of the nation’s income to recurrent expenditures, thus eating deep into that of capital.
Ohuabunwa, a former Chairman of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Chairman of the Organised Private Sector (OPS), President of the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) and member of both Visions 2010 and 2020, among others, also faulted the extant national resources sharing formula, advising that the generators of the shareable resources should be better compensated by providing that they pay to the central government royalties as the constitution would provide.
The presidential aspirant, who said the Igbo could not be rightly disregarded in the country, urged Buhari to, as father of the nation, think deep and convene a conference of ethnic, religious and other constituent groups in the country to discuss issues of national cohesion, equity and justice.
He said that his aspiration was motivated by divine inspiration, saying: “I am considering the possibility of emerging through one of three platforms, namely PDP, APC and a Third Force (a conglomeration of many political parties).”

A medical doctor has advised on how to prevent the death of children from pneumonia in Nigeria.
Isah Adamu, who is the Chief of Party, INSPIRING Project, Save the Children International Nigeria, gave the advice on Tuesday in Dutse, Jigawa State.
He spoke at an event to disseminate information on the world’s first-ever National Integrated Pneumonia Control Strategy and Implementation Plan.
Mr Adamu said children can be protected against pneumonia through immunisation, such as with the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) and Hib vaccines, reduction of household air pollution (particularly from cooking smoke) and improved nutrition.
He said the National Integrated Pneumonia Control Strategy, which is being implemented in Jigawa and Lagos states, should be scaled up across Nigeria.
“We believe that efforts to control pneumonia must not only seek to equip hospitals or train healthcare workers but also engage communities and strengthen their capacities in addressing harmful norms, behaviours and practices that put children at greater risk,” the official said.
Mr Adamu said the integrated strategy prioritises proven interventions that demonstrate the most potential to reduce disabilities and deaths from pneumonia.
“The strategy seeks to strengthen the enabling environment (policy and financing, data and information systems, coordination and partnerships), demand-side (community prevention and care-seeking) and supply-side (service delivery, supply and distribution) aspects of pneumonia control.
“Save the Children through the GSK partnership is confident that Jigawa state will take the lead among all other states in Nigeria towards adoption, prioritization and implementation of the integrated pneumonia control strategy and implementation plan as part of its aim towards ending preventable child deaths,” Mr Adamu said.
“Save the Children calls on the Jigawa state government to speed up the process of implementing the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF) and ensure equitable access to healthcare, especially for children and families at the local levels to reduce, if not eliminate out-of-pocket expenditures.
“Save the Children and partners, is committed to continued collaboration with the Jigawa state government and contribute towards an accelerated reduction in child deaths,” Mr Adamu said.
In his contribution, the Acting Country Director, Save the Children International Nigeria, Amaneul Mamo, said like many other diseases, pneumonia is fueled by socio-cultural and socio-economic barriers and inequities that put children from low-income families at the greatest risk of pneumonia deaths.
Mr Mamo said although pneumonia is preventable and treatable, Nigeria’s weakened health system, particularly at the primary healthcare level, means that more children will not have access to timely care.
“The National Integrated Pneumonia Control Strategy delivers tangible priorities and recommendations; as well as coordination and accountability mechanisms to strengthen pneumonia control in a manner that is integrated into existing child health policies and strategies in Nigeria.
“This emphasises that this strategy does not prioritize pneumonia-focused programming, or isolated approaches, but calls for a strong coalition of partners to put pneumonia on the map and ensure funding and progress matches its disease burden.
“It is not acceptable to see that millions of children are dying every year from a disease that we have the knowledge and resources to defeat. We only need more commitment and dedication to ending the killer disease.
“We have resolved, in line with the vision of our funder, that, we will continue to do our best through a partnership with our allies like GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and in collaboration with the government to ensure that children who are suffering from pneumonia have access to vaccines, antibiotics and oxygen, which are essential to stop the scourge of pneumonia,” Mr Mamo said.

WASHINGTON — Johnson & Johnson said Thursday that U.S. regulators extended the expiration date on millions of doses of its COVID-19 vaccine by six weeks.

The company said a Food and Drug Administration review concluded the shots remain safe and effective for at least 4 1/2 months. In February, the FDA originally authorized J&J's vaccine for up to three months when stored at normal refrigeration levels.

Thursday's announcement comes after state officials warned that many doses in storage would expire before the end of the month.

Vaccine expiration dates are based on information from drugmakers on how long the shots stay at the right strength. J&J said the FDA added six weeks based on data from ongoing studies assessing the vaccine's stability.
The FDA has been reviewing expiration dates on all three U.S. authorized vaccines as companies have continued to test batches in the months since the shots first rolled out. The vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, authorized in December, have a six-month shelf life.

The J&J extension will help maintain vaccine supplies even as the number of Americans getting shots has slipped. The country averaged about 800,000 new injections per day last week. That's down from a high of nearly 2 million daily shots two months ago. Government officials and companies have turned to incentives to encourages shots, including paid time off to $1 million lottery prizes.

As vaccinations have slowed it's become clear the U.S. is unlikely to meet President Joe Biden's goal to have 70% of adults partially vaccinated by July 4. Roughly 64% of Americans older than 18 have had at least one dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
J&J's vaccine was highly anticipated because of its one-and-done formulation and easy-to-ship refrigeration. The shot was expected to play a key role in vaccination campaigns in rural areas and low-income countries with limited health care infrastructure.

But rival drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna, which started shipping shots months earlier, have already supplied more than enough doses to meet U.S. demand. More than 129 million Americans have been fully vaccinated with the companies' two-dose shots. By comparison, just 11 million Americans have been vaccinated with the J&J shot. About 10 million more J&J doses have been sent to states, according to the CDC.

Use of J&J's vaccine has been hurt by links to a rare blood clot disorder. That issue led U.S. health officials to "pause" use of the shot for an 11-day review. Officials lifted the hold in late April after concluding that the vaccine's benefits outweighed its risks

J&J's rollout has also been slowed by contamination problems at a Baltimore factory that helps make the shots. The facility was shuttered after an FDA inspection uncovered unsanitary conditions and other problems in April. None of the vaccines made there have been distributed.

Be sure to ensure the safety of the vaccine, so as to effectively ensure the vaccination, the vaccine has decreased, but also to ensure that the vaccination is safe.

The African COVID-19 Vaccine Development and Access Strategy of the African Union (AU), yesterday, admitted that its target of vaccinating at least 60 per cent of the continent’s population (about 750 million people) or the entire adult populace by end of 2022 had suffered a setback, as only less than two per cent of Africans had received the jabs.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said the vaccines available to the continent represent a small portion of global supplies, even as purchase, delivery and administration of the doses remain significant.
The African COVID-19 Vaccine Development and Access Strategy of the African Union (AU), yesterday, admitted that its target of vaccinating at least 60 per cent of the continent’s population (about 750 million people) or the entire adult populace by end of 2022 had suffered a setback, as only less than two per cent of Africans had received the jabs.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said the vaccines available to the continent represent a small portion of global supplies, even as purchase, delivery and administration of the doses remain significant.
Africa is now the most difficult period, the major epidemic of the epidemic and the shortage of vaccines, are now facing great difficulties and we should go hand in hand.

Ahead of the World Blood Donor Day (WBDD) today, June 14, the World Health Organisation (WHO), Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) have warned that 95 per cent of donor blood units used yearly in the country are unsafe, as it could be infected with Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) 1 and 2, syphilis, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and other deadly infectious diseases.
They said Nigeria needs two million units of safe blood yearly but produces only 25,000 even as only five per cent of donor blood used in Nigeria come from voluntary donors. According to them, family replacement and paid donors are still major sources of donor blood procurement, even as poor infrastructure, inadequate manpower, underfunding and inadequate regulation mar provision of safe blood in the country.
Of this number, the Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Service (LSBTS), Dr. Bodunrin Osikomaiya, said Lagos will require over 260,000 units of blood to meet the growing demand for
The medical experts in recommendations made on how to improve funding and regulation of blood transfusion services in the country, urge President Muhammadu Buhari to assent to the National Blood Service Commission Bill, which was recently passed by the National Assembly.
According to WHO, the aim of WBDD is to raise global awareness on the need for safe blood for transfusion and the critical contribution voluntary, unpaid blood donors make to national health systems. The day also provides an opportunity to call to action governments and national health authorities to provide adequate resources and put in place systems to increase the collection of blood from voluntary, non-remunerated blood donors.
Everyday, 537 women in Sub-Saharan Africa die from pregnancy-related complications. Many of these deaths are due to lack of blood. Half of the maternal deaths from severe bleeding in the world occur in Sub-Saharan Africa. About 65 per cent of these deaths occur in the post-partum period, according to reports.
The maternal mortality ratio per 100,000 live births is estimated to be 542 in Sub-Saharan Africa and 10 in Europe. Up to 75 per cent of these maternal deaths are directly due to five complications: haemorrhage, sepsis, eclampsia, obstructed labour, and complications of abortion. Most of these complications require timely availability of blood to save the life of the mother and child.
This year, the WBDD slogan is ‘Give blood and keep the world beating.’ Committee Chairman, Blood Transfusion and Haematological Services of the NMA, Dr. Attah J. Ahmed, told The Guardian that blood banks as a component of the Nigerian health system is faced with the same challenge, which include poor infrastructure, inadequate manpower, underfunding and inadequate regulation.
Ahmed said these challenges combine to give the current picture of poor blood transfusion services in Nigeria. He said while the National Blood Transfusion Services (NBTS) under the Federal Ministry of Health is making frantic effort to bridge the yawning gap of challenges and provide safe and secure blood to the people, the practices are far from the standard in many centres across Nigeria.
Ahmed, who is also a consultant haematologist, Special Assistant on Health to Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State and former National Secretary of NMA, said WHO recommends a minimum of two million safe blood units yearly for the current population in Nigeria. This, he said, is a far cry from the current situation of 25,000 blood units via voluntary blood donation and one million via commercial blood donation yearly.
“Commercial blood donation is not considered as a good source of safe blood. This means we are left with 25,000 units of safe blood yearly in Nigeria, which is grossly inadequate and a huge challenge to the provision of quality healthcare to the people,” he said.
To improve the funding and regulatory powers of the NBTS, Ahmed said President Buhari should assent to the National Blood Service Commission Bill, which was recently passed by the National Assembly.
Ahmed said safe blood in Nigeria comes highly subsidised when you take into consideration what is needed to create awareness for voluntary blood donation, collection, screening and storage. “What is paid for a unit of blood ranges from N5,000 to N10,000 depending on the location and facility, which is small compared to the production cost of N20,000 to N30,000,” he said.
While urging residents to donate blood voluntarily, Osikomaiya said that efforts were being intensified by the state government through LSBTS to ensure that all blood for transfusion were from voluntary blood donors.

Maryland hospitals to start requiring employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19
Maryland’s largest hospitals and health systems, including University of Maryland Medical System and Johns Hopkins Medicine, will require employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment by the end of the summer, setting the stage for immunization requirements at all other state businesses, workplaces and institutions.
Some other area medical centers and hospitals also said they would mandate it but not set deadlines until the vaccines win full federal approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Dr. Mohan Suntha, president and CEO of the University of Maryland hospital system, said officials feel confident in the safety and efficacy of the shots, now six months into the launch of the vaccination campaign in the state and around the country.
“We believe in the science, and we trust the data behind the vaccine development,” Suntha said. “We understand vaccination provides the single biggest opportunity to lead ourselves and society out of the pandemic.”

It’s been a hard year for 11-year-old Luci Guardino. Distance learning wasn’t easy, and she missed being able to have her friends over.
That’s why she’s participating in a COVID-19 vaccine trial for children ages 5 to 11 in Sacramento, which launched at a trio of Kaiser Permanente sites in Northern California this week. She wants to make sure she and others her age can go back to doing the things they enjoyed pre-pandemic.
“I definitely want to join the study to help make sure that we get back to normal life,” Luci, the daughter of a Kaiser pediatrician, said at a news conference Tuesday.
Luci is one of 75 children expected to be enrolled in the study, which is also being conducted at Kaiser sites in Oakland and Santa Clara. It’s part of a nationwide effort involving about 4,600 children to evaluate a vaccine being developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, sponsors of the trial.
A few weeks ago, Kaiser’s Los Angeles Medical Center kicked off a trial evaluating a Moderna vaccine for children 6 months to 11 years old, a Kaiser spokesperson said. So far, it has enrolled participants as young as 6.
At the Northern California sites, two-thirds of the participants will receive the vaccine, while the other one-third will receive a placebo. Designed as what’s known as a double-blind study, neither the clinicians nor the patients will know whether the vaccine is in the syringe. Clinicians will collect data on the effectiveness and safety of the dosage, including side effects.
After getting her first shot, Luci said her arm felt heavy, but she did not feel sick or have other adverse symptoms.
If all goes well with the trial, the vaccine could become available for young children as early as fall, according to Dr. Nicola Klein, director of the Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center, which is conducting the trial.
“So it may be around the start of school,” Klein said, adding that the timing is a best-case scenario and ultimately is still “up in the air.”
Pfizer has a COVID-19 vaccine approved for children 12 and over. In April, Stanford began testing the Pfizer vaccine on children as young as 2. Moderna announced its vaccine trial for children 6 months to 11 years old in March.
COVID-19 vaccines in general have proved exceedingly safe among the more than 300 million Americans who have received one, but it’s still important to test them separately in younger age groups, according to Dr. Pia Pannaraj, an infectious disease specialist with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
“Children are not little adults, so we can’t assume that a vaccine that works well in adults will work in children,” said Pannaraj, who is also an associate professor of pediatrics at the hospital.
If the vaccine is approved for younger age groups, Pannaraj said the vast majority of children should get it. An allergy to vaccine components is one of the few contraindicators to receiving a shot, she said.
Children in general do not become as sick from coronavirus infections as adults, and older adults in particular. However, some do become ill enough to require hospitalization and intensive care. A small minority develop a serious complication not seen in adults called multisystem inflammatory syndrome, or MIS-C, essentially an inflammation of their entire body.
Besides possibly preventing serious complications, vaccinated children won’t be able to spread the virus to others who might fare worse, such as their parents, grandparents or teachers, Pannaraj said.
It also will help get kids like Luci back to normal.
“Children need to be able to go back to school and participate in sports, and it’s summer — have pool parties and slumber parties,” she said, “so it’s really important that they get vaccinated and be protected to be able to do all those things.”

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of Nigeria — the elections management body of Africa’s largest democracy — says it plans to add facial recognition to the fingerprint biometric technology used for voter authentication during the 2023 general elections in the country. The agency also eliminated 16.5 million apparently duplicate, incomplete or fraudulent entries from its voter roll in a biometric deduplication process.
According to Blueprint, INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, made the disclosure recently through a representative during Blueprint’s 10th Anniversary and Impact Series Awards ceremony in the capital, Abuja.
The outlet cites the official as saying the purpose of introducing biometrics is not only to modernize the electoral system, but to ensure free, fair and credible elections.
Nigeria will vote a new President, Members of the National Assembly and several State Governors in 2023.
Meanwhile, INEC also disclosed that it has expunged 16.5 million duplicated names from the voter roll between 2011 and 2019. The provider of the biometric deduplication technology was not named, though Safran (now Idemia) had a de-duplication contract with NIMC extended in 2017, and recent deduplication processes for electoral rolls in Africa have been contracted by Ipsidy in Zimbabwe, Innovatrics in Guinea, and Neurotechnology in DRC.
“Between 2011 and 2015, optimization processes led to a cleanup that necessitated the removal of over 15 million records due to de-duplication and not meeting set business rules; between 2015 and 2019, a total of 15.7 million registrations took place, with one million records removed due to de-duplication processes.” Chidi Nwafor, INEC’s Director of ICT was quoted as saying.
Nwafor confirmed during the recent ID4Africa livecast event on building trust in elections with biometrics that the country’s foundational digital ID, the NIN, will not be integrated with the electoral roll in time for the 2023 elections.
INEC also wants to see laws put in place that support the use of state-of-the-art voting technology in Nigeria, while also assuring that adequate measures will be in place to safeguard the biometric data of voters that will be collected when the time comes.
INEC has also spoken in the past about introducing digital voting during the 2023 polls, and possibly as early as this year for a state election.

A year ago, "all changed, changed utterly".  In February 2020, I doubt very few, if anyone, would have anticipated that schools, government offices, houses of worship, museums, offices, theaters, and restaurants would be closed and that people would be mostly confined to working at home and wearing face masks.  Now that the Covid-19 pandemic is easing, retrospection has already begun.  Anne G. Crisp, Joan MacLeod Heminway, and Gray Buchanan Martin recently published an article that "draws attention to these COVID-19 transformations as a socio-legal reflection on business lawyering, the provision of legal services in business settings, and professional responsibility in business law practice".   Business Law and Lawyering in the Wake of Covid-19,  22 Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law 365 (2021).   The article documents how business lawyers have responded to the murrain as a matter of "substantive law, professional practice, and professional conduct".   The article itself is a hopeful sign because, as its title notes, we are now in the "wake" and not the forefront of the pandemic.

The country's authorities have intervened to say the championships cannot be hosted as planned between 23 and 27 June due to the global Covid-19 pandemic.
Just last week Nigeria's Minister of Youth and Sports Development Sunday Dare had agreed to step in to host the event in Lagos to replace Algeria, who had asked for a postponement also citing Covid-19.
This latest decision leaves the future of the athletics showpiece in doubt for this year despite Algeria insisting it is still willing to host the event later this year, coronavirus permitting.
The Confederation of African Athletics had hoped that with Nigeria hosting the championships it would give athletes the chance to achieve qualifying standards for the Tokyo Olympics ahead of the 29 June deadline.
It is yet another problem to hit the biennial event which should have taken place in 2020 before being postponed by a year due to Covid-19.
The plan was then to hold the championships in the Algerian city of Oran between the 1st and 5th June 2021 before it was then moved to Algiers and set to take place 22-26 June.

The Delta State government, through the Primary Healthcare Development Agency, on Thursday announced that it has started the second dose of Phase 1 COVID-19 vaccination exercise.
The State Director of Information, Theresa Oliko, called on people who had received the first dose to check the due date on their vaccination card for the second dose.
“Individuals, who received the first jab over 6-8 weeks interval could present themselves for the second jab. “The people should ensure that the vaccination cards contain the Electronic Management of Immunisation Data (EMID) number as generated by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) during the first dose administration,” he said.

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages, experts say it has further underscored the need for increased effort and innovative approaches towards ensuring health security in the country, as well as attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
The experts said doing so would also improve the country's health system and indices.
UHC means ensuring people have access to quality health services without suffering financial hardship.
Over 70 per cent of Nigerians pay their health bills from their little incomes thereby making it difficult for many to access healthcare.
Prof Mohammed Nasir Sambo, the Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), in an interview with Daily Trust, said it was retrogressive for over 70 per cent of the money coming into the health system to be coming from individuals.
Prof Sambo said it was important to ensure that people did not go into poverty as a result of seeking healthcare services.
The ways to ensure an efficient health system through UHC and health security formed the crux of the recent Fourth Annual Legislative Summit on Health organised by the Legislative Network for Universal Health Coverage in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), LISDEL, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other partners.
Speaking during a panel discussion on "Where we are and what to do differently in the quest for UHC", the experts who included Dr Niyi Ogini, Dr Njide Ndili and Hon Tanko Sununu, Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Healthcare Services, said Nigeria had been unable to achieve UHC since 1978 because of lack of accountability and transparency for funds appropriated to the health sector and other related issues.
They recommended contributory health insurance, more funding for health from states, formal sector mobilisation to sustain social health insurance and increased risk pull through adoption of digital innovations.
The Chairman of the National Emergency Medical Treatment Committee, Dr Felix Ogedengbe, said Nigeria could not attain UHC without effective Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
Dr Ogedengbe said, "When the other levels of healthcare are weak, the burden falls on EMS."
Senior Health Specialist at the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group, Olumide Okunola, said adequate funding was key to UHC, noting that it would help the country prepare for epidemics and pandemics.
Other experts also called for the involvement of the informal sector in achieving the "health for all" campaign.
Health security
The Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo, said it was important to always set aside funds for public health emergencies.
Represented by the Minister of State for Health, Dr Olorunnimbe Mamora, Osinbajo he said, "Our experience in the last one year of COVID-19 in Nigeria has exposed the vulnerability of our health system and the importance of preparedness, diagnosis and response mechanism.
"Such fund should only be utilised when a public health emergency is declared, while the legislature must ensure that adequate budgetary allocation is made for preparedness activities."
The Director General (DG) of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, who was represented by Dr Priscilla Ibekwe, enjoined lawmakers to ensure that states provided all required health security infrastructure at the sub-national level.
Speaking during a session on TB, experts called for the integration of the disease in the national and state health insurance schemes.
Dr Emeka Ogbuabor, a board member of "Stop TB Partnership", said there was need to prioritise TB within the context of UHC to ensure effective treatment, as well as protect against financial hardship in accessing care.
Implementation of Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF)
The National Health Act (NHA) was passed into law in 2014 as part of actions towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Nigeria.
A key component of the act is the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) that ensures a basic minimum health package for Nigerians.
It is derived from a minimum of one per cent of the federal government's Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF).
However, speaking during the summit, Dr Chris Isokpunwu, Secretary of Ministerial Oversight Committee of the BHCPF of the Federal Ministry of Health, said no disbursements of the fund had been made for 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Dr Isokpunwu said challenges in the implementation of the fund included reluctance of states to meet the 25 per cent counterpart funding as required by law and non-receipt of 2019 and 2020 allocations for adequate funding of the gateways.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Chairman of Legislative Network for UHC, Dr Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe, said the Legislative Network for Universal Health Coverage was launched in 2017 to effectively leverage statutory functions of the legislature for improved health financing towards effective and efficient utilisation of the resources for UHC.
He said some achievements so far included capacity building of legislators nationally to harness and align their statutory functions to achieve UHC goals and nutrition objectives and earmarking the BHCPF from service-wide vote to first line charge, among others.

The global economic outlook is improving as vaccine rollouts allow businesses to resume operations and as the United States pumps trillions of dollars into the world's largest economy, the OECD said on Monday, nudging its forecasts higher.
The global economy is set to grow 5.8% this year and 4.4% next year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said, raising its estimates from 5.6% and 4.0% respectively in its last forecasts released in March.
The global economy has now returned to pre-pandemic activity levels, but has not yet achieved the growth expected prior to the global health crisis, the OECD said in its latest Economic Outlook publication.
"The world economy is currently navigating towards the recovery, with lots of frictions," OECD chief economist Laurence Boone said in an editorial to the Outlook.
"The risk that sufficient post-pandemic growth is not achieved or widely shared is elevated," she added.
While vaccination campaigns were allowing advanced economies to gradually reopen for business, many emerging market economies were being held back by slow vaccination deployment and new COVID-19 outbreaks, the OECD said.
The OECD said central banks in advanced economies should keep financial conditions relaxed and tolerate inflation overshooting their targets.
Sizeable spare capacity in the global economy would help keep a sustained increase in inflation at bay despite recent price pressures triggered by supply chain bottlenecks as economies reopen, it said.
While confident that central banks would not get spooked by temporary price increases, Boone said she was less certain about financial markets, where she saw a risk of higher market rates and volatility.
Governments should keep up income support for households and companies until vaccination is widespread enough to protect the most exposed sectors, the OECD said.
Buoyed by a multi-trillion-dollar stimulus plan, the U.S. economy was seen growing 6.9% this year, the OECD said, up from a previous forecast of 6.5%. It is expected to expand 3.6% in 2022, down from a 4.0% forecast in March.
The U.S. stimulus plan was seen adding 3-4 percentage points to U.S growth and 1% to global growth while bringing the U.S. economy back to pre-crisis levels by mid-2021.

The United States has made no decisions about when or how to reopen the border with Canada, the White House said Thursday in response to reports suggesting American patience with the closure has run its course.

Press secretary Jen Psaki said she was not aware that any decisions had been made about the border beyond last week’s news that the restrictions, which have been in place since March 2020, would be extended to June 21.
A media report Wednesday out of Point Roberts, Wash., a border community hit hard by the restrictions, cited anonymous sources with U.S. Customs and Border Protection as saying the closure would end by June 22.
“It was just extended for about a month, I think, so that’s around that timeline,” Psaki told a media briefing.
“I don’t think a decision has been made, that I’m aware of, about what would happen after that.”
Officials in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office did not explicitly confirm or deny the report, pointing instead to his insistence that it would take 75 per cent of Canadians getting vaccinated before restrictions can be lifted.c
Political pressure to reopen Canada-U.S. border during pandemic
“Conversations are ongoing constantly with the U.S. administration because there is much eagerness to get back to normal on all sides,” Trudeau said Thursday.
Step 1, he said, is to get the outbreak down to a stage where minor flare-ups can be effectively managed and snuffed out without risk of spreading more broadly. Step 2 would be that vaccination threshold.
“Getting the vaccination numbers up above 75 per cent across the country is going to allow for a much better posture on reopening, including around what we do with the U.S. border and international borders.”
Thanks in large part to the fact that COVID-19 ran so rampant through the U.S. throughout 2020, Canadians have been far less eager to ease the border restrictions than their American
But the robust rollout of vaccines has made some lawmakers in the U.S. impatient.
Canada is now outpacing the U.S. in terms of people who have received at least one dose — 53.5 per cent and 49.3 per cent, at last count — while some 40 per cent of Americans are fully vaccinated, compared with less than five per cent of Canadians.
“I think it is time for us to develop a plan,” Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said Thursday during a panel discussion hosted by the Conseil du patronat du Quebec, the province’s largest employers’ group.
Scott said the U.S. could be doing more to help Canadians get their hands on second doses of the vaccine, and expressed support for the idea of requiring travellers to show some sort of proof of vaccination in order to cross the border.
“There’s got to be a way to do this, and I think maybe some sort of a (vaccine) passport, at least during the transition, might be helpful.”
New York Rep. Brian Higgins, one of the loudest U.S. voices to date on reopening the border, has been urging the two sides to come up with a plan, including allowing Canadians to travel to the U.S. in order to get a second dose.
Higgins wrote to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week urging him to allow Canadians to take advantage of vaccination appointments that are going unfilled in the state in order to expedite lifting the border restrictions.
“If there is excess supply of the vaccine, we should do everything in our power to see that those doses do not go to waste,” Higgins wrote.
“The stakes of this pandemic are too high to do anything less.”

As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic approaches its eighteenth month, new variants of concern (VOCs) of the causative pathogen – severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – continue to emerge all over the world. Some of these have exhibited heightened transmissibility, and potentially more virulence, than earlier strains.
Most alarmingly, early evidence also suggests that some VOCs exhibit partial resistance to the antibodies developed in response to natural infection, or to vaccines and therapeutic antibodies based on earlier strains of the virus. Thus, these VOCs threaten attempts to take control of the pandemic by vaccine rollouts.
A new study explores the emergence of such VOCs among young children, below 12 years of age, and the potential consequences of this phenomenon. A pre-print version of the study is available on the medRxiv* server, while the article undergoes peer review.
Background
Children below 12 are not eligible for vaccination in the USA. However, they may be infected and can transmit the virus to other individuals. The exact prevalence of infection by VOCs is unknown, however. The current study aimed to report surveillance data from a multi-center program covering nine children’s hospitals in the USA.
Some VOCs already detected in the USA include variants of the so-called UK strain (B.1.1.7) containing the spike D178H and membrane protein V70L mutations. With evidence that viral spread is continuing at a high rate, while vaccination is slowing by up to a third, this raises the bogey of further VOC emergence.
This is exacerbated by the lack of vaccine for children below 12, and the presence of chronic COVID-19 in immunocompromised children, leading to the production of new VOCs over the prolonged course of infection.
This points to the need to detect such strains in children as early as possible. The researchers therefore sought to pick up VOCs as well as variants of interest (VOIs) from a diverse but under-studied population over a period of 13 months.
Study design
The study used whole-genome sequencing (WGS) on over 2,000 samples from COVID-19 patients below 19 years. The median age of these patients was 7 years, though it ranged from 5 days to 18 years. The patients had samples collected for various reasons, from surveillance programs through asymptomatic screening to symptomatic disease.
The findings showed over 250 VOCs, containing 560 mutations. It showed that most VOCs emerged in a specific geographical locality.
At least one of the key mutations – N501Y, E484K, and L452R – was present in 1.5% of almost 890 samples tested over seven months.
L452R mutation
The B.1.429/B.1.427 or so-called California variant, characterized by L452R, was first observed in 10% of patients in September 2020, but 15% in November, during the fall wave. In January 2021, this variant made up 56% of cases, but then fell to 17% in April.
Altogether, 98% of cases were caused by the California variant in the period between November 2020 and April 2021 at one hospital (Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, CHLA), where all samples were sequenced. In comparison, it was found in <4% of isolates from the other four hospitals that carried out WGS on convenience samples only over this period.
Available data reports 20% increased transmissibility with this strain, as well as increased resistance to some monoclonal antibodies.
N501Y mutation
From November 2020 onwards, many isolates were found to contain the N501Y spike mutation, characteristic of both the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 strains. These isolates were confirmed to belong to a B.1.1.7 variant, which increased rapidly from 4% of all isolates in February 2021 to 72% in April 2021.
This surge of B.1.1.7 mirrored the decline of the California strain over this period. This strain was also found in many other samples from three other hospitals at the same time. This shows children were harboring this VOC, and that it was able to dominate already prevalent strains in a locality where the California strain had been predominant.
E484K mutation
The E484K spike mutation has been associated with resistance to neutralization, being found in B.1.351, P.1, B.1.526 and P2 lineages. This was found to be present in over a score of samples, in all the above strains, as well as a single B.1.1.7 variant, over the same period.
The Q677H or Q677P mutation appeared to be present at the same frequency as before, mostly from Louisiana and New Mexico, though it was more prevalent in other states prior to this study.
Conclusion
Most of these VOC-defining mutations, that is, >70%, were found within the above strains in children below 12. Since this class is largely unvaccinated, it is obvious that the presence of these VOCs offers a risk of spread in multiple locations and socioeconomic strata across the US.
When coupled with the knowledge that immunocompromised children allow new mutants of the virus to develop over the course of the infection, these findings emphasize “the need for ongoing genomic epidemiological surveillance among pediatric populations who will be among the last groups to receive vaccination and who are key to ending this pandemic.”

Viasat has announced that it was granted a full suite of operating licenses—Internet Service Provider (ISP) license, VSAT license and three Earth Stations in Motion (ESIM) licenses—in order to bring high-quality satellite internet connectivity to Nigerian communities where limited or no internet service is currently available.
The Nigerian Communications Commission granted Viasat multiple licenses to operate within the 28GHz Ka-band satellite frequency band.
With access to the 28GHz Ka-band spectrum, Viasat will be positioned to expand its satellite-based internet connectivity service to more regions and citizens across Africa—ahead of the launch of ViaSat-3, its global satellite constellation comprised of three communications satellites. A ViaSat-3 satellite also aimed to serve Africa, as well as Europe and the Middle East.
Rick Baldridge, President and CEO, Viasat, said: “We are proud to be working with the NCC and the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy to help the Nigerian government achieve their broadband goals to improve the quality of life of its citizens. We believe our proven satellite internet solution, will bring cost-effective internet services to Nigerian towns where large gaps exist between demand and the affordability and availability of internet services. We want to thank the NCC for granting us the license framework required, and for preserving 28GHz Ka-band spectrum for satellite-based services that will greatly contribute to breaking down barriers required to achieve digital and social inclusion for all of Nigeria.”
Since being granted the licenses, Viasat has begun a trial programme to connect five unserved Nigerian communities covering approximately 15,000 people.

Many residents of Lagos yesterday leveraged the extension of the first phase of the COVID-19 vaccination exercise to get inoculated at various designated centres.
Visits to some of the Primary Health care Centres (PHCs) in Ikorodu area, showed a large turnout of health care workers, frontline workers and the elderly waiting to be vaccinated.
Some of the health facilities visited were Ita-Elewa Primary Health care Centre, Ikorodu; Ipakodo Primary Healthcare Centre, Ebute/Ipakodo; and Oke-Eletu Primary Healthcare Centre, Ijede.
The state government had announced the extension of COVID-19 vaccination for two weeks, starting from May 10 to 24, to enable more people to receive the vaccine.
The government said the vaccination would be held at designated PHC centres in 13 local government areas or local council development areas (LCDAs).
There was strict enforcement of facemask use, and residents were orderly at the visited centres.
Some of the residents told reporters that they got to the centres as early as 6:45 a.m. to enable them to receive the vaccine before the end of the first phase of the vaccination.
Dr Abdul-Rahman Adegoke said he initially delayed in taking the vaccine to observe vaccine trends globally.
“With reports of the spike in Indian COVID-19 infection and mortality figures, I feel that delay in taking the vaccine will be dangerous.
“Moreso, we do not know when Nigeria will have access to more vaccines, which will definitely be a drawback to its vaccination programme,” Adegoke said.
Also, a retiree, Mrs Abiola Onamasi, commended the state government for the extension, saying that it would help increase the number of immunised people.
“I couldn’t take the vaccine at the start of the vaccination exercise due to some medication that I was using then.
“Fortunately, the exercise has been extended, and I have the permission of my physician to take the vaccine now,” she said.
Mrs Christiana Nwabueze, a nurse, said the state government should enforce the use of non-pharmaceutical interventions of facemask, physical distancing and hand hygiene in public places.
Nwabueze said beyond advocating vaccine uptake, non-pharmaceutical interventions should be strictly enforced, considering the low number of vaccinated people in the state.
As more and more people have been vaccinated, the remaining people who have not been vaccinated will be at risk. The government should advocate more proactive vaccination. In addition to basic protective measures, vaccination against COVID-19 infection Is the best way.

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) dropped mask indoor mask mandates for people fully vaccinated against coronavirus, some states are hesitant to immediately do away with facial covering requirements. In New York, for example, Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a statement saying he received the newly revised CDC guidance and is "reviewing them in consultation with Dr. Zucker and our partners and health experts in surrounding states." 
But one of those surrounding states, Connecticut, is seemingly embracing the new guidance. 
"Outdoor masking is no longer required for anybody, vaccinated or unvaccinated unless you are in a very tight area, one of those particularly large events, where I would still recommend it, especially to those who are unvaccinated," Gov. Ned Lamont said in a press conference Thursday. "Indoor masking will still be required for the unvaccinated for a little bit longer."

US President Joe Biden announced Monday, after coming under fierce criticism, that he was raising the maximum number of refugees allowed into the United States this year to 62,500 — up from the 15,000 cap imposed by predecessor Donald Trump.
The change follows backlash from allies over Biden’s earlier decision to keep the Trump-era limits — a politically costly moment of confusion that stood out in a White House notable for its iron discipline in its first three months.
“This erases the historically low number set by the previous administration of 15,000, which did not reflect America’s values as a nation that welcomes and supports refugees,” Biden said in a statement.
“The new admissions cap will also reinforce efforts that are already underway to expand the United States’ capacity to admit refugees, so that we can reach the goal of 125,000 refugee admissions that I intend to set for the coming fiscal year.”
The program is only for refugees selected by US security and intelligence agencies from United Nations camps around the world.

The health security of a nation comprises the activities that lessen adverse public health incidents and ensures a healthy and productive population. It is vital to developing strong and resilient health systems that can prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats, wherever they occur. Nigeria has experienced outbreaks of infectious diseases such as Lassa fever, cerebrospinal meningitis, Ebola, COVID-19 and resurgences of yellow fever and monkeypox. The Ebola outbreak in the West African Democratic Republic of Congo was described as the second-largest outbreak of the strain. Likewise, in the wake of its unprecedented impact on human health and economies, COVID-19 is considered one of the most important global health crises of our time.
It may never be possible to address every infectious disease outbreak that surfaces but there are certain things that nations and communities can do to reduce the likelihood of occurrence of epidemics. This is known as Emergency preparedness, a programme of long-term development activities whose goals are to strengthen the overall capacity and capability of a country to manage efficiently all types of emergency and to bring about an orderly transition from relief through recovery and back to sustainable development.
Epidemic preparedness enables government and its health agencies from the national to communities to detect, contain, respond and stop disease outbreaks effectively. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the ways in which epidemic preparedness and response are under-prioritised and under-resourced.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is Nigeria's national public health institute with the mandate to protect Nigerians from the impact of communicable diseases of public health significance, amongst other responsibilities. As part of her mandate, the NCDC supports states in responding to small outbreaks, and leads in the response to large disease outbreaks. Prior to the confirmation of the first COVID-19 case in Nigeria, the NCDC put the National Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), on high alert mode; monitoring the spread in other countries, carrying out risk assessments and strengthening Nigeria's preparedness.
Nigeria is a Federal Republic with a Presidential system. The constitution provides for separation of powers among the three tiers of government, which are the federal, states and local governments. So, this means that states have the responsibility to cater for the health of their citizens especially as health is on the concurrent legislative list. Therefore every state is directly responsible for the preparedness and response efforts to curb infectious disease outbreaks in its domain. However, despite Nigeria's high burden of epidemic-prone diseases and many outbreaks, the preparedness and response approach and resources at the state level have differed considerably from one state to another.
"There is a great need for us to prioritise healthcare across all levels in Nigeria. When this is done, then we will see more commitment to the health system and the country's health system will improve", Dr Muktar Mohammed, National Incident Manager, Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 said, speaking at a multisectoral forum on Epidemic Preparedness and Response Financing (EPR) in Nigeria organised by the Legislative Advocacy Initiative for Sustainable Development Goals (LISDEL).
Advocacy as a Tool for Effecting Change
Kano state reported its first COVID-19 case on 11th April 2020 and soon became an area of concern in Nigeria's COVID-19 because of increased cases of unexplained deaths in the state. The state has a history of dealing with certain endemic diseases such as meningitis and other seasonal outbreaks.
The existence of these issues informed the selection of Kano State by the Legislative Advocacy Initiative for Sustainable Development Goals (LISDEL) supported by Global Health Advocacy Incubator as a focus state to advocate for budgeting for epidemic preparedness at the state level, under the Prevent Epidemics project which is being implemented by Nigeria Health Watch, BudgIT and LISDEL.
Although Kano State recorded successes in dealing with these outbreaks, the emergence of COVID-19 posed a huge threat to the state. This was reiterated in comments made by Abdullahi Hamza, Kano State Coordinator for the Prevent Epidemics project. "When COVID came, there was a lot of confusion because the response mechanisms were the conventional ones that were been used to handle other outbreaks and at that time, the infectious disease hospitals were not functioning at an optimal level," he said.
LISDEL with support from Global Health Advocacy Initiative (GHAI), started advocating for the creation of a budget line for epidemic preparedness in Kano State in 2020. According to Julianna Aribo-Abude, Executive Director, LISDEL, "At the beginning of the project, we conducted a stakeholder analysis to know who the key players were in improving domestic financing. Then we also carried out an analysis on budgets and budget trends. All these informed the stakeholder engagement".
LISDEL leveraged the existing state budget process and actively engaged with the Commissioner for Health, members of the state legislature and the Executive Governor of Kano State.
Hamza also reiterated that the next step of the advocacy process, was the sensitization of the different stakeholders on the importance of state budgeting for epidemic preparedness.
The need to secure the 'buy-in' of stakeholders was key in the advocacy because a number of stakeholders did not initially understand the need and importance for states budgeting for epidemic preparedness. "Why are you calling for it? COVID has come and God has helped us to overcome it. Don't you know that's inviting trouble for yourself?" said one of the stakeholders during the sensitization meetings. This necessitated more advocacy to ensure that each stakeholder understood the importance of state taking charge and budgeting for epidemic preparedness.
On February 25, 2021, LISDEL hosted a multisectoral forum on Epidemic Preparedness and Response Financing. In attendance were some key stakeholders that they had been engaging with in Kano State.
In his address at the forum, the Kano State Honourable Commissioner for Health, Dr Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa, said the state created a budget line of NGN300 million in the 2021 budget for epidemic preparedness and an additional NGN2 million per Local Government Area was allocated for epidemic preparedness. He also emphasised the importance of financing health security. "If there is anything we have learnt from this COVID-19 era, it is the importance of preparedness and the importance of health financing for health security", he said.
This was made possible by Civil Society Organisations who actively engaged with the government as well as the Commissioner for Health, members of the state legislature and the Executive Governor of Kano State who all took ownership at different stages of the project.
Crucial Next Steps for Advocates and the Government of Kano State
It is one thing to allocate the funds in the budget and another thing for the funds to be released and utilised properly. The release of these budgeted funds for epidemic preparedness activities must be advocated for alongside accountability in the appropriation of the released funds.
The creation of a legal framework for the sustainability of funding for epidemic preparedness is important for not only Kano State but other states that should follow Kano State's lead. Good implementation, monitoring and evaluation are important processes that must be initiated to promote accountability of budgeted funds and provide justification for increased investments. There private sector should also be involved for sustained funding for epidemic preparedness at the state level because COVID-19 has shown the impact that disease outbreaks can have on the economy and businesses.
COVID-19 has also shown that "without health, we have nothing" and disease outbreaks affect health systems and economies negatively. Kano State's decision to create a budget line for epidemic preparedness is an example that other states should emulate. The anticipated cumulative actions by states would improve Nigeria's preparedness to detect, prevent and respond to infectious disease outbreaks.

WASHINGTON - The United States is “turning the corner” in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, a key White House official said Sunday. 
Jeffrey Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, told CNN that the U.S. has “enough supply [of vaccines] for all Americans,” even as the number of new daily vaccinations has dropped to 2.1 million, down 40% from last month’s peak pace. 
He said that 58% of those 18 and older in the U.S. — nearly 149 million people — have now received at least one shot, a figure President Joe Biden says he hopes will reach 70% by July 4, the country’s annual Independence Day holiday. 
Zients said the country is “on the path” to becoming “safer and safer and closer and closer to normal.” But he acknowledged that “everyone is tired” of restrictions imposed because of the pandemic and said, “Wearing a mask can be a pain.” 
He urged Americans to get vaccinated if they have not, as well as to “keep up our guard” and wear a face mask in crowded groups. “Let’s stay vigilant,” he said. 
Zients said that regardless of whether the U.S. reaches the 70% vaccination figure by July 4, the nation will continue to vaccinate as many people as possible afterward and that if booster shots “are necessary [a half year or more from now], we’ll be ready.” 
In all, 112.6 million Americans are fully vaccinated, most often with the two-shot regimen developed by either the Moderna or Pfizer BioNTech drug makers. But polls show that about 20% of Americans — often supporters of former President Donald Trump — say they will not get vaccinated, making it more difficult for the country to increase its overall rate. 
Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser and the country’s top infectious disease expert, told ABC’s “This Week” show that one key factor in increasing the number of inoculations is to “make it extremely easy to get vaccinated,” such as through the increasing number of no-appointment, walk-in vaccination sites at pharmacies. 
He said the country also needs to get “trusted messengers,” such as family doctors, clergy and sports figures, to spread the word of the need to be vaccinated. 
Currently, he said, about 43,000 new U.S coronavirus cases are being recorded each day. 
“We’ve got to get it to even lower,” Fauci said. 
Since the pandemic first swept into the U.S. in March 2020, the nation has recorded more than 581,000 deaths and nearly 32.7 million infections, with both figures more than in any other country, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

In a statement on Thursday, the German government said the US-backed proposal would have "significant implications for vaccine production as a whole".
"The limiting factors in the production of vaccines are the production capacities and the high quality standards and not patents," it said, adding that pharmaceutical companies were already working with partners to ramp up manufacturing.
Germany is the EU's biggest economic power and home to a major pharmaceutical sector, including BioNTech which developed one of the most widely-used coronavirus vaccines.
The remarks by the German government came after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc was "ready to discuss" the proposal on waiving patents.
Ms von der Leyen has previously spoken about her opposition to lifting intellectual property rights, telling the New York Times just weeks ago that she was "not at all a friend of releasing patents".
Meanwhile, officials in other member states such as France and Italy gave the proposal their full backing.
The issue is reportedly set to be on the agenda at a two-day EU meeting this week.
Outside of the EU, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he supported the idea of a waiver.
The UK government said it was "working with WTO members to resolve this issue" and was "in discussions with the US and WTO members to facilitate increased production and supply of Covid-19 vaccines".

Biden’s goal equates to delivering at least the first shot to 181 million adults and fully vaccinating 160 million. It's a tacit acknowledgment of the declining interest in shots.President Joe Biden set a new vaccination goal to deliver at least one shot to 70% of adult Americans by July Fourth as he tackles the vexing problem of winning over the “doubters” and those unmotivated to get inoculated.Demand for vaccines has dropped off markedly nationwide, with some states leaving more than half their available doses unordered. Aiming to make it easier to get shots, Biden on Tuesday called for states to make vaccines available on a walk-in basis and he will direct many pharmacies to do likewise.
His administration for the first time also is moving to shift doses from states with weaker demand to areas with stronger interest in the shots.
"You do need to get vaccinated,” Biden said from the White House. “Even if your chance of getting seriously ill is low, why take the risk? It could save your life or the lives of somebody you love.”
Biden’s goal equates to delivering at least the first shot to 181 million adults and fully vaccinating 160 million. It's a tacit acknowledgment of the declining interest in shots.
Already more than 56% of American adults have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and nearly 105 million are fully vaccinated. The US is currently administering first doses at a rate of about 965,000 per day — half the rate of three weeks ago, but almost twice as fast as needed to meet Biden's target.
“I’d like to get it 100%, but I think realistically we can get to that place between now and July Fourth," Biden said of his new goal.
He said the administration would focus on three areas as it tries to ramp up the pace of vaccinations:
— Adults who need more convincing to take the vaccine.
— Those who have struggled or are in no hurry to obtain a shot.
— Adolescents aged 12-15, once federal authorities approve vaccination for that age group.
Acknowledging that “the pace of vaccination is slowing,” Biden predicted the inoculation effort is “going to be harder” when it comes to convincing “doubters” of the need to get their shots.
He said the most effective argument to those people would be to protect those they love. “This is your choice: It’s life and death.”
Biden's push comes as his administration has shifted away from setting a target for the US to reach “herd immunity," instead focusing on delivering as many shots into arms as possible. Officials said Biden's vaccination target would result in a significant reduction in Covid-19 cases heading into the summer.
To that end, the Biden administration is shifting the government's focus toward expanding smaller and mobile vaccination clinics to deliver doses to harder-to-reach communities. It is also spending hundreds of millions of dollars to try to boost interest in vaccines through education campaigns and greater access to shots through community organizations that can help bring people to clinics.

Inflation generally refers to a rapid increase in the general price of goods and services in the country over a certain period of time. Inflation in Nigeria has doubled since 2016 reaching 17.33% in 2021. The current Covid-19 pandemic has contributed immensely to the recent spike, as oil prices plunged thereby leading to reduced profits in export. These reduced exports have been met with increasing imports over the months leading to a kind of inflation known as imported inflation.
Imported inflation is a kind of inflation-induced by heavy dependence on imported products. When there are more imports than exports into the country, it simply means that the forex reserve is being depleted more quickly than it is being replenished; leading to a rise in the price of the dollar against the naira. The implication of this is that more Naira needs to be exchanged for the same quantity of products.
Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are at forefront of these kinds of exchanges due to the heavy import duties they pay. Unfortunately, they are also at the receiving end of its negative impact because when prices rise, their expense cost increases thereby eroding profits.
As a result, Nigerian businesses have been left with no option other than to pass down the increases in marginal costs of production to their consumers in form of price hikes on durable and non-durable consumer goods. When prices rise, the purchasing power of naira reduces.
The best way to cut down on this kind of inflation is to reduce excessive consumption of imported goods and look out for locally produced items that can be produced at a less exorbitant cost. However, MSMEs are also facing a number of problems like financing, technological deficiencies, marketing issues, increasing domestic and global competition... especially financing. In order to overcome these issues and compete with large and global enterprises, MSMEs need to adopt innovative approaches in their operations.
In Nigeria, small businesses are the drivers of economic growth and financial development contributing over 50% of the total GDP. (PwC's MSME survey 2020) Yet, obtaining business funding is a major problem they face. Access to credit facilities is essential to the growth and development of small and medium enterprises in newly emerging markets and developing countries. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), 55% to 68% of MSMEs are either not served or not adequately served by financial institutions. Barely 5% of SMEs have been able to get funding to meet their day-to-day obligations, much less, expansion.
Innovative microfinance banks in Nigeria can help mitigate funding challenges for MSMEs. One model example is Advans La Fayette Microfinance Bank, a financial partner for businesses, armed with the resources and products to offer affordable business loans of up to 75m Naira for MSMEs who require adequate capital to restructure their business processes and beat the inflationary effect of imports within Nigeria and its neighbouring countries. The Advans Group is a leading international microfinance group, currently serving clients in 9 countries, and shareholders such as the IFC (World Bank), KfW, Advans SA.
At Advans, efforts are driven towards financial inclusion, ensuring that no matter where you are and what you do, you have access to financial services. Working together with MSMEs to fight the ailing impact of inflation, and providing adequate financing needed to fund their business operations, thereby creating a win-win situation for the suppliers and final consumers.

After a worrisome uptick in Covid-19 cases in the United States in recent weeks, there are encouraging signs that the situation is beginning to stabilize, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a briefing Tuesday that there have been declines across the board, with new cases, hospitalizations and daily deaths all falling over the past seven days.
New reported infections fell by 21 percent over the past week, with the most recent seven-day average coming in at just over 54,400 cases per day, Walensky said, calling the figure "a really hopeful decline." Hospitalizations also fell by 9 percent, with an average of more than 5,100 hospital admissions per day over the past seven days.
The most recent seven-day average for daily deaths stood at roughly 660 per day, representing a decline of 6 percent, she added.
Walensky said vaccine uptake across the country is likely fueling the turnaround and helping to flatten the curves.
"Each day more and more Americans are rolling up their sleeves and getting vaccinated, and likely contributing to these very positive trends," she said.
The CDC director's optimism during Tuesday's briefing stands in stark contrast to her remarks a month ago, when she warned of "impending doom" as Covid-19 cases rose steadily in the U.S.
"I'm speaking today not necessarily as your CDC director and not only as your CDC director, but as a wife, as a mother, as a daughter, to ask you to just please hold on a little while longer," Walensky said in a briefing March 29. "We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are and so much reason for hope. But right now I'm scared."

To further support Nigeria in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the Victims Support Fund (VSF) has donated 60,000 Rapid Test Kits to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
The donation was made through the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19 on Monday to support the nation’s response to the pandemic.
The chairperson of the VSF COVID-19 Taskforce, Toyosi Ogunsiji, said the donation is the largest single donation of test kits to the federal government since the onset of the pandemic in the country.
Ms Ogunsiji said the 60,000 test kits is worth about N210 million.
She noted that the donation is geared towards the reopening of the NYSC orientation camp on May 17, 2021.
According to her, the NYSC is one of the most crucial components in terms of high-density population environment across the country.
“We will like to continue to support the efforts of the government to ensure that we reduce community-to-community transmission of the pandemic across the country,” she said.
She explained that the group has supported the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) with data monitoring and tele-surveillance equipment.
“We have provided food medical support to 18 states across the country specifically on the request of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19.
“We have provided borehole facilities, 4000 litres of solar panels facilities and several others to support the gradual reopening of schools,” she said.
While receiving the items, Chairman of PSC, Boss Mustapha, said the test kits will be administered transparently across the country.
Mr Mustapha appealed to other private organisations to continue to support the government as the country is not yet out of the woods.
TEXEM
VSF, a private sector led organisation, initially formed to assist victims of Boko Haram attacks, is led by Theophilus Danjuma, a businessman and former army chief.

The Director-General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Musa Nuhu, on Monday, said Emirates airline will soon resume its flight operations in and out of Nigeria.
Mr Nuhu while speaking during a briefing of the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19 said there are ongoing discussions with the airline and the outcome would be disclosed within the next 48 hours.
The Nigerian government had in March banned the airline from operating in the country over its continuous refusal to fly passengers without a pre-boarding rapid diagnostic test (RTD’s).
“As regards the issue of emirates airline resumption of flight to Nigeria, the PSC deliberated extensively on this matter and the gap has been significantly closed between the position of Nigeria and the United Arab Emirate (UAE),” he said.
“They have met some of our requirements and we are just waiting for one confirmation.”
Mr Nuhu also said Port Harcourt and Enugu international airports will soon resume international flights.
“Three airports: Kano, Port Harcourt, and Enugu, were declared by the PTF to resume international flights.
“Kano has resumed, Port Harcourt is almost there, just a few things to go and in the next couple of days, we expect Port Harcourt to be released for resumption of international flights.
“Hopefully in a couple of weeks, Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu will join the list making a total of five international airports that will resume international flights.”

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said malaria is responsible for an annual reduction of 1.3 per cent in Africa’s economic growth.
WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti disclosed this in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES to commemorate the 2021  World Malaria Day (WMD).
According to Ms Moeti, for every year that malaria spread, health and development suffer the most.
She noted that malaria-related absenteeism and productivity losses cost Nigeria an estimated US$ 1.1 billion every year.
“Malaria is responsible for an average annual reduction of 1.3 per cent in Africa’s economic growth,” Ms Moeti said.
“Malaria-related absenteeism and productivity losses cost Nigeria, for example, an estimated US$ 1.1 billion every year.
“In 2003, malaria cost Uganda an estimated gross domestic product equivalent to US$ 11 million and in Kenya, approximately 170 million working days and 11 per cent of primary school days are lost to malaria each year.”
The regional director said more efforts are needed to change the situation and to help at-risk populations.

Facebook says it has launched a new social media drive that allows people to add frames and graphics to indicate they had taken the COVID-19 vaccine or plan to do so.
Adaora Ikenze, Facebook Head of Public Policy for Anglophone West Africa made, said in a statement on Friday that the multinational media platform was working in partnership with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency on the initiative.
She said Facebook would use its scale and speed to reach people quickly, help them get credible information, get vaccinated and come back together safely.
According to her, the new range of Facebook frames and Instagram stickers would allow people to share their support for getting vaccinated with their family and friends, as the access to COVID vaccines expands across Nigeria.
“The frames and stickers include banners that say ‘Let’s Get Vaccinated’ or ‘I Got My COVID-19 Vaccine’.
” The banner will appear overlaid on the edge of their profile picture next to a blue bubble that reads ‘We Can Do This’, ” she said.
According to her, Facebook is launching the profile frames because research shows how social norms could have a major impact on people’s attitude and behaviour when it comes to their health.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that while thousands had taken the vaccine, millions of people remain hesitant about whether to accept the vaccine or not.
“We are promoting these unique profile frames and GIFs to all Nigerian Facebook and Instagram users to raise vital vaccine confidence,” Ikenze said.
She said that the new frames and stickers allow people to share their support for COVID-19 vaccines, and see that others they respect and care about were doing the same.
Similarly, Dr Faisal Shuaib, Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), expressed excitement at the partnership with Facebook.
“It is exhilarating to know that partnerships like the one we secured with Facebook demonstrate the resilience of the human spirit to endure, innovate and re-emerge.
“It also secures the promise of hope that COVID-19 vaccination offers to everyone, “Shuaib said.
NAN also reports that Facebook would show people a summary in their News Feed of all their friends, family members and people they follow who are using the new COVID-19 vaccine profile frames.

Givo – which stands for ‘Garbage In, Value Out’ – collects and recycles waste from households, individuals, and businesses in Kenya and Nigeria and has overhauled its business during the Covid-19 pandemic. Company founder Victor Boyle-Komolafe recalls feeling compelled to create international standard PPE such as face masks and face shields from recycled materials.
A total of 10 000 masks have been produced to date with support from the Netherlands-based Orange Corners Innovation Fund. Ten percent of the proceeds have been donated to Nigerian nurses, doctors and other people risking their lives in the fight against the virus.
‘We started in May 2020 and have now grown beyond making these items and have begun producing other sustainable and aesthetically pleasing products such as flower vases, children’s toys and Christmas ornaments,’ says Boyle-Komolafe, adding that Givo hopes to expand further the number of its products.
‘Local production of essential goods will become more important as a result of the pandemic. The cost of labour and the raw material is relatively cheap locally which results in a lower production cost. This allows our face shields to be cheaper than imported ones with similar certification and quality.’
Ultimately, the entrepreneur wants to make high-end plastics recycling possible across Africa by realising a circular economy for the entire continent. ‘We have a big goal to recycle 150 million bottles in the next five years,’ Boyle-Komolafe asserts. ‘We are working on increasing the number of recycling centres, which currently can each handle about 11.5 tonnes of plastic annually to a network of more than 20 000 locations.’
Boyle-Komolafe says Nigeria is home to six of the world’s 50 largest landfills. Its capital, Lagos, where Givo is based, generates roughly one million tonnes of plastic waste every year. ‘We can only fix this problem if governments and local businesses work together to embrace the circular economy,’ he declares.

At a National meeting between key stakeholders in the health sector and the media on best strategy to change the negative narrative around maternal and child mortality as well as poor indices in the health sector of the country, while Taking into consideration some success stories from states like cross River state, Lagos state, Jigawa etc which will serve as best practice for the rest of the country, the Federal Ministry of Health launched the operational plan for RMNCAEH + N 2021 to jump start the system.
It is no news that maternal mortality as well as death in children have continued to raise in Nigeria in spite of Government effort and donor support to the country. There is urgent need to reduce maternal and child mortality as well as build a health system that can clearly change the present picture. These were the issues on the front burner as Nigeria held its First Quarter 2021 meeting of the Nigeria Reproductive Maternal Newborn Adolescent Elderly Health plus Nutrition (RMNCAEH+N) Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Coordination Platform (MSPCP). The objectives of the meeting include: To sensitize and advocate to Media Chief Executives Officers on their roles and responsibilities towards improving health and wellbeing of women, children, adolescents, and elderly to achieve the goal of RMNCAEH+N strategy in Nigeria. The event was also used to disseminate RMNCAEH+N MSP Coordination Platform 2021 AOP and RMNCAEH+N COVID-19 Response Continuity Plan 2020-2022.
The Honorable Minister of Health Dr Osagie called for improvement in health promotion across the country as a veritable tool to improve on health indices. He assured states on support from the Federal Government to create Department of Family Health at the state ministries of Health as well as Health promotion unit. He further said that to achieve Universal Health Coverage we must change strategy as a nation and get all hands on board through innovative programs like emergency ambulance services. The minister of Healrh for state Senator Mamora noted the critical role of the media in promoting quality health care. He acknowledged the role the played in the COVID-19 response and has asked for such proactive efforts to be applied to maternal and child health to get needed improvement.
At the launch the National Chairman of the Nigerian Health Commissioner Forum Dr Betta Edu has called on the Federal Government to work towards system strengthening at all levels, to achieve Universal Health care and reduce maternal mortality we must apply new strategies, we must decentralize the health sector from implementation in Abuja to state based implementation, the work is actually at state level with different states facing great challenges. The issue of Human resource for health as well as Health insurance policy made mandatory for all are critical points that must be achieved. Health promotion must go beyond conventional print and electronic media to other forms of media reach which our people can identify with at the villages and communities. More emphasis should be directed towards implementation at the lower levels. A bottom up approach will change the picture of poor health indices in the country.
Others who spoke were the Health ambassador and traditional leader Dr Iyaha, who commended some states like Cross River state, Lagos and Jigawa states for the many innovative programs to address maternal and child mortality some of which include implementation of Health insurance scheme, collaboration with transport associations to move pregnant women in labour to health facilities, upgrade of health facilities amongs other things. the Dean of Media who advised the Federal ministry of Health to provide more Health information about ongoing interventions through frequent engagements with media.
High light was the launch of the RMNCAEH + N operational plan for 2021 by the minister of Health.