₦airaland Forum

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has appointed Dr. Mary Adetinuke Boyd as the new Country Director for Nigeria.
The US Mission in Nigeria made this known in a statement titled, ‘US-CDC appoints new Country Director for Nigeria’ on Tuesday.
The statement read in part, “In her new role, Dr. Boyd will lead the Nigeria office, which is one of CDC’s largest country offices, and support CDC’s collective efforts in global HIV and Tuberculosis, global health security, malaria elimination, and immunization.
“She joined CDC in the CDC Zambia country office, where she first served as Deputy Associate Director for Programs (2016-2018) and then as Senior Medical Advisor (2018-2020). While in Zambia, Dr. Boyd’s accomplishments included: leading the Antiretroviral Treatment Surge campaign; establishing the Zambia National HIV Clinical Mentorship program; and directing the first regional COVID-19 response ECHO community of practice in Southern Africa and West Africa.
“Dr. Boyd is a trained vaccinologist and conducted vaccine trials for influenza A (H1N1), live oral Shigella, Vibrio cholera, and Salmonella vaccine candidates from 2009-2013 at the University of Maryland’s Center for Vaccine Development. She subsequently joined the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, where she led global health vaccine efforts, including for Ebola, from 2013-2016.”

A contingent of 144 police officers from Nigeria on Saturday arrived in Somalia, to serve under the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISM) for a period of one year, during which they will mentor and provide operational support to the Somali Police Force (SPF).
On arrival in Mogadishu on a flight from the Nigerian capital, Abuja, the police officers were subjected to medical checks by Somalia Ministry of Health officials as part of COVID-19 protocols, before being briefed by AMISOM Police officials.
AMISOM Police Operations Coordinator, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Daniel Ali Gwambal said 30 police officers will be deployed to Beletweyne in HirShabelle State, while the rest will serve in various roles in the capital, Mogadishu.
Among other duties, the officers will work on providing VIP escort and protection services, training and assisting the SPF in public order management, conducting joint patrols with their Somali counterparts and securing key government installations and high-level events.
“They are here in order to fulfil the mandate of AMISOM with regards to operational support to the Somalis and at the same time to mentor the Somali Police Force. There are certain specific duties that are also incumbent on them to perform while they are here such as regular patrols at checkpoints, guard static duties and other duties that involve general policing,” DCP Gwambal said.
The arrival of the new contingent is a major boost to law and order efforts, as they will be working in concert with their Somali counterparts in ensuring improved security in liberated areas.
The commander of the newly deployed unit, Superintendent of Police (SP) Samuel Ita, said his officers were eager to begin discharging their duties, to help advance the mission’s mandate.
“We have come to play our part towards the restoration of lasting peace here in Somalia. We intend to train and mentor the Somali police to ensure that they meet international standards,” SP Ita said.

Baltimore officials said they are worried about a “deeply concerning” spike in new coronavirus infections and deaths in the city, which have been steadily rising for several weeks.
While all adults in Maryland are eligible for vaccinations, the expanded eligibility does not appear to have much effect on the spread of the coronavirus in Baltimore so far.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D) and Health Commissioner Letitia Dzirasa issued a joint statement Thursday calling the increase of cases and deaths “deeply concerning, particularly among residents under 70.”
They pointed to more contagious variants, increased movement among the public “approaching pre-pandemic times,” and less vigilance with social distancing and mask-wearing as contributing to the rise in cases.
“With a Covid-19 positivity rate above five percent, we have reached widespread community transmission, and are currently unable to pinpoint a specific driver for the rapid rise in cases,” the joint statement says.
The city’s daily positivity rate is 6.26 percent, which is higher than the state average of 5.67, but lower than Somerset County, which has the state’s highest rate at 11.15. By comparison with elsewhere in the capital region, Montgomery is at 3.11 and Prince George’s is at 6.32.
Baltimore is one of Maryland’s hot spots, with a seven-day average of new cases of 244, or nearly 41 cases per 100,000 residents.
Baltimore has also experienced an increase in the number of hospitalizations. In the past two weeks, the seven-day-average hospitalization figure has jumped from 331.1 to 403.6, according to local health department data.
Since March 12, hospitalizations in Maryland have climbed from 765 patients to 1,232 on Friday. The state reported 16 deaths from the novel coronavirus on Friday.
In the District, the seven-day average of new cases per 100,000 residents was 16, the same as it was one month ago, data show. The District reported 134 new cases on Friday and three new deaths.
The seven-day average of new cases per 100,000 in Virginia on Friday was about 18, slightly higher than the 15 the state reported one month ago. The state added 1,594 new cases and 20 new deaths Friday, data show.
The first cases of the coronavirus variant P.1, which was first identified in Brazil, were found in Virginia, state health officials said Friday. The variant was found in samples from two Virginia residents, one of whom traveled within the United States before the onset of illness. The residents are from the northwest and eastern regions of the state, officials said.
The variant, which has been detected in at least 20 states as well as Maryland and the District, is associated with increased transmission, but not more severe disease.
Meanwhile, Virginia health officials are preparing for a new federally funded mass vaccination center to open Tuesday in a former Lord & Taylor department store in Fairfax County, with the capacity to deliver at least 3,000 shots daily.

While the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on Black communities is well-documented, with Black people taking hits in health, unemployment and education, maternal health advocates are focusing their attention on the particular crisis of care for pregnant Black women during the pandemic.
The Covid-19 health crisis has exacerbated existing shortcomings in the nation’s health system. And as a result of the health crisis, pregnant Black women in particular are reportedly enduring limited in-person prenatal care, limited support during labor, social isolation and increased economic anxiety.
As of 2019, Black women have faced a higher share of pregnancy-related deaths, and for Black women over 30, those figures are four to five times higher than their white peers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is no concrete data yet available to determine the overall toll of the pandemic on them, but advocates like Dana Sherrod, birth equity and racial justice manager with the Cherished Futures for Black Moms and Babies, Public Health Alliance, are already expecting bleak outcomes.
"Covid is really exacerbating the stressors that exist for Black birthing folks. We know that high stress prenatally contributes to some of the inequities we see," Sherrod said in an interview. "Black women really have these unique experiences, and Covid is substantially adding to the stress of Black people. I imagine we're going to see that in our birthing outcomes."
April 11 through April 17 marks “Black Maternal Health Week,” which aims to shed light on Black women’s maternal and reproductive care. The Black Mamas Matter Alliance launched the event three years ago, and the cause has increasingly garnered attention as disparities in Black maternal care have made headlines in recent years. Now, countless public health professionals, reproductive justice advocates, doulas, midwives and more across the country participate in the weeklong event with everything from webinars and training to mutual aid. Many of this year’s events are virtual, which only underscores the myriad ways Covid-19 is affecting not only Black maternal health, but also the communal nature that has come to define Black Maternal Health Week.
With that, the White House on Tuesday released a proclamation recognizing Black Maternal Health Week and vowed to take steps to address the maternal health crisis. Initial efforts include providing $6 billion for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and allotting more than $250 million to implicit bias training, medical programs, early childhood development efforts, family planning programs and more.

When the coronavirus pandemic first gripped Philadelphia and the rest of the nation, it had a ripple effect on restaurants and individuals alike.
Husband-and-wife restaurateurs Benjamin Miller and Cristina Martinez, owners of famed restaurant South Philly Barbacoa, adapted quickly to deliver takeout service, but they had to let go of some staff members, and the picture wasn’t too rosy for their friends and community members, either. Some couldn't access federal stimulus payments because of their undocumented status.
“It was definitely devastating and heartbreaking to see a lot of restaurants go and to see our friends suffering, and that’s how our People’s Kitchen project began — through recognizing there’s a big need out there, people are hungry and they need work, too,” Miller said.
In Philadelphia, 21% of the population experiences food insecurity, compared with the national average of 12.9%, according to the nonprofit Feeding America. The People’s Kitchen, a partnership between South Philly Barbacoa and community collaborative 215 People’s Alliance, soon began serving restaurant-quality meals to those in need.
Using the space at Martinez and Miller’s El Compadre, the sister restaurant of South Philly Barbacoa, the couple collaborates with other chefs and volunteers to serve anywhere between 215 and 300 meals a day.
Each quarter, different chefs from local restaurants are paid to come in and run the kitchen and crew on a daily basis, giving work to those who have needed it during the pandemic, Miller said. But the project, which is possible thanks to mostly donated food and funds from chef José Andrés' not-for-profit organization World Central Kitchen, has a reach beyond the kitchen.
In Point Breeze, volunteers pick and grow vegetables at a community garden. Delivery drivers also volunteer their own time to distribute some of the food for people who can’t access the restaurant's physical location.
The scope of the project, too, stretches far beyond feeding people.
“It was also a movement for us to look at what we were missing in the system a little bit too, and how our restaurants excluded certain people,” Miller said. “The best food is being prepared for the wealthier patrons, so how can we get this food and bring it to people who don’t have and try to make a more inclusive community that can enjoy the fruits of our labor?”
That bottom-up focus also includes distributing information. In the largely Latino South Philadelphia corridor, for example, volunteers encouraged people to be counted and participate in last year’s census. They also registered people to vote and partner with community organizations like the Church of the Redeemer Baptist Church and Puentes de Salud, a nonprofit that provides health care to Philadelphia’s Latino immigrant population, to distribute meals.
Miller said the People’s Kitchen has an operating budget of about $25,000 a month. The group is looking for sustaining donors to ensure the collaborative continues beyond the end of the pandemic.
“This is our opportunity to build a restaurant model that is really using our talents in the best way possible,” said Miller.

(Reuters) -The U.S. government will allocate nearly 85% fewer Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine doses to states next week, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), due to uneven production related in part to problems at a Baltimore manufacturing plant.
Allocations will fall to 785,500 doses from 4.95 million doses this week. The data does not include a federal retail pharmacy program.
An official from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), who did not wish to be named, told Reuters that J&J released about 1.5 million doses to the U.S. government this week, compared with about 11 million doses last week. The allocation and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines is handled by the federal government.
HHS expects J&J’s supply to be uneven, the official said, but added that the company had promised it was on track to meet its commitment of delivering close to 100 million doses by the end of May.
J&J did not respond to requests for comment.
J&J last month said it had delivered enough of its one-dose vaccine by the end of March to enable full vaccination of more than 20 million people. The company said it would be able to deliver an additional 24 million doses through April.
A New York Times report last week said that workers at an Emergent BioSolutions facility in Baltimore contracted to make both the AstraZeneca Plc and J&J vaccines, mixed up ingredients of the two shots, ruining 15 million J&J doses.
The Baltimore facility has not been authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and a federal health official told Reuters last week that no vaccines produced at the plant had gone into arms.
A report from last year posted by the FDA on Thursday showed that inspectors had flagged several issues at the plant in April 2020, before the company began making COVID-19 vaccines, including inadequate controls to prevent contamination, training problems, and other quality control issues.
“We have worked and continue to work closely with the federal government in support of the COVID response,” Emergent spokesman Matt Hartwig said in an email. “These FDA observations were addressed and reviewed in detail with FDA during their recent site visits in September 2020 and February 2021.”
According to CDC data, California receives largest allotment of the J&J vaccine, followed by Texas and Florida. The vaccine allocation for California will be down by about 88%, with the state set to receive a maximum of 67,600 doses next week.
A California health official told Reuters that the state’s allocation will fall further to 22,400 doses in the week starting April 18.

Worried by their inability to cope with the challenges of providing adequate services to the citizenry, transport operators across the country have urged the federal government to urgently disburse the N10 billion COVID-19 palliative fund to their members to prevent imminent collapse of the sector.
This is as the N10bn COVID-19 bailout as intervention fund to operators in the Nigeria's auto industry which is expected to rescue ailing companies and firms to reposition the sector seems to be shrouded in controversy.
Findings revealed that the huge fund earmarked as bailout for the transport operators is causing ripples as some operators are alleging that they were side-lined in the disbursement. It was learned that among the operators who have been asked to submit documents for verification were the interstate luxury bus operators, under the aegis of the Public Transport Owners of Nigeria Association, PTONA.
Vanguard learned that having lost billions of naira to the 98-day lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the transporters had expected that they would deploy the palliative to beef up their business but up till today, they are yet to benefit.
In a letter dated March 28, 2021 addressed to the Minister of State for Transportation, Federal Ministry of Transportation and signed by the Deputy President, Emeka Mamah, the group pleaded the verification of two key issues as it concerned the fund.
First, PITONA pleaded to the Minister to correct apparent confusion in treating the N10 billion COVID-19 palliative fund approved for Road Transporters as MSME Survival fund domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.
The group also asked for immediate disbursement of the fund to their members to prevent imminent collapse of interstate passenger transport companies in Nigeria.
According to PITONA, efforts to secure an appointment to pay a working visit to the Minister to discuss issues relating to the delay in disbursing the fund to road transporters was not granted.
"However, in your reply to our letter, dated March 3, 2021 (a copy is attached) our request for the visit was neither approved nor rejected. On the contrary, you simply advised our association to redirect its inquiry regarding the fund to the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment since the intervention fund for the transport sector had been released to the ministry by the Federal Government", the group stated in the letter.
Lamenting further, PITONA insisted that the N10 billion COVID-19 Palliatives Fund approved by the Federal Government was totally different from an aspect of the N60 billion MSME Survival Fund domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, adding that "the N10 billion COVID-19 Palliative Fund was meant to assist road transporters to resuscitate their businesses that were on negative income throughout the 14 weeks that the country was on complete lockdown for all interstate passenger movement due to COVID-19 pandemic."
"On the other hand, an aspect of the N60 billion MSME Survival Fund domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment is a one-off grant designed to support vulnerable Micro Small and Medium Enterprises in meeting up their salary obligations under the Federal Government's National Economic Sustainability Plan, NESP," PITONA added.
REASD ALSO: Transport Ministry inaugurates anti-graft unit
PITONA had earlier in 2020, estimated a loss of about N200 billion in revenue just in 10 weeks of the lockdown
Another major operator who spoke under anonymity, told our correspondent that when they approached the Federal Ministry of Transportation, they were directed to enquire from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.
On getting to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, the source disclosed that they were told that the money had been disbursed to Keke-NAPEP riders
In addition, another transport body, Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, RTEAN, also claimed it had not benefited from the fund.
Confirming their position, the National President of RTEAN, Alhaji Musa Muhammed, said he was not aware of the fund.
"I am not aware of any N10 billion palliative. We have not seen anything. The only money which some of our members got was the N30,000 MSME fund and not many people got the money," Muhammed said.
Efforts made to reach the Director of Press in the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Mr. Eric Ojiekwe, proved abortive as he did not pick nor return our call. Also a text message sent to him was not replied.

India has donated 100,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to Nigeria to support the country in its fight against the pandemic.

Indian Ambassador to Abuja Abhay Thakur said the vaccines have been forwarded to the National First Aid Development Agency in the Nigerian capital.

According to Thakur, these vaccines are a sign of the friendship between the two countries.

Nigeria had received 4,224,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine via the South African telecommunications company MTN and the Covax device which aims to provide vaccines to low-income countries.

With the launch of the vaccination campaign which began on March 5, more than 700 doses of the vaccine have been administered in the country.

The University of Connecticut has placed residents of five campus dormitories under quarantine after 35 students tested positive for Covid-19.
School officials blamed March parties for the outbreak and elevated its main campus in the village of Storrs to "yellow" restrictions that include online instruction for quarantined students.
"This spike in positives may be related to large off-campus gatherings that were reported this past weekend," said Dean of Students Eleanor Daugherty, in a letter.
The quarantine means students in the Eddy, Middlesex, Windham, Rogers and Russell dorms cannot attend classes or events. All campus dorm dwellers will be denied visitors, Daugherty said.
Residents of the five dorms have to either remain on campus through spring break, which is scheduled for the week of April 11, or complete the quarantine at home, Daugherty said.
Connecticut State Police broke up a house party near campus on March 27 that was attended by an estimated 100 guests, the agency said in a statement.
"It was reported that the people at the gathering were not social distancing," the department said.
Two people were arrested, one on suspicion of hosting the event despite pandemic restrictions and the other in connection with throwing a beverage at a state officer, state police said.
Daugherty warned against partying.
"These gatherings increase the risk of exposure and spread, which is much more likely to occur when we don’t follow universal precautions such as wearing masks and keeping physical distance," she said.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), despite overall progress in its anti-corruption efforts, has not ensured sufficient oversight of its Covid-19 emergency loans, Human Rights Watch and Transparency International said today. As a result, it is hard for members of the public in many countries to track the governments’ Covid-19 spending, to identify potential corruption, or to determine whether the deprivation of basic rights connected to the pandemic is being addressed.

Since March 2020, the IMF has provided about US$108 billion in financial assistance to 85 countries to support their response to the pandemic. Due to the IMF’s improved attention to combating corruption, about half of these loan agreements included specific anti-corruption measures related to Covid-19 spending and procurement. In some cases, the IMF obtained strong transparency commitments that spurred the publication of valuable information. Some governments amended procurements rules to enable publication of the names of beneficial (that is, real) owners of companies awarded contracts. This information is key to preventing conflicts of interest and tax evasion and allowing the public to track who benefits from public contracts. However, weak implementation impeded the potential of this progress.

"The IMF’s call to governments during the pandemic to ‘spend as much as you can but keep the receipts’ showed concern for corruption risks,” said Sarah Saadoun, senior business and human rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “But this approach will only be effective in addressing rights issues if it ensures that those ‘receipts’ are publicly accessible, comprehensive, and credible.”

Robust IMF lending is critical for many governments to have sufficient resources to respond to the pandemic by providing adequate and accessible health care as well as addressing its economic impacts. It is equally critical for governments to spend these funds transparently and accountably so they reach those in need.

Human Rights Watch and Transparency International assessed the effectiveness of the IMF’s approach during the pandemic by analyzing how well four governments – Egypt, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Ecuador – carried through on the measures included in their loan agreements. Between January and March 2021, the organizations analyzed documents published by these governments, as well as loan agreements and other documents published by the IMF.

Transparency International also conducted a comprehensive review of anti-corruption measures included in emergency loan agreements prior to July 23, 2020, at which point most of the IMF’s immediate Covid-19 support had been approved. In Nigeria and Cameroon, Human Rights Watch interviewed medical staff and people who lost earnings due to the pandemic. Human Rights Watch, in March 2021, wrote to the finance ministries of each of the four governments and the IMF. Only the IMF responded, which is reflected below.

The IMF’s approach to stemming corruption for its emergency lending relies heavily on public oversight, particularly from civil society groups and the media. To facilitate oversight, the data needs to be accessible and sufficiently detailed to assess and track spending, and conditions need to be in place to ensure that concerns can be raised safely. The IMF also needs to remain actively engaged to ensure robust implementation by governments, including through future surveillance and lending programs.

To its credit, the IMF has increased engagement with civil society groups since the onset of the pandemic, including by initiating workshops and calls with IMF staff. The IMF also met with civil society groups, though typically after loans were already approved.

A View from Four Countries

An in-depth analysis of Egypt, Nigeria, Ecuador, and Cameroon found mixed results in meeting the IMF’s transparency commitments. There remained inconsistencies in the types of measures to which governments committed, their implementation, and the role of the IMF in ensuring compliance. The transparency commitments in the emergency loans spurred all four governments to produce information about their spending and contracts that they would have otherwise not published. However, the amount, accessibility, and quality of the disclosed information varied widely and was inadequate for meaningful oversight for any of the four countries.

Palau has received 200 doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccine this month and has immediately started the rollout weekend to one of the outlying states.
Last weekend President Surangel Whipps Junior, along with Governor Richard Ngiraked and Palau health officials, accompanied members of the US Health and Human Services (HHS) team on a vaccination trip to Kayangel State.
In doing so, Palau became the first Freely Associated State (FAS) to receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
During the visit to Kayangel, 40 residents were vaccinated.
Palau was expected to receive more doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the coming months, together with its monthly allocation of the Moderna vaccine.
Whipps said the single dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine was more suited to residents living in remotes states in Palau.
The rollout of the single dose vaccine would continue, with the HHS team expected to travel to other outlying states in Palau.
Dr. Richard Bostrom, who is one of the US health officers in Palau helping the vaccination programme, said by the end of June the country would be at a safe level in terms of inoculation.
Bostrom lauded Palau's vaccination programme, which was ahead of the US on Covid-19 vaccination statistics.
"Your vaccine numbers were quite high, even though everyone gets the same amount of vaccine in the United States, Palau was still number one.
"What we have seen here when we arrived, is the reason why you are number one. The Minister of Health, the executive branch and all the community are determined and has prioritised this and is remarkably focused to get this vaccine out in a way that it is intended," Bostrom said during a press conference.
According to the Minister of Health's Covid-19 Situation Report, as of March 24, 8662 had received their first vaccine dose and 4477 people were fully vaccinated or close to 25 percent of the population.
Palau was also getting ready for a travel bubble with Taiwan which was set to start on 1 April. The bubble would open Palau's borders to tourists after one year of closure because of the coronavirus pandemic.
While Palau remained Covid-free, its tourism-reliant economy had taken a big hit.
Samuel Whipps was scheduled to leave for Taiwan over the weekend for his first off-island trip since he assumed office in January.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Lagos, Abuja and other states in the top 5 tech states in the country have about 65 million subscribers. This represents about one-third of Nigeria’s total mobile subscribers.
Generally, the telecom data report shows that the total number of mobile subscribers increased by 19.9 million subscribers from 184.7 million recorded in 2019 to 204.6 million in 2020.
Similarly, the total number of internet subscribers grew by about 30.2 million subscribers from 126.07 in 2018 to about 154.3 million in 2020.
The significant increase in both mobile and internet in 2020 can be traced to the increase in usage of gadgets and the internet due to the work from home policy induced by the covid-19 lockdown.
Recall, that we reported companies like Carbon, Andela and BuyCoins implementing remote working following the outbreak of the pandemic last year. A closer inspection shows that most of the companies that first implemented remote working policy were based in either Lagos and Abuja with others following much later.
The restriction in movements caused the use of voice, video call and mobile data to increase exponentially as it was the safest means to reach out to colleagues, relatives and friends.
According to a report by the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Danbatta, Internet subscribers in Nigeria consume over 80,000 terabytes of data per month in 2020.

As the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic gets underway, powerful entities like the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union boast about half of the world's vaccine supply.
Some critics argue they should supply other countries with excess vaccines to help expedite the end of the pandemic. This effort might also include requiring that pharmaceutical companies share recipes for their coronavirus vaccines in order to ramp up production, but many of those companies oppose that suggestion.
Others say the United States, and its peers, should focus on vaccinating its own citizens first, especially considering the high rates of vaccine skepticism and hesitancy among the U.S. population.
What role should the U.S. and other superpowers play in the global vaccination effort? And how can we continue to combat vaccine hesitancy at home?
Matt Apuzzo, Dr. Ruth Faden and Dr. Tom Freiden joined us for the discussion.
Like what you hear? Find more of our programs online.

Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers are ramping up production, churning out far more doses a week than earlier in the year, progress that is accelerating mass vaccination campaigns in the U.S.
After a slow start, Pfizer Inc., its partner BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc. have raised output by gaining experience, scaling up production lines and taking other steps like making certain raw materials on their own.
Pfizer figured out how to stretch scarce supplies of special filters needed for the vaccine production process by recycling them. Moderna shortened the time it needed to inspect and package newly manufactured vials of its vaccine.
The companies—along with Johnson & Johnson , which recently launched a Covid-19 vaccine—also are teaming up with other firms to further increase production.
In addition, the U.S. government has helped vaccine makers access supplies under the Defense Production Act, suppliers and government officials say. The Biden administration this month said it used the act to provide $105 million in funding to help Merck & Co. make doses of J&J’s Covid-19 vaccine and to expedite materials used in its production.

No fewer than 2.3 million Nigerians registered their preparedness to receive the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine jab within 48 hours of the registration of the e-portal in the first week of March as Nigeria received samples. Their enthusiasm was at variance with the initial scepticism that visited the idea of the vaccines in Nigeria.
A survey of 1100 Nigerians between October and November 2020 by the Edelman Trust Barometer 2021 found that vaccine hesitancy was a high 59 per cent in Nigeria. Reluctance was 64 per cent globally. Hesitancy combined with a low trust environment where only 24 per cent of Nigerians believe in government and trust overall is at 49 per cent.
Proactive communication and reaching persons at the grassroots made a difference in changing Nigerians’ attitude to the vaccine.
Experts and manufacturers rolled out the vaccine in December 2020 globally. It came one year into the devastation the virus first spotted in Wuhan, China wrought on the world. The rollout happened rapidly in China, Europe and the United States of America, among other countries.
Nigeria secured four million doses of the AstraZeneca brand from India, courtesy of the Covax Facility. It arrived in Nigeria on 2 March 2021. The government and citizens alike were excited.
Before the vaccine’s arrival, the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 (PTF) worked assiduously to prepare Nigerians to accept the vaccine despite a few misguided comments on its safety and efficacy. Secretary to the Government Boss Mustapha led the PTF to collaborate with other agencies to prepare the grounds.
PTF understood the public’s genuine scepticism about the new vaccine and their resistance and undertook the daunting task of reversing such perception many weeks before its arrival in the country. It directly sent out messages to counter the negative perceptions of the vaccine’s safety and efficacy and that it has no adverse effect on recipients. In charge of the vaccination programme in the country, the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency engaged in sensitisation and awareness programmes to correct the negative perception. It reached out to critical stakeholders, especially traditional rulers and leaders of major religions, to accept and convince their subjects and brethren on the vaccine’s safety.
These efforts must have yielded fruits. Nigerians welcomed the arrival of the vaccine with great enthusiasm. Moreso, the top-bottom approach vaccination strategy adopted by the PTF for administering the vaccine has helped build confidence in the masses that there will not be any adverse effect.
The phased distribution to the States began with the vaccination of all frontline health workers, supporting staff and strategic leaders. As a mark of leadership and confidence building, President Muhammed Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo were vaccinated in the glare of television cameras before the members of the PTF and some journalists took their turn.
So far, the vaccine distribution across the 36 States is on course with no noticeable hitches. By 8 March 2021, about 33 states and the FCT had taken delivery. It is noteworthy that the PTF has mapped out the deployment of vaccines to the States based on assessing their level of preparedness.
Some of the parameters used for the assessment include adequate maintenance of their cold chain storage facilities, proper preparation of logistic transportation to the ward/ health facility, sufficient security in place during transport and at vaccination sites, completion of training of health workers, efficient social mobilisation activities, and adherence to the protocol for vaccine deployment.
It is equally encouraging that the PTF will be working with the private sector-led CACOVID, which has provided a cargo plane to transport the vaccines to all local airports across the country. States without a functional airport, according to the PTF, will have their vaccines transported by road using vans with fitted Cold Cabins from the nearest airport. They will store the vaccines at the State Cold Stores, from where they will transport them by road to LGA Cold Stores.
The PTF also plans to monitor activities once the vaccines are in the States strictly. PTF would work with the Federal Ministry of Health, NPHCDA and independent bodies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Department of State Security, Independent Corrupt Practices Commission and Civil Society Organizations. The PTF would ensure compliance by States/health facilities/health workers and sanction defaulters who deviate from the standard protocol and guidelines for the vaccination programme.
The PTF plans to ensure the vaccination of about 70 per cent of the population n the next phase. The plan involves vaccination of the elderly from 50 years and above. There are two sub-groups; the vaccination of persons 60 and above first, followed by 50 – 59 years. Eligible citizens who have not registered electronically, PTF says, would be assisted at the designated health facility to ensure a seamless exercise.
The third phase of the vaccination process will take care of those between 18- 49 years with co-morbidities (such as hypertension, diabetes, lung disease, other heart diseases, liver or renal disease). Immunisation of individuals ages 50 and above with co-morbidities would happen with their age groups.
The fourth phase would involve vaccination of the rest of the eligible population between 18-49 years.
It is worthy to note that the authorities would assess the level of preparedness of the States before deploying vaccines at each stage. The Federal Government assures that it has placed accountability measures to ensure strict compliance with the vaccination process. Their health providers will evaluate pregnant women to weigh the benefit versus risk.
Another significant development in the vaccination programme of the PTF for the country is the bid for vaccine production in Nigeria. In the first week of March, the Central Bank of Nigeria gave out N253.4million in grants to sundry researchers under the Healthcare Sector Research and Development Intervention Scheme, HSRDIS. The grant is part of measures to support the Nigerian healthcare sector’s growth and, significantly, develop a Nigerian-produced vaccine against coronavirus.
It is not surprising that Mustapha commended the CBN for what he described as the bank’s modest efforts at helping future generations to combat any outbreak of health pandemic. Before then, the SGF and chairman of the PTF continues to assure Nigerians that the COVID-19 vaccines now in the country “are safe and efficacious”. He has continually urged members of the public to avail themselves of the opportunity to get vaccinated.
Indeed, the well-thought-out programme for vaccination of Nigerians, part of the National Response Strategy to combat COVID-19, is commendable. Experts advise that the PTF leave nothing to chance and closely follow up the vaccination process, especially at the sub-national levels. The measure would ensure the effective and efficient distribution of the vaccine among the populace.

Nigeria must improve on its health sector financing if the country is to meet the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) target by 2030. This was the consensus when some stakeholders gathered in Abuja on Wednesday to deliberate on ways to strengthen community systems towards achieving UHC.
Tagged “Universal Health Coverage by 2030: Driving the Agenda with community at the centre,” the event was organised by the Nigeria Network of Religious Leaders Living with or Personally Affected by HIV/AIDS (NINERELA+), a non-governmental organisation.
To achieve UHC, Innocent Ujah, president of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), said the country must strengthen its Primary Health Care system (PHC) and improve health sector financing.
Represented by Usman Galadima, Chairman Advocacy, monitoring and evaluation, NMA, he said PHCs in the country are dilapidated and can no longer provide quality services to the people.
“We have to strengthen existing health infrastructures, including primary health care system as most of the centres are dilapidated,” Mr Ujah said.
“2030 is still nine years away so we have to increase health sector financing and involve innovative means to strengthen infrastructure.”
UHC, which entails providing effective access — including financial risk protection — to essential healthcare for, at least, the poorest and the most vulnerable population, is key to achieving the world’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
It is the central target of the SDG 3, one of the 17 goals set by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a viable and people-oriented PHC system and robust financing structure is key in achieving UHC.

Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, has assured the vulnerable, especially widows and single mothers, of access to the COVID-19 vaccines, urging gender parity in the administration of the jabs.
Speaking at the distribution of palliatives to 93 women groups at an event to commemorate International Women’s Day (IWD) and Mother’s Day yesterday in Abuja, the minister urged the governors and their wives to replicate the advocacy in the states.
“I am sure Mr. President will ensure that there is an equal distribution between the men and women. So, gender parity will be properly addressed.
“We are committed to reaching more women not just in the FCT, but across the country,” she added.
Tallen encouraged more women to seek elective offices and make their votes count.
IN a related development, experts, yesterday, held that the coronavirus outbreak had spiked cases of Gender-Based Violence (GBV).
During the commissioning of Hearts of Hope Shelter by Cee-Hope Nigeria in partnership with Hearts100 in Lagos, the professionals decried the spate of GBV in the country, stating that the government needed to build more shelters to accommodate victims.
According to them, the rising incidents have resulted in deaths in most scenarios.
Founder of Cee-Hope Nigeria, Betty Abah, regretted that the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, physical battery, sexual violence and other forms of domestic aggression have been on the increase.
The upsurge, she pointed out, could be “because either the victim is locked in with his/her abuser owing to lockdown measures or loss of livelihoods which imposes immense pressures.”
She said it is for this reason that GBV has long been tagged ‘an epidemic within an epidemic’ with women and girls the major victims.
“We are witnessing a major economic recession and in the background, the widespread rape culture and gender stereotypes fuelled by a dominant patriarchal tradition only aggravate things. But all these realities would not have been so scary were we a nation with an adequate support system to extend to victims. Shelters and safe houses to take in victims of GBV are grossly inadequate, to put it lightly,” Abah added.
To environmentalist and Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Dr. Nnimmo Bassey, GBV is like a regular feature daily, lamenting that very little is being done to check the trend, as “some of the people who are supposed to enforce the law against such abuses are also protagonists.”
In her remarks, Founder/Executive Director of Project Alert on Violence against Women, Josephine Effah-Chukwuma, who decried the dearth of shelters for the abused, said the abnormality has become the norm and part of daily life in the country.
She said: “People live in a country where impunity reigns. A patriarchal society that makes men feel abusing women and girl children is proper. The abnormal has become normal, which is destroying the society.”
Women and children should be protected, and such abuse and abnormal phenomena should be taken seriously and improved.

France, Germany, Spain and Italy joined several other European countries in temporarily halting the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine Monday over concerns that the shots may be linked to an increased risk of blood clots. But experts say no causal link has been identified so far, and they cautioned that the suspensions might wind up doing more harm than good.
A growing number of European countries opted to pause the rollout of the vaccine after there were reports that a small number of patients developed blood clots after receiving at least one dose.
The World Health Organization said Monday that "there is no evidence that the incidents are caused by the vaccine" and advised that vaccination campaigns should continue while the clotting concerns are investigated. Several experts agreed that without a higher burden of proof, the suspensions could ultimately drive future outbreaks — particularly because they are coming at a precarious time for Europe in the pandemic.
"There's still a lot of Covid around Europe, so given that this is a public health emergency, you would need to see a pretty strong signal in the data to suspend a vaccine program," said Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom. "If we have this scare and there's nothing there, will there be more cases and deaths from Covid-19 because of delays in the vaccine rollout? Will it increase vaccine hesitancy?"
Head said that while any potential side effect should be investigated thoroughly, decisions to halt vaccination campaigns need to strike a delicate balance between risks and benefits. At the moment, he said, there are no data to suggest that AstraZeneca shots are tied to blood clots.
"I can't see a strong enough signal to warrant withdrawing the vaccine from national rollouts," Head said. "Given that there's still a lot of Covid around Europe and the emergency of the situation, I'm not sure why vaccine programs are being suspended."

We should have confidence in the vaccine .Stopping vaccination may cause greater harm.

WASHINGTON — Tucked into the massive $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill signed into law by President Joe Biden on Thursday was a provision aimed at benefiting farmers of color who are socially disadvantaged, in a move to cover outstanding debt.
The provision, which was drawn from the Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act, was inserted into the relief package and includes $5 billion of which will go to socially disadvantaged farmers of color. These include Black, Hispanic, Native American or Asian American farmers. Four billion dollars would go toward covering up to 120% of outstanding debt, and another $1 billion is designated for outreach, training, education, technical assistance and grants.
It’s part of the $10.4 billion provided in the package for agricultural and food supply sectors. 
The inclusion of relief for farmers of color has been hailed as vital to addressing historic inequalities, particularly for Black farmers, whose numbers have been in decline and who have faced discrimination.
The loan provision is intended to “address the historical discrimination against socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers and address issues” related to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the text of the bill.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday afternoon announced plans for the U.S. to purchase another 100 million Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine doses. 
Speaking during an event with the leaders of Johnson & Johnson and Merck, the president thanked the two competitors for working together to great millions of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines. 
The president added that during this "war time effort," we need "maximum flexibility.
“A lot can happen a lot can change and we need to be prepared,” Biden explained. He also announced that on Saturday, the U.S. reached a new record of 2.9 million vaccinations in one day.
White House senior adviser Andy Slavitt previewed the announcement during a briefing Wednesday morning and said the order of vaccines "allows the president to plan for the future and the latter part of the year."
Last week, Biden said the United States would have enough coronavirus vaccines for every single American adult by the end of May.
When asked Wednesday what the U.S. would do if it winds up having a surplus of vaccines, the president said we'll share it with the rest of the world.
Biden previously announced he would be using the powers of the federal government to direct all states to prioritize vaccinating teachers, and said the federal government would provide the doses directly through its pharmacy program. He challenged states to administer at least one dose of the vaccine to all teachers by the end of March as part of his administration's efforts to reopen more schools across the nation.

Abuja. President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo were the first to take the Covid-19 vaccine in Abuja on Saturday following the start of Nigeria’s vaccination campaign.
The country has received its first 3.98 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.
The President and VP’s vaccination was aired live on television, a day after the national vaccination campaign began with frontline healthcare workers at the National Hospital in Abuja.
Mr Buhari and Mr Osinbajo were vaccinated at the New Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa in Abuja in the presence of members of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on Covid-19, senior government officials and journalists.
Their personal physicians, Dr Sanusi Raafindadi and Dr Nicholas Audifferen, respectively, administered the vaccines.
President Buhari described his decision to be publicly inoculated as ‘‘a demonstration of leadership and faith in the safety and efficacy of the vaccines”.
‘‘I recommend [the vaccine] to all eligible Nigerians so that we can be protected from the virus,’’ he said.
He urged all State governments, traditional and religious leaders and other people of influence to lead mobilisation efforts.
‘‘The vaccine offers hope for a safe country free from the coronavirus,” he said.
‘‘I urge all eligible Nigerians to present themselves and be vaccinated, in accordance with the order of priority already mapped out, at designated centres only,’’ he added.
Use of resources
President Buhari thanked governments, donors, development partners, the private sector, traditional and religious leaders and other stakeholders who have supported Nigeria’s response to the pandemic, assuring that all the resources will be equitably administered.
He noted that since the beginning of the year 2020, humanity has remained under the burden of the pandemic, “an unseen but very potent enemy around the world”.
‘‘The virus has resulted in over 2.5 million fatalities and destroyed several global and national systems,” he said.
‘‘The response in Nigeria and the Ecowas sub-region has been robust, collaborative and united. It was driven by a collective knowledge of the fact that no country is safe until every country is safe.
‘‘The speedy development of vaccines is quite significant and underscores the collective resolve of humanity to overcome the pandemic. Similarly, the collaborative effort to ensure equal access has brought relief to poor and developing countries.”
The President further said the government will roll out a vaccine administration plan that will see over 70 per cent of Nigeria’s population inoculated by 2022.
Huge population
The country had a population of at least 206 million by 2020, according to data from the United Nations.
Nigeria received its first batch of the vaccines through Covax on March 2, when they were delivered at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja. The vaccine will be administered in two doses.
The government is expecting 129 million vaccine doses to vaccinate 70 per cent of its population within two years.
With more than 150,000 Nigerians infected with the virus and more than 1,800 lives lost, the path to recovery for the people of Nigeria can finally begin, said Mr Peter Hawkins, Unicef’s Country Representative for Nigeria.
“This is a very significant occasion. The arrival of the Covid-19 vaccines into Nigeria is critical in curbing the pandemic. The only way out of this crisis is to ensure that vaccinations are available to all.”
Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, director-general of Nigeria’s National Council for Disease Control (NCDC), reported that the nation has finished making preparations for vaccine administration as well as an impact assessment.
“Amidst the difficulties in the last one year, we must use lessons from the pandemic to prepare for future outbreaks, or else history will not judge us kindly,” he said.
“As we work towards an important milestone this week, that will require our collaboration, we‘ll continue to work in solidarity with our sister agency and all our partners to ensure a successful vaccination campaign.”

Occidental CEO Vicki Hollub said Thursday that she doesn’t envision U.S. oil production returning to pre-pandemic highs.
“I do believe that most companies have committed to value growth, rather than production growth,” she said during a CNBC Evolve conversation with Brian Sullivan. “And so I do believe that that’s going to be part of the reason that oil production in the United States does not get back to 13 million barrels a day.”
She believes companies will focus on optimizing current operations and facilities, rather than seeking growth at all costs. But she added that oil demand is recovering faster-than-expected, driven primarily by China, India and the United States.
“The recovery looks more V-shaped than we had originally thought it would be,” she said. The company’s initial forecast had demand returning to pre-pandemic levels by the middle of 2022. Now, Hollub believes demand will return by the end of this year or the first few months of 2022.
“I do believe we’re headed for a much healthier supply and demand environment” she said.
Her comments came after West Texas International crude futures, the U.S. oil benchmark, jumped more than 4% on Thursday to trade as high as $64.86 per barrel, a level last seen in January 2020.
She expects crude prices will be “a little better than where they are today” if her demand forecast for next year is correct, but she does not expect prices to go up “excessively” other than the short spikes that can occur from time to time.
OPEC and its oil-producing allies on Thursday decided to keep production levels largely steady into April, with Saudi Arabia also announcing that it would extend its voluntary one million barrels per day production cut.
The group first implemented unprecedented supply cuts in 2020 in an effort to provide a floor as oil prices tumbled to historic lows.
The energy sector has rebounded this year and is the top-performing S&P group by a long shot, but stock prices continue to hover well below prior highs as the focus on ESG investing, among other things, weighs.
Hollub reiterated Thursday that the company is working toward net zero carbon oil production through its heavy investments into carbon capture.
“We need to change the narrative .. it’s not fossil fuels that’s really the problem, it’s the emissions,” she said. “What we have to do is we need to get everybody focused on instead of trying to kill fossil fuels, we need to get everybody’s attention on how do we use oil and gas reservoirs to our advantage.”
“How do we use that to lower emissions all around the world, and that’s exactly our goal. Our goal is to be the company that provides the solution,” she said.
Shares of Occidental have surged more than 70% this year. The stock is still negative over the last year, however.

Abuja — The federal government yesterday stepped up campaigns towards the vaccination of Nigerians against COVID-19 just as it took delivery of 3.94 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines.
Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, who took delivery of the vaccines, handed them over to the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHDA) and the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for further processing.
He also rallied stakeholders such as traditional rulers, religious leaders, civil society organisations and the media, among others, to help propagate the message on why Nigerians should be vaccinated to all parts of the country.
Mustapha led other top government officials to take delivery of the NAFDAC-approved vaccines, which arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, via an Emirates Airline.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar welcomed the arrival of the vaccines, saying that it will herald the full opening of the economy.
The vaccines, which arrived from India, were the first tranche of the 16 million doses expected under the COVAX arrangement.
Mustapha stated that the arrival of the AstraZeneca vaccines in the country marked a significant milestone in the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.
He stated that for over one year, humanity has remained under the siege of a virus that has impacted lives, livelihood, destroyed economies, governance systems, medical services and socio-economic systems.
According to him, nations around the world have deployed enormous resources to tackle the virus which has seen a first wave and more virulent second wave.
He added that the pandemic has claimed over 2.5 million lives worldwide and still counting.
He said: "Prior to the vaccine phase, we had introduced and promoted the non-pharmaceutical interventions. These remain very valid measures to take under the infection prevention and control policy.
"I, therefore, urge all Nigerians to continue to comply with these measures even as we roll out the vaccines administration plan, which is expected to reach 70 per cent of our population between 2021 and 2022. Under the circumstances, it must continue to be NPIs + vaccines."
Mustapha stated that the successful development of vaccines and the accelerated process for emergency authorisation have brought hope to humanity.
"Its arrival in Nigeria today has been made possible through purposeful leadership by His Excellency, the president, collaboration with domestic stakeholders, the international community and painstaking technical efforts to ensure that what we are offering Nigerians is safe and efficacious.
"Although this consignment of vaccines is just 3.924 million doses of the expected 16 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines from the COVAX facility, we are indeed grateful to the coalition that has made this possible for us to receive it," he said.
He assured Nigerians that the federal government will prioritise the administration of the vaccines in a strategically planned manner to meet the nation's peculiar needs and cover its heroic health care workers who have sacrificed their all, including their lives, in the cause of caring for the rest of the citizenry.
He stated that the PTF, working with the Federal Ministry of Health and the NPHCDA, will ensure transparency, efficiency and economy under the process.
"It is, therefore, important to assure all Nigerians that their turns for receiving the jab will come," he said.
Ahead of the full rollout, Mustapha urged "all stakeholders (traditional rulers, religious leaders, civil societies, respectable Nigerians, the media) to carry the message on the significance of being vaccinated to the grassroots and all segments of the society. This is a fight for everyone."
At the ceremony, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Primary Health Care, Senator Chuka Utazi, said: "We must ensure it gets to the most vulnerable. We will ensure the right quality is given to Nigerians. Nigeria has confirmed its goodness and we must ensure the best."
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, called on Nigerians to make themselves available for vaccination.
Also speaking, the Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, said only eligible population from 18 years and above, including pregnant women would be vaccinated.
He said that the vaccine rollout would be in four phases, starting with health workers, frontline workers, COVID-19 rapid response team, laboratory network, policemen, petrol station workers and strategic leaders.
The Managing Director for Country Programmes at GAVI, Thabani Maphosa, noted that the Vaccine Alliance viewed the delivery of the vaccines as a landmark moment for Nigeria to end the acute phase of the pandemic.
Also, the United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallon, said the delivery of the vaccines represented a major milestone for the COVAX facility in its efforts to deliver at least two billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines globally by the end of 2021.
He added that the vaccines have undergone rigorous regulatory processes at the global and country-level and have been deemed safe and effective.
Kallon said the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine would enable the NPHCDA to commence the vaccination of Nigerians in priority groups, starting with frontline healthcare workers.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Representative in Nigeria, Mr. Walter Mulombo, lauded the federal government for its participation in COVAX efforts and its commitment to protecting Nigerians against this pandemic.
Also the UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative, Mr. Peter Hawkins, said the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines into Nigeria was critical in curbing the pandemic, noting that the only way out of the crisis is to ensure that vaccination is available to all.
"After a year of disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, today we celebrate the efforts being made in getting the vaccine to Nigeria," Hawkins said.
Meanwhile, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said the arrival of the vaccines will herald the full opening of the economy.
"I am gladdened at reports of the arrival in Abuja of 3.94 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine via the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Assess Facility, COVAX," Atiku said in a statement.
He said the vaccines would be a good starting point to begin the vaccination of Nigerians against the pandemic.
"I commend the federal government for this effort and hope that steps to procure more vaccines are underway. This will usher in the process of fully reopening our country and rebuilding our economy and the lives of our people," he said.

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — Miriam Izaguirre, a 35-year-old asylum-seeker from Honduras, crossed the Rio Grande at dawn Monday with her young son and turned herself in to the authorities.
A few hours later she was released, and the first thing she did was take a rapid test for Covid-19 at the Brownsville bus station. They told her her test came out positive.
"Right now we were tested for Covid and they separated about eight of us because we were positive," she told Noticias Telemundo Investiga. "We are waiting right now." She was waiting to catch a bus to Houston.
Other migrant families who also said they had tested positive were waiting to go to other destinations: North Carolina, Maryland and New Jersey.
The city of Brownsville administers these rapid tests at the bus station, after migrant families are released by the Border Patrol. A spokesperson for Brownsville confirmed that, since they began doing these tests Jan. 25, 108 migrants have tested positive for Covid-19, which is 6.3 percent of those who took the test.
In response to Noticias Telemundo Investiga, a spokesperson for the city said in an email that Brownsville does not have the authority to retain these migrants who plan to travel to dozens of cities throughout the country. The city assured that municipal workers recommend to those who test positive to keep quarantine as indicated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The city employees suggest to families they go to nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and nonprofits in the the border area who can take them in and isolate them in order to keep quarantine.
"The City of Brownsville continues to follow all guidelines provided by the CDC and DSHS for Covid-19. The migrants who test positive at the B-Metro facility are advised of quarantine procedures and are asked to socially distance," Felipe Romero, Brownsville's communications and marketing director, said in an emailed statement. DSHS refers to the state's Department of State Health Services.
"There are several NGOs providing resources to a positive case," the email states. "For example, organizations help with quarantine either in a shelter or at hotel. Since the City started testing the migrants on January 25, there has been 6.3% of positive cases. The Cameron County positivity rate is 13.8%."
Several of the asylum-seekers who tested positive told Noticias Telemundo Investiga they were planning to leave Brownsville for their destinations; one of them bought a bus ticket for the journey.
Eva Orellana, 29, who is from Honduras and who tested positive, said she was going to take the bus to North Carolina with her 3-year-old daughter. "On the way, we were wearing a mask all the time, gel, washing our hands," she said. "Really, I don't feel anything."
Those who tested positive and spoke to Telemundo did not have any document indicating their Covid-19 test results; they said they were simply told by the station workers after taking the test.
They said the station workers told them to wait in a different waiting area than the rest of the migrant families, but they still had freedom to move, a few meters from the rest.
Noticias Telemundo Investiga asked Customs and Border Patrol about the release of migrant families and Covid-19 testing. A spokesperson said in an email that CBP personnel conduct initial inspections for symptoms or risk factors associated with Covid-19 and consult as appropriate with onsite medical personnel, the CDC or local health systems.
Suspected Covid-19 cases "are referred to local health systems for appropriate testing, diagnosis, and treatment," according to CBP.
At the station, Martín Fernández, an Omnibus Express worker, said that the bus company where he works respects the protocols of federal authorities: passengers must wear masks on board the vehicle and use hand sanitizer gel. But they cannot, he clarified, ask passengers for Covid-19 tests before getting on buses.
For years, bus stations have been at the the epicenter of the arrival of migrants to the border. Different administrations have released tens of thousands of immigrant families in these buildings and, from there, they buy tickets to reach the residences of their relatives in the United States.
They are long routes, sometimes lasting days, crossing the country from station to station. Migrants are usually released with a permit called "parole" or under supervision with an ankle monitor. Once they are at their new destinations, they continue their asylum processes to try to stay in the United States.
The last few weeks has seen an increase in the number of families who have been allowed to enter the U.S. and continue their quest for asylum, as Noticias Telemundo Investiga has verified.

Abuja — The federal government yesterday stepped up campaigns towards the vaccination of Nigerians against COVID-19 just as it took delivery of 3.94 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines.
Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, who took delivery of the vaccines, handed them over to the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHDA) and the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for further processing.
He also rallied stakeholders such as traditional rulers, religious leaders, civil society organisations and the media, among others, to help propagate the message on why Nigerians should be vaccinated to all parts of the country.
Mustapha led other top government officials to take delivery of the NAFDAC-approved vaccines, which arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, via an Emirates Airline.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar welcomed the arrival of the vaccines, saying that it will herald the full opening of the economy.
The vaccines, which arrived from India, were the first tranche of the 16 million doses expected under the COVAX arrangement.
He stated that for over one year, humanity has remained under the siege of a virus that has impacted lives, livelihood, destroyed economies, governance systems, medical services and socio-economic systems.
According to him, nations around the world have deployed enormous resources to tackle the virus which has seen a first wave and more virulent second wave.
He said: "Prior to the vaccine phase, we had introduced and promoted the non-pharmaceutical interventions. These remain very valid measures to take under the infection prevention and control policy.
"I, therefore, urge all Nigerians to continue to comply with these measures even as we roll out the vaccines administration plan, which is expected to reach 70 per cent of our population between 2021 and 2022. Under the circumstances, it must continue to be NPIs + vaccines."
Mustapha stated that the successful development of vaccines and the accelerated process for emergency authorisation have brought hope to humanity.
"Its arrival in Nigeria today has been made possible through purposeful leadership by His Excellency, the president, collaboration with domestic stakeholders, the international community and painstaking technical efforts to ensure that what we are offering Nigerians is safe and efficacious.
"Although this consignment of vaccines is just 3.924 million doses of the expected 16 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines from the COVAX facility, we are indeed grateful to the coalition that has made this possible for us to receive it," he said.
He assured Nigerians that the federal government will prioritise the administration of the vaccines in a strategically planned manner to meet the nation's peculiar needs and cover its heroic health care workers who have sacrificed their all, including their lives, in the cause of caring for the rest of the citizenry.
He stated that the PTF, working with the Federal Ministry of Health and the NPHCDA, will ensure transparency, efficiency and economy under the process.
"It is, therefore, important to assure all Nigerians that their turns for receiving the jab will come," he said.
Ahead of the full rollout, Mustapha urged "all stakeholders (traditional rulers, religious leaders, civil societies, respectable Nigerians, the media) to carry the message on the significance of being vaccinated to the grassroots and all segments of the society. This is a fight for everyone."
At the ceremony, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Primary Health Care, Senator Chuka Utazi, said: "We must ensure it gets to the most vulnerable. We will ensure the right quality is given to Nigerians. Nigeria has confirmed its goodness and we must ensure the best."
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, called on Nigerians to make themselves available for vaccination.
Also speaking, the Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, said only eligible population from 18 years and above, including pregnant women would be vaccinated.
He said that the vaccine rollout would be in four phases, starting with health workers, frontline workers, COVID-19 rapid response team, laboratory network, policemen, petrol station workers and strategic leaders.
The Managing Director for Country Programmes at GAVI, Thabani Maphosa, noted that the Vaccine Alliance viewed the delivery of the vaccines as a landmark moment for Nigeria to end the acute phase of the pandemic.
Also, the United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallon, said the delivery of the vaccines represented a major milestone for the COVAX facility in its efforts to deliver at least two billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines globally by the end of 2021.
He added that the vaccines have undergone rigorous regulatory processes at the global and country-level and have been deemed safe and effective.
Kallon said the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine would enable the NPHCDA to commence the vaccination of Nigerians in priority groups, starting with frontline healthcare workers.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Representative in Nigeria, Mr. Walter Mulombo, lauded the federal government for its participation in COVAX efforts and its commitment to protecting Nigerians against this pandemic.
Also the UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative, Mr. Peter Hawkins, said the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines into Nigeria was critical in curbing the pandemic, noting that the only way out of the crisis is to ensure that vaccination is available to all.
"After a year of disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, today we celebrate the efforts being made in getting the vaccine to Nigeria," Hawkins said.
Meanwhile, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said the arrival of the vaccines will herald the full opening of the economy.
"I am gladdened at reports of the arrival in Abuja of 3.94 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine via the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Assess Facility, COVAX," Atiku said in a statement.
He said the vaccines would be a good starting point to begin the vaccination of Nigerians against the pandemic.
"I commend the federal government for this effort and hope that steps to procure more vaccines are underway. This will usher in the process of fully reopening our country and rebuilding our economy and the lives of our people," he said.
The pandemic has claimed over 2.5 million lives worldwide and still counting.The arrival of the AstraZeneca vaccines in the country marked a significant milestone in the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.

Nigeria has been scheduled to take delivery of 3.92 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
This was made known in a joint statement  by the World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) on Sunday in Abuja. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the country was earlier set to receive its first four million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from COVAX Facility, a global scheme to procure and distribute inoculations for free.

The COVAX Facility is co-led by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, WHO and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, with UNICEF as a key implementing partner. It was launched in April 2020 to help ensure a fairer distribution of coronavirus vaccines between rich and poor nations. COVAX  said it would deliver two billion doses  to its members by the end of 2021. According to the statement signed by WHO, UNICEF and NPHCDA, the delivery of 3.92 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine would mark the first arrival of COVID-19 vaccine in Nigeria. It would also make Nigeria the next West African country to benefit from the COVAX Facility after Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. “The arrival of the vaccine will enable the NPHCDA to commence vaccination of Nigerians in priority groups, starting with frontline healthcare workers,  the statement quoted Dr Faisal Shuaib, Executive Director and Chief Executive of NPHCDA, as saying. The statement also quoted Shuaib as saying that  arrival of the vaccine would be a result of the commitment of the Federal Government,  support of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and guidance of the  Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire. “We are fully prepared to receive and deliver the vaccine to eligible Nigerians, as we have commenced training of health workers and ensured that cold chain facilities are ready at all levels. “We have a robust cold chain system that can store all types of COVID-19 vaccine in accordance with the required temperature. “We are, therefore, confident that we will have a very effective roll-out of the vaccine, starting with our critical healthcare workers, who are in the frontline in providing the care we all need.” The statement said that the doses of AstraZeneca vaccine were part of an overall 16 million doses planned to be delivered to Nigeria in batches over the next months by the COVAX Facility as part of an unprecedented global effort to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. “The COVAX Facility has worked exceptionally hard to ensure that Nigeria gets the vaccine as soon as possible so it can start its vaccination programme to the largest population in Africa,” it quoted  Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative, as saying. According to the statement, vaccines are a critical tool in the battle against COVID-19.

A crisis over the supply of medical oxygen for coronavirus patients has struck nations in Africa and Latin America, where warnings went unheeded at the start of the pandemic and doctors say the shortage has led to unnecessary deaths.
It takes about 12 weeks to install a hospital oxygen plant and even less time to convert industrial oxygen manufacturing systems into a medical-grade network. But in Brazil and Nigeria, as well as in less-populous nations, decisions to fully address inadequate supplies only started being made last month, after hospitals were overwhelmed and patients started to die.
The gap in medical oxygen availability “is one of the defining health equity issues, I think, of our age,” said Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, who said he survived a severe coronavirus infection thanks to the oxygen he received.
Doctors in Nigeria anxiously monitor traffic as oxygen deliveries move through the gridlocked streets of Lagos. Desperate families of patients around the world sometimes turn to the black market. Governments take action only after hospitals are overwhelmed and the infected die by the dozens.
In Brazil’s Amazonas state, a pair of swindlers were caught reselling fire extinguishers painted to look like medical oxygen tanks. In Peru, people camped out in lines to get cylinders for sick relatives.
Only after the lack of oxygen was blamed for the deaths of four people at an Egyptian hospital in January and six people at one in Pakistan in December did governments address the problems.
John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said medical oxygen is a “huge critical need” across the continent of 1.3 billion people and is a main reason that COVID-19 patients are more likely to die there during surges.
Even before the pandemic, sub-Saharan Africa’s 2,600 oxygen concentrators and 69 functioning oxygen plants met less than half the need, leading to preventable deaths, especially from pneumonia, said Dr. John Adabie Appiah of the World Health Organization.
The number of concentrators has grown to about 6,000, mostly from international donations, but the oxygen produced isn't pure enough for the critically ill. The number of plants that can generate higher concentrations is now at 119.
Yet without formal requests from governments, nearly $20 billion in World Bank coronavirus funds for the world’s poorest countries remains unspent so far, the organization told The Associated Press.
Nigeria was “struggling to find oxygen to manage cases” in January, said Chikwe Ihekweazu, head of its Centre for Disease Control.
A main hospital in Lagos, a city of 14.3 million, saw its January virus cases increase fivefold, with 75 medical workers infected in the first six weeks of 2021. Only then did President Muhammadu Buhari release $17 million to set up 38 more oxygen plants and another $670,000 to repair plants at five hospitals.
Some oxygen suppliers have dramatically raised prices, according to a doctor at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to talk to reporters. That has driven up the cost of a cylinder by 10 times, to $260 — more than the average monthly wage — and a critically ill patient could need up to four cylinders a day.
Money and influence don't always help.
Femi Odekunle, a Nigerian academic and close ally of the president, went without adequate oxygen for nearly 12 days at the Abuja University Teaching Hospital until two state governors and Ministry of Health officials intervened. He died anyway, and relatives and friends blame the oxygen shortage, the Premium Times newspaper reported. The hospital attributed his death to his severe infection.
In Malawi, the president promised funding for protective gear for medical workers and the immediate purchase of 1,000 oxygen cylinders.
Corruption was blamed for defects in a new oxygen plant at a hospital in Uganda's capital of Kampala, the Daily Monitor newspaper reported. Workers had to rely on rusty oxygen cylinders blamed for the deaths of at least two patients.
“While top health officials basked in the oxygen of good publicity, patients were literally choking to death,” the newspaper said.
Leith Greenslade of the Every Breath Counts Coalition, which advocates for wider access to medical oxygen, said the looming shortages were apparent last spring.
“Very little was done. Now you have a second wave, not just in Africa but in Latin America and Asia, and the oxygen shortages are becoming at crisis levels,” she said.
The World Bank has set aside $50 billion for the world’s poorest countries alone during the pandemic, and $30.8 billion has been allocated, including $80 million for oxygen-related upgrades.
“We make money available for countries, but it’s countries, governments who have to make a decision about how much they spend and what they spend it on,” said Dr. Mickey Chopra, who helps with the World Bank’s global medical logistics response.
A global task force focusing on oxygen was formally announced Thursday and will include the World Health Organization and World Bank, among others. Already, $90 million was identified in immediate oxygen funding needs for 20 developing countries, including Nigeria and Malawi.
Many countries view oxygen supplies primarily as an industrial product for more lucrative sectors such as mining, not health care, and it has not been a focus of many international donors. Oxygen manufacturing plants require technicians, good infrastructure and electricity — all in short supply in developing nations.
The main provider of medical oxygen to Brazil’s Amazonas state, White Martins, operated at half capacity before the pandemic. The first infections hit the isolated city in March and led to so many deaths that a cemetery was carved out of the jungle.
Doctors in its capital of Manaus were forced last month to choose which patients to treat as oxygen supplies dwindled.
Brazil’s Supreme Court began an investigation into management of the crisis after White Martins said an “unexpected increase in demand” led to shortages.
“There was a lack of planning on behalf of the government,” said Newton de Oliveira, president of Indústria Brasileira de Gases, a major oxygen supplier.
Only after deaths averaged 50 a day did the government say it would build 73 oxygen plants in the state. Within a month, 26 were up and running.
Oxygen shortages remain critical in Peru, where Dani Luz Llamocca waited five days outside a distribution center in Lima, saying her virus-stricken father was down to less than half a tank of oxygen. She was willing to wait as long as it took. "If not, my father will die,” said Llamocca.
In all, health experts estimate that 500,000 patients in developing countries currently need 1.1 million oxygen cylinders a day.
The WHO's Appiah said countries with mining industries could convert their systems to produce medical-grade oxygen. India's national trade body for gas makers suggested that last April and industrial storage tanks were repurposed at hospitals, said Surendra Singh, a manager at the multinational Linde corporation.
“It’s not rocket science,” said Saket Tiku, president of the All India Industrial Gases Manufacturers Association. “The decision saved thousands of lives.”

NCDC and NIMR Release Findings of COVID-19 Household Seroprevalence Surveys in Four States of Nigeria
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Nigeria Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) and their partners today released findings of household seroprevalence surveys conducted in Lagos, Enugu, Nasarawa and Gombe States. Conducted between September and October 2020, the surveys were designed to improve the estimate of the burden of COVID-19 infection in the country and provide a more detailed estimate of the extent of infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus – the virus that causes COVID-19.
Blood samples were collected from over 10,000 individuals residing in a representative sample of households in the four states. The blood samples were then tested for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies applying locally validated laboratory tests. Individuals who provided blood samples also answered a brief questionnaire that enabled the study team to characterise factors related to positivity and identify which population groups were most affected.
Survey findings released today revealed that the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was 23% in Lagos and Enugu States, 19% in Nasarawa State, and 9% in Gombe State. This means that as many as 1 in 5 individuals in Lagos, Enugu and Nasarawa State would have ever been infected with SARS-CoV-2. In Gombe, the proportion is about 1 in 10.
These rates of infection are higher than those reported through the national surveillance system and reveal that the spread of infection in the states surveyed is wider than is obvious from surveillance activities. This is not surprising for COVID-19, given that a majority of those infected do not have any symptoms.
Results of the survey further showed higher rates of infection among: 1) males than females (for example, 10% vs. 7% in Gombe and 21% vs. 17% in Nasarawa); 2) urban compared to rural and residents (for example, 28% vs. 18% in Enugu and 23% vs. 19% in Lagos); and persons aged 18-64 years. There were also variations across the local government areas (LGA) within the four states. The survey team noted that these observations are in tandem with what had been reported by the NCDC based on the national surveillance system.
In interpreting the results, the survey team noted that “SARS-CoV-2 emerged only one year ago and antibody response according to severity of infection and the duration of antibody persistence are not yet completely understood”. Given the high proportion of asymptomatic cases in Nigeria, the true seroprevalence of ever having infection may be underestimated in the survey if individuals infected early in the outbreak no longer had sufficient antibodies for detection when the survey was conducted.
The results from the survey show that a significant proportion of people in Nigeria are still at risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and therefore, COVID-19. It is very important that Nigerians continue to adhere to public health and social measures including regular handwashing, proper use of face masks and physical distancing.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US-CDC), the University College London (supported by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), and the respective State Ministries of Health supported implementation of the survey. The survey is being expanded to more states with a priority to capture information from States in the North-West and South-South geopolitical zones which were not included in the initial round of surveys.
The Federal Ministry of Health, its agencies NCDC and NIMR as well as the PTF-COVID-19 remain committed to strengthening Nigeria’s response to COVID-19 and controlling the outbreak.
About the NCDC
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control is the country’s national public health institute, with the mandate to lead the preparedness, detection and response to infectious disease outbreaks and public health emergencies. The Bill for an Act to establish NCDC was signed into law in November 2018, by President Muhammadu Buhari. The mission for the NCDC (2017-2021) is ‘To protect the health of Nigerians through evidence-based prevention, integrated disease surveillance and response activities, using a One Health approach, guided by research and led by a skilled workforce’.
About NIMR
The Nigerian Institute of Medical Research is the apex medical research institute in the country with a vision to be an institution of excellence in basic, applied and operational research for the promotion of national health and development. It is mandated by National Science and Technology Act of 1977 to conduct research into diseases of public health importance, develop human and infrastructural capacities for clinical and biomedical research and strengthen structures for dissemination of research findings while providing enabling environment and facilities for health research and training in cooperation with ministries of health, and in collaboration with universities, allied institutions and organized private sectors nationally and internationally.

The United States topped more than 500,000 confirmed coronavirus deaths Monday as the country continues to grapple with the issues with vaccine distribution and backlog.
John Hopkins University reported the deaths Monday as more than 28 million Americans have contracted the virus nationwide. The U.S. previously topped 400,000 deaths from the virus on the eve of President Joe Biden’s inauguration, Jan. 19, 2021. It took the United States less than five weeks to rise from 400,000 to 500,000. The first cases of coronavirus in the United States were reported on Jan. 21, 2020.
Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff led a national moment of silence at sundown from the White House. They each lit a candle to mark the half-million deaths.
Biden says it’s a “truly grim, heartbreaking milestone.”
Biden is urging Americans to resist becoming “numb to the sorrow” and “viewing each life as a statistic.” He says the people lost were “extraordinary.”
Biden also touched on the personal tragedy he’s experienced in losing his first wife and baby daughter in a car collision, and later losing an adult son to brain cancer.
Biden tells the nation’s he knows it’s hard but that “to heal, we must remember.”
Biden also ordered all flags on federal property to be flown at half staff for the next five days.
More than 64.2 million Americans have received their first shot of the vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC reports that more than 75 million doses have been distributed across the country.
This comes as severe winter weather, which left many Americans without power, water or shelter, has also caused a backlog of 6 million COVID-19 vaccine doses.
White House coronavirus adviser Andy Slavitt said vaccine delivery to all 50 states has been impacted by the storms that covered roads with ice and snow and led utilities to use rolling blackouts to ease strained power grids.

Authorities in Nigeria’s capital Abuja have established an outdoor mobile court in an effort to prosecute individuals and institutions violating rules imposed to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus.
Africa’s most populous country is currently facing a second wave of infections, with 143,516 cases and 1,710 deaths reported — but these figures are believed to fall short of the real toll since the number of tests is low.
Face masks are compulsory in public spaces and social distancing is advised across the country, but these rules are rarely observed.
Since early February, the Abuja Covid-19 task force has prosecuted violators at a court set up on Eagle Square, steps away from the Supreme Court and National Assembly.
“I think today we had about 46 people, three were minors,” Attah Ikharo, chairman of the task force said on Wednesday.
“Those who pleaded guilty (for not properly wearing a mask) were fined 2,000 naira (about $5),” said defense lawyer Nnamdi John.
Punishments can include community service and even jail time. President Muhammadu Buhari signed a new law in January prescribing a six months jail sentence for those disobeying Covid-19 guidelines.
The city’s task force is hoping to establish two more mobile courts by the end of the week as the virus continues to spread.
A variant strain of coronavirus has been discovered in recent months in Nigeria but it remains unclear whether it is more contagious or deadly.
The country is expecting to receive 16 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through the Covax programme by the end of the month.
Why do so many people fail to comply with these regulations? Is it not bad enough now? Masks must be worn in public places!

A Detroit area hospital system canceled nearly two thousand appointments for second doses of the Covid-19 vaccine after an "unexpected and significant" supply shortage.
Beaumont Health said they were notified about a reduction in Pfizer vaccine allocation from the state of Michigan on Friday, forcing them to nix 1,884 second dose appointments scheduled for Thursday, the health system said in a statement on Monday.
Carolyn Wilson, Beaumont Health COO, said in the statement the group was "disappointed" by the setback.
"Our teams worked around the clock and throughout the weekend with the state to try and secure the second dose vaccine we requested," Wilson said.
The health system, which includes eight hospitals, said it is planning to reschedule the appointments to one week later if it receives enough supplies from the state. Beaumont Health said it has the capacity to administer 50,000 doses a week, but this week they were only provided around 2,000.
"The state has been working with Beaumont Health for the past week to reconcile their second dose shortages. It is unfortunate that they chose to cancel second dose appointments while we were continuing to work with them on this issue," Lynn Sutfin, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson, told NBC News.
Still, Michigan's largest health care provider said it's "seeking more clarity from the state on these much needed second doses" and cannot book any more first doses of the Pfizer vaccine at the Beaumont Service Center until they receive more supplies.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the second dose of the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines may be administered up to 6 weeks after the first dose.
The health system said it has provided more than 100,000 shots since the vaccine became available two months ago. According to NBC News' count, Michigan has administered some one million doses, with 4.9 percent of the population fully vaccinated in the state.
"We remain committed to vaccinating patients as quickly as possible as soon as we receive our allocated doses of vaccine," Wilson said.