As COVID cases continue to surge in some countries across the world, the World Health Organisation, WHO, has said that a total $15.1 billion is needed to close the funding gap of more than $16 billion of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT-Accelerator) partnership.
Meanwhile, the G7 countries have pledged a total of 870 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to low- and middle-income countries over the next year, of which at least half is to be delivered by the end of 2021.
Making this known at the just concluded G7 summit in UK, the WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus noted that many countries are now facing a surge in new cases without vaccines, even as he commended the G7 countries for their commitment to sharing at least 870 million doses of vaccines.He said ACT-Accelerator was a proven and operational global collaboration to accelerate the development, production and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments and vaccines.

Only large vaccination can ensure everyone's life safety and avoid re-infection and effectively reduce the risk of infection.

ABUJA, June 15 (Reuters) - Nigeria is expecting a second shipment of nearly 4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines by early August, and plans to resume giving out first doses, which had been halted to save its supply for second doses.
Africa's most population has so far given a first dose to only around 2 million of its 200 million people. Fewer than 700,000 having received a second dose.
Nigeria has been rationing 3.92 million doses it received through the COVAX global vaccine sharing programme in March, with its future supplies put in doubt by an export ban from India. The government told states in April to stop giving first doses once half of the supply was used, to ensure there would be enough for second doses.
But Faisal Shuaib, the director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, said that restriction was no longer necessary. Nigeria now expects a second shipment of 3.92 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine by the end of July or early August.

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

The organized labor comprising the Nigerian Labor Congress NLC, and the Trade Union Congress, TUC have declared an indefinite strike in the state commencing from Tuesday.

The Nasarawa state chairmen of the NLC and TUC comrade Yusuf Iya and Mohammed Doma respectively made the declaration at a joint press conference on Monday in Lafia, the state capital.
Iya saidd despite the series agreement reached with the state government to pay the backlog of workers promotion allowance since 2011 till date, nothing has been done but lips service.
“The present governor Abdullahi Sule when he came on board two years ago he pleaded with the Labor to be patient with him, we were patient till after two years and nothing has been done,” he said.
“The past administration hinge their excuse on paucity of fund saying they only received about N2.5billion as federal allocation, now the state is receiving N4.5billion.

Social media firms wanting to operate in Nigeria must register a local entity and be licensed, the country's information minister said on Wednesday, the government's latest move since it banned Twitter last week.

"We are insisting that for you to operate in Nigeria you must first be a Nigerian company and be licensed by the broadcasting commission," said Lai Mohammed, Nigeria's information minister, of social media companies.

The new regulations will include conditions for continued operation, Mohammed said, without elaborating. The move comes amidst what critics say is a broader crackdown on freedom of expression in Africa's most populous country that has drawn comparisons to Nigeria's decades of military rule in the 20th century.

Nigeria's government last week said it had suspended Twitter's activities, two days after the platform removed a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari that threatened to punish secessionists. Nigerian telecoms firms have since blocked access to Twitter.

Buhari is a former military ruler.

Mohammed did not give a deadline for registration and licensing, but said some firms were given notice, without naming the affected companies. He did not respond to calls and a message seeking details.

"Twitter has consistently made its platform available to those who are threatening Nigeria’s corporate existence," said Mohammed, naming a separatist leader and anti-police brutality protesters.

The minister said Facebook and its subsidiaries Instagram and WhatsApp had not been suspended, but did not say whether they would need to register and get a licence.

However, in recent years, violence between herders and farmers has alarmingly grown, spreading from the north to the central and southern states.
Violence between the two groups has claimed more lives than the Boko Haram jihadist insurgency in the north-east, disrupting rural communities and threatening Nigeria’s stability and food security.
The combination of environmental degradation and violence (attributable to climate change, high population growth, Boko Haram insurgency and armed criminal activity such as cattle rustling) has pushed herders from the north of the country southward in search of pasture and water, resulting in almost daily clashes with farming communities. The intensity of the violence varies from region to region, but so far, Nigeria’s north-west and north-central zones have been hit hardest.
Nigerian authorities responded by deploying security forces to the affected areas but later realised that a military response was insufficient to deal with the main cause of herder-farmer conflict: competition over land and water.
In 2019, following a surge in violent incidents the previous year, they adopted an ambitious, 10-year National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) that aims to alter these deadly patterns.
In a nutshell, the plan encourages pastoralists to switch to ranching and other sedentary livestock production systems. By the end of 2028, authorities expect to have at least 119 ranches operating across several states, with the hope that more mechanised forms of livestock production will bolster the sector’s productivity.
Abuja projects that the planned establishment of ranches, alongside the resuscitation of long-neglected public grazing reserves, will create over two million jobs, mostly in the meat, dairy processing and marketing chains.
The federal government has committed to funding 80% of proposals submitted by participating states, while state governments and private investors are to provide the remaining 20%. Donors are also prepared to help.
The new plan was not Nigeria’s first attempt at developing a strategy to reduce competition for resources among herders and farmers, but it is the country’s most comprehensive livestock reform bid to date. Many state governments, especially in the north, welcome the move with enthusiasm, and some have already demarcated grazing reserves or applied for funding from the federal government to set up ranches.

However, in recent years, violence between herders and farmers has alarmingly grown, spreading from the north to the central and southern states.
Violence between the two groups has claimed more lives than the Boko Haram jihadist insurgency in the north-east, disrupting rural communities and threatening Nigeria’s stability and food security.
The combination of environmental degradation and violence (attributable to climate change, high population growth, Boko Haram insurgency and armed criminal activity such as cattle rustling) has pushed herders from the north of the country southward in search of pasture and water, resulting in almost daily clashes with farming communities. The intensity of the violence varies from region to region, but so far, Nigeria’s north-west and north-central zones have been hit hardest.
Nigerian authorities responded by deploying security forces to the affected areas but later realised that a military response was insufficient to deal with the main cause of herder-farmer conflict: competition over land and water.
In 2019, following a surge in violent incidents the previous year, they adopted an ambitious, 10-year National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) that aims to alter these deadly patterns.
In a nutshell, the plan encourages pastoralists to switch to ranching and other sedentary livestock production systems. By the end of 2028, authorities expect to have at least 119 ranches operating across several states, with the hope that more mechanised forms of livestock production will bolster the sector’s productivity.
Abuja projects that the planned establishment of ranches, alongside the resuscitation of long-neglected public grazing reserves, will create over two million jobs, mostly in the meat, dairy processing and marketing chains.
The federal government has committed to funding 80% of proposals submitted by participating states, while state governments and private investors are to provide the remaining 20%. Donors are also prepared to help.
The new plan was not Nigeria’s first attempt at developing a strategy to reduce competition for resources among herders and farmers, but it is the country’s most comprehensive livestock reform bid to date. Many state governments, especially in the north, welcome the move with enthusiasm, and some have already demarcated grazing reserves or applied for funding from the federal government to set up ranches.

Lagos State Governor, Bababjide Sanwo-Olu has said that June 12 serves as a time to reflect and ask how welll democracy has been served to the masses in Nigeria.
Sanwo-Olu, made the remarks on Friday, in his goodwill message to residents to commemorate 2021June 12, Democracy Day in the state.
The governor, however, urged public office holders to deliver dividends of democracy to the citizens, saying June 12 has provided an opportunity for him and his colleagues to re-echo their oath of office.
Speaking to journalists in Lagos, Governor Sanwo-Olu said the ongoing constitutional reform should be a true representation and reflection of what Nigerians are agitating for.
He said: “June 12 has come to stay. It is a day that we will continue to remember as our Democracy Day. And what that should mean to each and every one of us is that it is a time to reflect and ask how well we’ve run this democracy.
“How well have we kept to the tenets of real and true democracy? What are the challenges that are still facing us as people? Are we truly running a free and true democracy? The answers are left in each one of us.
“For me as governor, I see June 12 as an opportunity for us to continue to re-echo our oath of office, when we would ensure that it is the greatest good for the greatest number. Let us ensure that as a nation, we can reflect properly and bring about true fiscal democracy.
“Currently as we speak, we are going through a constitutional reform; let the reforms, the changes and amendments that would be coming out of the reform be true representation and reflections of what an ordinary citizen wants; what the real Nigerians on the street are agitating for. What they want us that are in the position of leadership to be doing.”
Stressing the importance of June 12 to Nigeria’s democracy, Sanwo-Olu, noted that “June 12 is the day that we remember what the late MKO Abiola stood and fought for.
“It is a day to also remember as a day when our democracy was challenged but we have all been able to come together and realised that there is no alternative to democracy.
“There is no alternative to democracy which guarantees freedom of expression, freedom of choice, freedom of movement of our people and people can indeed express themselves to determine who their true leaders should be at every point in time.
“I think that is what it stands for and I want to thank each and every one of us and God for sparing our lives to see another June 12 celebration.”

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari tried to undertake some major reforms in the power sector, but his intervention is marred by inconsistencies, overwhelming subsidy payments and recurring grid collapse.
Nigeria’s power sector was unbundled and privatised in 2013 to establish a competitive market to improve management and efficiency, attract private investment, increase generation, and provide a reliable and cost-efficient power supply.
However, the dream to deliver a cost-efficient power supply to Nigerians remains a pipe dream, due to poor leadership and weak regulatory intervention.
For instance,  many public institutions default to pay for power, with debts surging in billions even as government pays subsidies for liquidity shortfall. Also, the pricing for power has been the bane of the sector.
Another key problem is operation deficiencies and non-alignment of various power sector value chains consisting of generation, transmission and distribution, with each constantly trading blames.
The sector, despite privatisation, is weak due largely to underpayment of power costs by consumers which makes subsidy in the power sector thrive despite privatisation.
“Many Nigerians bypass power lines to access power without payment. This is hugely affecting cost recovery. There is also low electricity pricing because people are yet to pay the appropriate price for power. Most often we get directive from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC not to effect the appropriate price, which contradicts the Electricity Power Sector Reform Act of 2005 on multi-year tariff Order. It also affects cost recovery efficiency.” President of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors,(ANED) Sunday Oduntan told The ICIR.
Despite being privatised, the Buhari administration has continued closing various gaps in the power sector value chains, including paying over N50bn for subsidy for the sector.
Ahmed Zakari, the Presidential Adviser on Power and Infrastructure revealed that the President is keen and focused on using numerous avenues to close infrastructural gaps in the power sector. He said $3 to $5billion  have been committed to upscale various power infrastructure in the country.
” Through support from the World Bank, we now have $1.6 billion has been devoted for the Transmission expansion programme. We signed another 500 million dollars for the development of the distribution sector. The Central Bank of Nigeria has also put out. Emergency funds for the distribution sector as well as transmission sector in various phases to the tune of 500 million dollars.”
” We also have the SIEMENS presidential power initiative that we’ve signed the engineering agreement. We are also looking at the performance improvement plans of the Discos to enable us to hold them accountable as they receive these support funds. This performance agreement will enable them to align their projects with funds that are available.
“We also have the national mass metering programme which is helping us to improve the revenue and sustainability of the sector while addressing the liquidity concerns in the sector.”
“With this enhanced metering on the service-based tariff, we can see the Nigerian Electricity supply industry generating over N100 billion in the near to mid-term. This is very impressive. The hypothesis that we have is that if you enhance payment discipline through the metering population, revenue will go up. We have proven that, “the presidential adviser said.

Agitations for a new Nigeria constitution to pave way for total reform of the country’s ailing and comatose systems have hit a rock.

At the public hearing on the review of the constitution in Abuja on Thursday, the Senate declared that although a completely new constitution to replace the current one was desirable, the extant law and does not support it.
Chairman, Senate Committee on Constitution review, and Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, who made this known, noted that section nine of the constitution had already foreclosed a new constitution.
“Now, some of our compatriots have urged that rather than amending the Constitution, we should make a new Constitution all together. We respect this opinion, and we believe it is a most desirable proposition,” Omo-Agege said.
“However, we are conducting this exercise in accordance with the extant legal order, which is the 1999 Constitution.
“Specifically, Section 9 of the Constitution empowers the National Assembly to alter the provisions of the Constitution and prescribes the manner in which it is to be done. Unfortunately, it does not make similar provision or provide mechanism for replacing or re-writing an entirely new Constitution”
According to Omo-Agege, “To embark on any process without prior alteration of Section 9 of the Constitution to provide the mode through which an entirely new Constitution could be made, would amount to gross violation of our oath of allegiance to the Constitution. In other words, it will take a new Constitutional amendment to be able to give Nigerians a most desired new Constitution. It would be unconstitutional to do otherwise.”
Senior lawyers like Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) had sought a totally new constitution for Nigeria.
The founder of Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Babalola, said the current 1999 constitution can not sufficiently address the socio-economic challenges currently pummeling the nation.
Babalola, who described the 1999 constitution as part of the problems of the country, advised President Muhammadu Buhari to consider the drafting of a new constitution that will capture the agitations of many Nigerians.
The legal luminary said there is a need to empower the different regions to effectively address the challenges of insecurity, unemployment, and poverty in their respective zones.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria expressed regret that the present crop of leaders are only interested in pursuing personal wealth at the deterrent of the system and the citizens.
According to him, “there is a very simple solution to the growing insecurity in the country and that is a new constitution.
“We need a new constitution where the different nations that were formed together can develop at their own pace. West was doing well during the old constitution, likewise the East and even the North but the one we are using now whose leaders see politics as the only lucrative business.
“We don’t need transactional leaders anymore, we want transformational leaders as you can see I am transforming this place.
“In the early years in 1960 people were not earning salaries but allowances and they were doing well but now you see people selling their property to contest election because of money they will get in the office, that is not the ideal thing. The solution is a new constitution for the people. We need people who will serve without earning salaries.”
Alao, speakers at the second Never Again Conference (NAC), which was held virtually in January 2021 had declared that only a new constitution, justice, equity, and obedience to the rule of law could guarantee Nigeria’s unity and stability.
The speakers are, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, Ayo Adebanjo, Mbazulike Amaechi, Peter Obi, Tanko Yakassai, Pat Utomi; Hakeem Baba Ahmed; Shehu Sani; Onyeka Onwenu; Godknows Igali; Ahmed Joda, Prof. Ladi Hamalai, Charity Shekari and Ankkio Briggs.

Sixty-six percent of Nigerians who have taken the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine are frontline workers, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPCDA) has revealed.
Executive director Dr. Faisal Shuaib told a news conference in the capital Abuja that 73,465 Nigerians had received their second dose of the vaccine across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), daily newspaper Blueprint reported on Wednesday.
“This includes President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who both received their second dose on Saturday,” it quoted Shuaib as saying.
“Similarly, you would have seen that in many states , the governors, members of the legislature, traditional and religious leaders have publicly started taking the second dose of their vaccinations.”
The Nation newspaper reported on Wednesday that the World Health Organization (WHO) ranked Nigeria’s coronavirus vaccine rollout as the best in Africa in terms of the storage and utilisation of the drugs.
ted WHO country representative Dr. Kazadi Mulombo as saying more than 1.8 billion vaccines were being distributed globally, mostly in 10 countries.
“Africa is lagging behind, but even though Africa is lagging behind, Nigeria is among the countries that are distributing the most Covid-19 vaccine as we speak. In terms of volume, we are still a long way to go because we plan to vaccinate more than 100 million of our population,” Mulombo said.
“On the African continent, many countries are now looking at Nigeria to learn how to better roll out vaccination programmes. WHO has challenged all the member states to ensure that by September, we vaccinate at least 10 percent of our population."
In its latest update the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control reported 166,534 cases of Covid-19 to date in the vastly-populated West African country. Of these, there have been 159,935 recoveries, but 2,099 people have died.

Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, yesterday, reprimanded critics of southern governors over their decision to ban opening grazing of cattle in the south, restructuring of the country and other demands at its meeting in Asaba.
Expressing surprise and disappointment that some individuals in the presidency are still canvassing retention of open grazing of cattle, he said: “We owe no apologies, because we spoke the truth and we thought that the truth was in the best interest of the country.
“Can we truly be promoting open grazing at this moment, seeing all the atrocities being committed across the country? The president was misrepresented, because I have seen news headlines that the president has not opposed the ban on open grazing. We need to reconsider our best options. Where we were 50 years ago should not be where we should be today and tomorrow.”
He acknowledged that it might not be a one-day affair, adding that the process has to start and there must be a programme in which the people must begin to take some actions over what they know was clearly wrong.
Okowa warned that Nigeria’s growing food insecurity might soon spiral to a tipping point on account of the threat posed by open grazing, adding: “Today, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is spending a lot of money to encourage farmers to ensure that we are food sufficient, but some of efforts are lost, because of insecurity.
“Farmers can’t go to farm, their crops are destroyed, they are maimed and raped and some killed. We cannot continue like this, because if you have a programme on which you are spending billions, we must secure it and we must ensure food security of this country.
“In some parts of Taraba State, ranching has been on for so many several years and we can actually create ranches where the cattle will have more meat, more milk and children can go to school.”
He had earlier advocated a new constitution, as against amendment, to accommodate good governance and greater interest of Nigerians when Senate sub-Committee on review of the 1999 Constitution, led by James Manager, visited him in Asaba.
He told the committee that a new Constitution had become imperative in view of the inadequacies in the 1999 Constitution, adding however, that the 1999 Constitution (as amended) would continue to be in operation until a new one was ready.
On state police, Okowa said the way the federal police was presently structured, they won’t be able to police the country effectively, adding: “We are not saying that they are incompetent, but when the police hierarchy is already asking for vigilantes, they are calling for state police.
“So, state police can be organised in a way that it assists the federal security structure, because the level of insecurity in the country now is too high and we need to do something about it very quickly.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday summer camps no longer need to require masks or social distancing if everyone is fully vaccinated, including the campers, in new guidance issued just ahead of the holiday weekend.
The new guidance says masks and social distancing are not required if everyone at the camp is fully vaccinated but said camps with unvaccinated campers or adults, including any camp for kids younger than 12 not yet eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, should still encourage or require masks indoors.

The new guidance also recommends that even in camps where everyone is fully vaccinated, campers should be assigned to groups that remain together the entire session and mix with other groups as little as possible.
The updated CDC recommendations say people generally don't need to wear masks outside, unless they are in a crowded setting or coming in close contact with others. Walensky has previously cited unvaccinated kids playing soccer at camp as an example of an activity where close contact and breathing heavily could increase the risk of transmission.
But CDC says camps should still follow state or local health guidance and could choose to continue to require everyone to wear masks if it's unclear who is and is not fully vaccinated.
Agency health experts said camps should encourage vaccination for everyone over 12 and should still support campers or adults who wish to wear masks.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky has faced pushback for guidance that called for kids to wear masks outdoors at camp this summer, even though transmission of the virus that causes COVID-19 is considered low risk in outdoor environments. Walensky has defended the guidance saying that many children are not yet vaccinated and that CDC wants to prevent outbreaks at camps that would force them to close.


Vaccination is the top priority. If we can all abide by the regulations to get vaccinated, we can not need a mask as soon as possible and within a safe range as soon as possible.

Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine is safe and highly effective in children ages 12 to 17, the company said Tuesday.
It would be the second Covid-19 vaccine available for the age group if it is authorized for use, in addition to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Two options would "increase the supply and choices of vaccines available to younger people," said Dr. Richard Besser, president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, who is a former acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Moderna vaccine is given as two doses, four weeks apart. Moderna said its Phase 2/3 clinical trial included more than 3,700 participants, half of whom received the vaccine and half of whom received a placebo.
The company said there were four cases of Covid-19 among the placebo group starting two weeks after second doses were administered, compared with none in the vaccine group, meaning the vaccine was 100 percent effective.
When the company looked for milder cases of Covid-19 after just the first dose, the vaccine was shown to be 93 percent effective against any infection, not just symptomatic illness.
"We are encouraged" that the vaccine "was highly effective at preventing COVID-19 in adolescents," Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement. "It is particularly exciting to see that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine can prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection."
Side effects were generally mild or moderate, the company said, most commonly arm pain and, after the second dose, headache, fatigue, muscle aches and chills.
Moderna plans to submit the findings to the Food and Drug Administration in early June.
Moderna's vaccine was shown to be around 95 percent effective in clinical trials in preventing symptomatic illness in adults. Real-world data the CDC released in March found it to be about 90 percent effective.
The FDA lowered the age at which people can receive the Pfizer vaccine to 12 this month. Since then, more than 600,000 children ages 12 to 15 have had their first doses.
In March, Moderna started clinical trials of its vaccine in children ages 6 months to 11 years old.

This kind of research is feasible as long as it is really passed, can guarantee the lives of children, and can save children from suffering.

Di event see Major General Farouk Yahaya collect decoration to mark im new role and di beginning of im service as di head of di kontri Army.
Di 55-year-old experienced army general, na di 22nd COAS wey Nigeria go get.
Earlier in di day, di Army do parade outside dia headquarters building to welcome di new COAS, after which dem enter hall for Yahaya first address.
Maj. Gen. Yahaya begin im speech wit request to observe one minute silence for di former COAS wey im replace, Lieutenant-General Ibrahim Attahiru and 10 odas wey die for military plane crash.
After di one minute silence, di Nigeria Army end dia live broadcast for di ceremony just before Yahaya start to read im first speech.
Inside statement wey Army tok-tok pesin Brigadier General Mohammed Yerima release, di new COAS ask for maximum cooperation from di senior officers.
E say dis one na to protect Nigeria from di security challenges.
E add join say team work and synergy be di ay forward for di Nigerian Army and di nation.
Many go expect di new COAS to first torchlight di high rate of insecurity for di kontri, especially in di northern region, wia terrorist attacks and kidnappings still dey happen.
Before im appointment as Nigeria top army oga, Yahaya bin serve as di General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division and di Theatre Commander of di Counter Terrorism and Counter Insurgency military outfit for North Eastern part of Nigeria.
Di Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor also meet wit Yahaya today. for di Defence Headquarters (DHQ), according to official reports.

The World Bank has urged African countries to take concrete actions in order to ensure efficient implementation and administration of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in order to enable it to flourish and yield maximum benefits to the continent.
The bank also stated that other areas of focus should be the provision of trade-related institutional support for government agencies charged with the implementation of the agreement and the introduction of specific-sector initiatives aimed at enabling domestic firms to transition to free trade.
It said that experience has shown that designing a complementary agenda to maximise the potential benefits of any free trade agreement is important.
The World Bank’s advice was contained in its publication titled, “The Distributional Impacts of Trade: Empirical Innovations, Analytical Tools and Policy Reponses,” that was authored by Jakob Engel, Deeksha Kokas, Gladys Lopez-Acevedo and Maryla Maliszewska.
It said capacity building for AfCFTA’s implementation and administration in the form of training, direct advice, and implementation support would, “benefit not only the ministries of trade but also other key ministries as well as border management agencies (especially customs) tasked with the future implementation of an agreement that they may previously have had only exposure to during the negotiation phase.
“This is essential for compliance, administration and problem solving, economic monitoring and socialisation of the AfCFTA.
“Furthermore, there is a need to strongly engage the private sector and other nongovernmental stakeholders including consumer groups and labor unions in the reform process to better understand the nature of different distortions and potential risks.
“Individuals who interact with the regulatory system daily are likely to better understand and identify what may limit the benefits from trade reforms. Establishing such processes is also essential for maintaining support throughout the many ups and downs of implementation. These lessons are informing the World Bank’s approach to supporting the negotiations and eventual implementation on the AfCFTA.”
The World Bank noted that free trade agreements (FTAs) create significant opportunities but highlighted that experience has shown that maximising their potential benefits would not automatic.
It therefore pointed out that the key issue would be on how the AfCFTA institutions and member states would address weaknesses that have limited the impact of previous regional FTAs in Africa.
The report added: “To a great extent, the possibility that the AfCFTA will become a milestone for development in the region will depend on: the depth and breadth of detailed commitments to remove trade barriers that are to be negotiated; the extent to which the AfCFTA commitments are effectively implemented on the ground, and complementary initiatives that ensure a smooth transition to free trade and induce greater flows of productive investment in nontraditional sectors, leading to more and better jobs.”

A study published yesterday, in The Lancet medical journal, offered reasons why Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria and South Africa have higher death rate among critically ill COVID-19 patients than any other regions of the world.
According to the observational survey from 64 hospitals in 10 African countries, death rates among adults in the 30 days after being admitted to critical care with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infections appeared considerably higher in Africa (average 48.2 per cent; 1,483/3,077 patients) than the global (average of 31.5 per cent; from a meta-analysis of 34,859 patients).
The researchers, who are all based on the continent, said a critical factor in these excess deaths might be a lack of intensive care resources and underuse of those available. For example, half of patients died without being given oxygen, while 68 per cent of hospitals had access to renal dialysis, as only 10 per cent of severely ill patients received it.
Estimates suggest that the provision of dialysis was seven times less, even as availability of oxygenate blood (ECMO) was 14 times lower than required to adequately treat COVID-19 patients.
Findings have important implications for managing critical patients in resource-limited settings where shortage of functioning equipment and specialised staff must be taken into consideration.
Leaders of the study in Nigeria, Prof. Akinyinka Omigbodun of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, and Prof. Adesoji Ademuyiwa of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, reported that the challenges faced by this group of persons could be partly mitigated by not only ensuring the availability of the human and material resources needed for their care, but also devoting the required attention to the distribution of these resources across all the centres offering critical care services across the country.
Prof. Bruce Biccard from Groote Schuur Hospital and the University of Cape Town, South Africa, who co-led the research, pointed out that the work was first to give a comprehensive picture of what is happening to these people.
Until now, little was known about how the pandemic was seriously affecting this set of persons in the face of inadequate resources.
To address the gap, the African COVID-19 Critical Care Outcomes Study (ACCCOS) is identifying the human and hospital resources, underlying conditions and critical care interventions behind mortality or survival in adults (aged 18 or older) admitted to intensive care or high-care units in Africa.
The study focused on 64 hospitals in the above named countries.
Between May and December 2020, around half (3,752/6,779) of patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection referred to critical care were admitted. Of those, 3,140 patients participated in the study. All participants received standard care and were followed up for at least 30 days unless they died or were discharged. Modelling was used to identify risk factors associated with death.
After 30 days, almost half (48 per cent, 1,483/3,077) of the critically ill patients had died. The analysis estimates that death rates in these African patients were 11 per cent (in best case scenario) to 23 per cent (in worst case scenario) higher than the global average of 31.5 per cent.

An expert has called for the establishment of a craniofacial hospital for the poor and less privileged in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The expert made the call yesterday during a free craniofacial surgery outreach organised by the Cleft and Facial Deformity Foundation at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Keffi, Nasarawa State.

Facial deformities are a group of diseases that come not just with body pain but immense psychological disturbance due to stigmatisation.

They include facial clefts (cleft lip and palate), facial tumour, locked jaw and Noma.

A consultant maxillofacial surgeon, Dr Seidu Bello, said millions of Nigerians, especially in the rural areas, were living with facial deformities, and therefore called for support in establishing the hospital.

Dr Bello who is the Executive Director of the Cleft and Facial Deformity Foundation, said the establishment of a special craniofacial hospital in the FCT would reduce the prevalence of the disease.

He said, "It is absolutely unacceptable that Nigerians still go about with glaring psychological disturbance of facial deformities in our society while the rest of us look elsewhere. Facial deformity is not an exclusive disease of the poor, but the care of it requires funds and technical know-how.

"If professionals like us can come together to carry out free surgeries, it is important that healthy individuals support us with funds so as to continue this good work as the era of depending on foreigners for funding is gradually coming to an end."

He said his foundation had operated on about 4,000 patients and traversed various hospitals in the FCT, Niger, Kogi, Taraba, Edo, Katsina, Oyo, Nassarawa and Delta states in its 10 years of existence.

The Commissioner for Health, Nasarawa State, Ahmed Yahaya, said the state government was committed to providing the needed health for the citizens, particularly those at the grassroots.

The acting CEO of TY Danjuma Foundation, Mr Gima Forje, said his foundation would continue to support programmes targeted at vulnerable persons.

As vaccination levels continue to rise in the U.S. and around the world, countries that had been off limits to foreigners for more than a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic are beginning to reopen – and some are specifically opening to vaccinated travelers.
On Wednesday, the European Union announced it had agreed on measures to welcome fully vaccinated travelers and those from countries where COVID is under control. However, it did not say when its 27 member countries would be rolling out the welcome mat.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last month that fully vaccinated Americans could resume travel at low risk to themselves, though the agency still recommended against travel due to rising COVID case counts. 
However, in mid-April, the State Department also announced it would raise the alert level for a significant number of countries to factor the CDC's COVID data more heavily into its rating system.
The agency said approximately 80% of countries now carry the "do not travel'' label (level 4), its most severe warning.
The State Department said the pandemic continues to pose "unprecedented risks'' to travelers. "In light of those risks, the Department of State strongly recommends U.S. citizens reconsider all travel abroad.''
If Americans do decide to travel abroad, no matter which country they decide to visit, they'll still need to be tested for COVID within three days of an international flight back to the U.S. – even vaccinated travelers. You can find available testing sites in your destination country and turnaround times on the website for the U.S. embassy there.
Some resorts are also offering COVID testing on site to help satisfy the U.S. requirement. 
Rules are evolving, so we've chosen to focus on countries that did not admit Americans before COVID-19 vaccines began to roll out and now are open or opening to vaccinated Americans. Keep in mind that countries' rules and plans are evolving quickly, so before planning, check with your destination to find out the latest requirements. 
The information below pertaining to vaccination and testing requirements comes from official sources such as government agencies (such as embassies and immigration ministries and the U.S. State Department) or official tourism websites. 
If you would like to find out how much of the local population is at least partially vaccinated in a country you plan to visit, you can find the latest data on USA TODAY. Johns Hopkins University, which has tracked COVID infection and death statistics since the earliest days of the pandemic, drills down even further, with percentages for both the partially and fully vaccinated.
There are still very few countries that are fully vaccinated, and the number of vaccines in most countries is still very small. It will take a long time to control the epidemic globally, and after all, poor countries are the majority.

People using the laundromat in Red Springs, North Carolina, were feeding quarters into machines and folding clothes one Tuesday afternoon this spring, when LaTasha Murray burst through the door.
"I was like, 'Hey, is there anybody here who has not had the vaccine who wants a vaccine, or has questions about the vaccine?'" she recalled, laughing.
Murray is not a doctor, but she works in health care as the marketing director for Robeson Health Care Corp. The organization generally serves lower-income and historically marginalized communities, including her home of Red Springs.
It's a community that's been hit hard by Covid-19. Murray can count at least 18 family members or close friends who have died from the virus.
"This became very personal for me," she said. She's made it her mission to raise awareness about the vaccine among her neighbors, "to make sure that they're basing their decision as to whether they were going to get vaccinated on facts, and not fiction."
Now, wherever Murray goes — Walmart, the post office, the laundromat — she brings up the vaccine.
"You literally cannot have a conversation with me without me talking about it," she said. "I was going to get a T-shirt that said 'vaccine hustler.'"
It's personal, emotional connections like Murray's that are proving to be a driving force of vaccinations in many communities. While some are worried about conspiracy theories, many others simply have questions about the shots. How were they made? How were they developed so quickly? Will the shots hurt?
Hearing the answers from a trusted source who has the patience and time to address any concerns pays dividends.
One man who was at the laundromat when Murray arrived said he wanted to get vaccinated, but was scared.
"I said, 'What are you scared of?' We talked, and by the time I finished talking to him, he said, 'OK, I'm ready.'"
Murray, who had heard the nearby clinic had leftover doses that needed to be used that day, took the man immediately to get the vaccination.
He had to rush back once the shot was administered; he'd left his clothes in the washer.

The U.S. public health system was thrust into the limelight by the coronavirus pandemic, and a survey published Thursday found many Americans aren't happy with its performance.
According to the survey, conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in February and March, ratings of the nation’s public health system declined from 43% in 2009 to 34% in 2021. 
Positive ratings for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fell overall, from 59% in 2009 to 54% in 2021. Health experts say distrust and the politicization of public health measures contributed to Americans’ negative view of health institutions.
“How the public sees public health is incredibly important,” said Dr. Robert Blendon, co-director of the survey and professor of health policy and political analysis at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “When it comes to trust with health information, which is the heart of what public health is about, they’re much more likely to trust clinical physicians and nurses than public health institutions and agencies.”
Fewer than 4 in 10 adults report having "a great deal" or "quite a lot of trust" in the National Institutes of Health (37%), the Food and Drug Administration (37%) and the Department of Health and Human Services (33%).
Health experts say the politicization of public health measures such as masking, travel restrictions and stay-at-home orders also has influenced public opinion.
The survey found only 27% of Republicans said they had "a lot of trust" in the CDC, compared with 78% of Democrats. 
“We have not had another pandemic that has been politicized by party … Nobody had a Republican or Democratic view on polio vaccine. It just didn’t exist,” Blendon said. “The minute that happens, people of the party determine what’s going on based on their political views regardless of the facts.”
Despite people’s negative opinions of  federal agencies, they still regard them as important pillars of the nation’s health system.

Nigeria's national power grid experienced a full system collapse on Wednesday morning, resulting in blackouts across several parts of the nation.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said Wednesday that the country's national grid experienced a breakdown, The Guardian Nigeria reported. The company confirmed the outage through a statement by its General Manager of Public Affairs, Mrs. Ndidi Mbah.
"The TCN hereby states that at about 11.01 a.m today, May 12, 2021, there was a total system collapse of the grid, as a result of voltage collapse at some parts of the grid," Mbah said in the statement, according to the media outlet.
"TCN commenced grid recovery immediately after the collapse, from Shiroro Generating Station to Katampe TS, Abuja through the Shiroro – Katampe line at 11:29 a.m. and also through Delta Generating Station to Benin Transmission Substation and has reached Osogbo and parts of Lagos."
The TCN added that it will investigate the cause of the voltage collapse, and "appeals for patience as it works assiduously to ensure full restoration of the grid and consequently power supply to the remaining parts of the country," Mbah added.
Two other electricity distribution companies in Nigeria acknowledged the collapse on Wednesday while apologizing to consumers who may have experienced blackouts,The Independent reported.
"We regret to inform you that the power outage currently being experienced across our franchise – Kaduna, Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states – is as a result of the collapse of the national grid," Kaduna Electric said on Twitter, according to the news outlet.
In a similar message, Eko Electricity Distribution Company Plc addressed to consumers: "Dear customer, there is a partial system collapse on the national grid. Our TCN partners are working to restore supply immediately. Please bear with us."
Wednesday's system collapse is not the first time Nigeria has been plagued with poor electricity issues. According to a 2020 report by The Guardian Nigeria, data from the TCN shows that from 2013 to 2020, the government-run national grid system failed 84 times and partially collapsed 43 times.
Just last month, the nation suffered extensive power outages after 18 power plants faced operational issues, according to the Premium Times. The TCN has often been criticized for its outdated analog system and poor maintenance.
For years, the country of over 200 million people has only been dispatching about 4,500 megawatts of its 13,000 megawatt installed capacity due to such insufficiencies, Bloomberg reported.
However, last month, Lagos' government announced a plan to establish its own electricity market, while transitioning energy supply away from government control and into the private sector.
State Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources Olalere Odusote said that the goal is for generation, transmission and distribution functions to "be owned and operated substantially by the private sector," to ensure a more reliable power supply, according to Bloomberg.
Odusote added that inadequate energy supply and power failures in Lagos is the "single biggest infrastructure and developmental challenge" in the nation's largest city.

The Lagos State government has jump-started its urban renewal scheme in the Island Central Business District with the commencement of road and health infrastructure in Adeniji Adele and its environs.
The proposed project includes a 150 bed new Massey Street Children Pediatrics Hospital, reconstruction and upgrade of Adeniji Adele and Tapa/Oke Popo Streets roads.
Massey Hospital was established in 1914 as the first General Outpatient Clinic and Referral Centre in Lagos State and was converted to a full-fledged Pediatrics Hospital in 1961.
As a result of the steady and increasing number of patients, who throng the hospital daily to access medical services, the capacity has been overstretched and needs to be upgraded to provide quality service to patients.
The seven-storey hospital project would be completed in 24 months and will allow the state to provide medical care to children, a first-class facility for training doctors and other medical caregivers.
To complement the edifice, the roads are to be upgraded to semi-rigid pavement with reinforced concrete drains, culverts and median barrier, service ducts and powered street lighting.
The score of works include four-floor main building to accommodate, outpatient department, accident and emergency department, four operating theatres, Radiology Department with two CT Scan, MRI and X-Ray rooms, general Ward, Private wards, physiotherapy department and multi-storey car park with 213 parking capacity.
Other ancillary features are water treatment plants, Medical Gas tank, Water Feature/ Fountain.
The contract for the urban renewal has been awarded to Messrs Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, which undertook the initial construction of Adeniji Adele Road.
The regeneration of the axis started with the Northern axis, the state set up an inter-ministerial committee comprising, Ministries of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Works and Infrastructure, Environment and Water Resources, Transportation with a consultancy firm of urban and regionals planners.
The firm, MOA Planners Limited initiated the regeneration plan of Lagos Island North Area in August 2020, with an estimated size of 100.42 hectares.
Speaking on the project, Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Aramide Adeyoye, said the projects were another effort to promote economic development and improve the standard of living of Lagosians.
She said that 2.234km Adeniji Adele road is a major bypass traversing Lagos Island council and the Lagos Island East Local Council Development Area while Oke Popo/ Tapa Streets is about 1.069km.
“The roads will be reconstructed and upgraded to the semi-rigid pavement with reinforced concrete drains, culverts and median barrier, Transverse and Longitudinal service ducts and installation of Low Emission Diode (LED) powered street lighting.
MEANWHILE, the state’s Building Control Agency (LASBCA) has decried illegal development along the shorelines of Ibeshe Okun coastal community in Ori-Ade Local Council Development Area of the state.
Following reports from concerned persons from the community, the agency swung into action to demolish the illegal buildings in the interest of public health and the safety of the community members.
It lamented that some ongoing developments in the area are in deviance to the physical planning Law.
To halt further development of such structures within the community, the joint enforcement team of LASBCA and Physical Planning Permit Authority, (LASPPPA) served abatement notices and pull down structures illegally erected beside a government primary school along the community’s shoreline.
Speaking during the exercise, LASBCA General Manager, Gbolahan Oki, said that if the illegal developments were not checked, such structures would pose a huge threat to residents, distort the aesthetics of the community and threaten the security architecture of the area.
He explained that the enforcement in the coastal area of Ibeshe Okun community shows that the agency has gone a step further in establishing its presence across all parts of the state, including the riverine areas and the hinterlands.
Speaking on the building that was pulled down by the enforcement team of the agency during the exercise, Oki stated that the building, which was used as a poultry house behind a primary school in the community, constitutes a huge health risk to the school children and their teachers.
IN a related development, the state’s Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development has extended development plans to 30 communities, spread across different councils.
The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Idris Salako, who made this known during the 2021 Ministerial Press Briefing in Alausa, stated the ministry prepared local/ action plans for the communities through LASPPPA.
The communities that have had their plans prepared are Lafiaji in Eko District, Abule Oja, Ajiwe, review of Maiyegun and plan of an extension to Aparakaja Casia/Abiodun Dada.
The Commissioner also explained that the development plans would bring about the provision of quality infrastructural developments within the planned area and guarantee a sustainable physical environment during the stipulated planning period.
“With due recognition of the need to extend physical planning administration to non-schemed areas, development guide plans are being prepared to make the excised villages more sustainable,” he said.
According to Salako, development guide was prepared for the following villages in different councils. The areas include, Onimedu Eleputu, Lakowe, Adeba, Bogije, Igando-Oja and Awoyaya in Ibeju-Lekki L.G.A; Ajangbadi, Kemberi and Ketu Ijanikin in Ojo L.G.A; Parafa and Gberigbe in Ikorodu L.G.A and; Sangotedo and Langbasa in Eti-Osa LGA.

Na wetin President Muhammadu Buhari tell di Presidential Economic Advisory Council today.
Di Council tell Buhari say na security challenge dey affect di kontri economy, as dem meet am during during di 6th regular meeting for Abuja.
Buhari say: "Some pipo dey mercilessly against dis kontri" im tok, "we close di borders to control smuggling of petroleum products, and to check smuggled goods, arms and ammunitions."
"Dem still bring weapons enta di kontri, dem bring rice inside di kontri wit motor and okada. I say make dem shoot anyone wey carry illegal AK-47, still dem no stop."
Di Presidential Economic Advisory Council also tok about development of irrigation facilitates for di kontri.
Di President say dem go focus on on more development of di facilities as agriculture na good way for di kontri wey take overcome di economic challenge wey dey face am.
Di council recommend make dem find decisive end to all forms of security palava for di kontri, mobilise moni for investment.

One of our latest projects consists of more than 200 greenhouses in Nigeria, specifically adapted to produce in hot climates. In tropical areas, where humidity is high, we design the greenhouse trying to maximise ventilation." Speaking is Iñaki Vaquero with the Spanish manufacturer of greenhouses MSC Invernaderos
Despite the strong restrictions on travel due to Covid-19, the company continues with the development of projects in Africa with their latest installation of tropical greenhouses. This latest project consists of more than 200 greenhouses in Nigeria, specifically adapted to produce tomato, pepper and capsicum in hot climates.
"Our technical team has travelled several times in recent months to continue providing service to our customers, with training for local staff on the agronomic management of the crop," says Iñaki. "This latest greenhouse project is one more example of our commitment to agricultural development in Africa, improving employment, training and sustainability in the region." 
MSC wants to continually improve the design of their greenhouses by testing new technologies. "To do this, we have made an investment to test different technical options in locations with different climatic conditions within the country," says Iñaki. "The results are allowing us to study the impact at the investment and production level of the different technical designs." 
This research doesn't come out of the blue: MSC Invernaderos has more than 35 years of experience and greenhouse projects in more than 50 countries.

The United States is expected to authorize the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for children age 12 and up by early next week, US media reported Monday.
Pfizer has applied for emergency use authorization for its Covid vaccine for children and teenagers between ages 12 and 15, according to CNN, citing a government official.
“The FDA will have to amend the emergency use authorization for the vaccine, but the process should be straightforward,” CNN reported.
The US Food and Drug Administration is expected to grant that approval by early next week. After the FDA decision, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee will meet to recommend how the vaccine should be used.
A spokeswoman for the FDA declined to give details on the approval timeline, telling The Washington Post: “We are working to review this request as quickly and transparently as possible.”
The Pfizer vaccine is currently authorized for people 16 and older in the United States.
The US pharmaceutical giant said in late March it had submitted data from a clinical trial of 2,260 12- to 15-year-olds that showed the vaccine was highly effective and well-tolerated.
Further testing on younger children is ongoing.
Moderna is conducting trials of its vaccine in teens, with results expected in the summer, as well as in younger children.
Johnson & Johnson is also planning pediatric trials for its vaccine.
Expanding vaccine authorization to include adolescents could open up the US mass vaccination program to millions more people.
The national vaccination rate peaked around April 11, according to official data, and although 55 percent of US adults now have had one or more doses, there’s still a long way to go to achieve population immunity against Covid.
The people most eager to get their shots have, for the most part, already rolled up their sleeves and done so.
But vaccine hesitancy remains a major obstacle: a large percentage of US adults don’t plan to get the shot and could potentially refuse to get their children vaccinated.
Among Republican voters, 29 percent say they will never take the vaccine, compared to five percent of Democrats and nine percent of independents, according to a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The U.S. State Department has issued travel bans to over 100 countries including many Americans’ favourite medical tourism destinations.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose unprecedented risks to travellers. In light of those risks, the Department of State strongly recommends U.S. citizens reconsider all travel abroad, due to the very high risk in many countries
The U.S. State Department has issued a Level 4 ‘Do Not Travel’ advisory for over 100 countries, covering several popular medical tourism destinations for Americans, including:
Mexico
Dominican Republic
Costa Rica
UAE
Colombia
Canada
Brazil
Bermuda
Most US travel insurances will not cover countries with a Level 4 risk.
Mexico and the Dominican Republic were both upgraded from a Level 3: “reconsider travel”  to a Level 4.
The latest recommendations better reflect the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s science-based Travel Health Notices.
The updated advisories are intended to stop Americans travelling to 80% of countries worldwide that are experiencing dramatic spikes in cases.
The United States hasn’t had a global advisory warning against international travel since August 2020, which was revoked at that time by the Trump administration.
The advice issued by the U.S. State department isn’t a formal global advisory. The State Department will start using CDC standards as it prepares health and safety guidelines for individual countries. Because of those standards, 80% of countries will be classified as “Level 4” or “do not travel.”

More than 95 million Americans are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, but there are still many who remain on the fence.
Vaccine hesitancy in the U.S. isn’t new -- it’s something that Americans have seen many times before.
Decades ago, the polio virus was one of the most feared diseases in the United States. The development of a polio vaccine was widely celebrated, but one early batch of the vaccine was manufactured incorrectly, leading to some cases of paralysis and death. When the vaccination program resumed, many were hesitant to get the shot -- especially teenagers.
Health officials needed help to encourage the public to get vaccinated, and so they looked to a rising star.
In the video above, you can see pictures of Elvis Presley, at just 21 years old, smiling widely as he was vaccinated for polio. In October of 1956, Elvis got the polio vaccine backstage just before his performance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
His target audience was the teenagers and young adults who thought they weren’t at risk for the deadly disease.
The photos of Elvis’ vaccination were circulated in newspapers around the nation the next day. Officials say the percentage of teenagers that ultimately received their polio vaccine rose from 6 percent to almost 80 percent in six months after Elvis’ promotion. Now, that increase wasn’t solely thanks to Elvis, but his impact was significant enough to be dubbed the “Elvis effect.”
The rising rock star was heavily involved with the March of Dimes, so he reportedly didn’t think twice about getting the polio vaccine.
Is there a celebrity who could have the same impact now?
Plenty of stars have been vaccinated for COVID-19 so far.
Dolly Parton drew widespread praise for not only helping to fund Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine, but for also receiving her vaccination publicly. All of the living former presidents and their spouses have been vaccinated against the virus.
Also on the list of public figures who have been vaccinated are the Pope, the Dalai Lama and the Queen -- and a long list of celebrities, such as Tyler Perry, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Nick Jonas and Ryan Reynolds.
But health experts aren’t expecting an “Elvis effect” this time around; they think hesitant people are far more likely to get vaccinated if they hear the message from their own doctor, pastor or another trusted member of their own community.
Experts believe that there are big stars like Beyoncé or LeBron James who could still have an impact on vaccination rates, especially among young people.

The United States will immediately provide raw materials for Covid-19 vaccines, medical equipment and protective gear to help India respond to a massive surge in coronavirus infections, a White House spokeswoman said on Sunday.
"The United States is working around the clock to deploy available resources and supplies," National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne said in a statement.
She said the United States would send raw materials required for India to manufacture the Covishield vaccine, as well as therapeutics, rapid diagnostic test kits, ventilators and protective equipment for frontline workers.
"Just as India sent assistance to the United States as our hospitals were strained early in the pandemic, we are determined to help India in its time of need," President Joe Biden said on Twitter on Sunday.
Although helping each other is a good thing, has the US Johnson & Johnson vaccine problem been solved?

This is an image that was first highlighted by Professor Vaklav Smil, a professor at the University of Manitoba (in Winnipeg, Canada). The world-renowned expert, in particular, is considered one of the most relevant on key issues related to energy (see Energy at the crossroads: global views and uncertainties And Global disasters and trends, the next fifty years), Especially described by Bill Gates as his favorite writer, but not yet translated into French!
Read this too
In his work Creating the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization, In three years – from 2011 to 2013 – China used 50% more concrete than the United States … throughout the twentieth century. As China produces more concrete each year than any other part of the world, this trend is unlikely to change, especially as San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, which is twenty times more dedicated to erecting massive structures such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, required 1.08 million cubic meters of cement to build.
The gap says the United States has had decades of slow-moving investment to renovate its aging infrastructure, thanks to a $ 2.250 billion budget. Stephen Monier, Investment Director, Lombard Audio, explains that this is a unique opportunity for investors to invest in this significant initiative.
Many neglected infrastructure
The post-epidemic economic recovery is an opportunity to revamp infrastructure, which has been dormant since the Great Depression of 2008-2009. The U.S. Employment Program, proposed by the Biden administration on March 31, aims to transform U.S. public investment over the decades, thereby laying the economy on a stable foundation for the future. The project demonstrates that the United States ranks 13th in the world for the quality of its infrastructure. Over the past sixty years, U.S. federal government spending on infrastructure has fallen by more than half as a percentage of GDP, from 3.8% in the 1960s to 1.6% in the last decade.
Massive civil engineering projects – especially during the Roosevelt New Testament – that took place in the last century need to be strengthened, replaced or recycled. Last month, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) released its latest three-year report on the country’s infrastructure. Going through this document, the poor condition of dams, roads, roads, schools, public transport systems, hazardous waste management systems, air transport infrastructure etc. Explicit.
Dirty roads, railways and dams
Some examples: Between 2015 and 2020, the United States derailed 30 kilometers of railroad tracks (several hundred trains derailed each year, most of the time without extreme luck). 46,154 bridges, 7.5% of the total, show structural defects. At current rates, it takes 40 years to repair them … except for that time the park will continue to deteriorate, with 42% of all bridges in the country already 50 years old and over. An average of one leak occurs every two minutes in a waterway, resulting in the loss of drinking water equivalent to 9,000 municipal swimming pools each day. The rate of dams at high risk of accident has increased and now more than 2,300 structures are of concern.
ASCE estimates the investment required to repair the slowdown is $ 2.390 billion over the next decade.
Today half of the total cost of the U.S. project goes to repairing roads and railroads and upgrading water pipes and airports. $ 620 billion is to be spent on the transportation network, including recharging electric vehicles and establishing global access to high-speed Internet.
Small inflation risk
Stephen Monier believes spending will spread over many years, which will reduce their inflationary impact. Not to mention the unforeseen difficulties of stopping large infrastructure projects in general (“Big Dick”, road tunnel in Boston, Massachusetts: Discourse: These works were first approved in 1982 and, with a budget of $ 2, $ 6 billion, lasted almost six times longer than expected Much).
For the U.S. administration, the revitalization of infrastructure will have the added benefit of creating jobs. U.S. unemployment fell to 6% earlier this month after the epidemic rose to nearly 15%. But this ratio is still far from the level, The lowest in 50 years, recorded in 2019. In fact, there are still more than 10 million more unemployed than before the epidemic, which strengthens the argument in favor of counter-cyclical infrastructure spending for the economy. The Federal Reserve, for its part, has said it will measure the strength of the economy by looking at long-term employment trends and looking only at average inflation levels.
An agreement is found in Congress
This envelope should win the support of Joe Biden’s political opponents in Congress, Stephen Monier recalled, referring to “some compromises”. “We expect a close end to the original plans in the third quarter of this year. Spending is gaining some support among Republicans because the infrastructure plan has already been designed under the administration of Trump. The mistakes made ten years ago, the economic impact of the epidemic and the competition with China in the wake of the financial crisis combined with the desire to avoid politics. It could help the political process, “he said.

At least 50 per cent of people who have meningitis will die if left untreated, an official of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said on Saturday, saying Nigeria must do more to tackle the disease.
The Director of Special Duties and Technical Lead for the National Cerebrospinal Meningitis Technical Working Group, NCDC, Priscilla Ibekwe, said this during an awareness walk to mark the 2021 World Meningitis Day.
Ms Ibekwe said even when treated, 10 to 20 per cent of people who survive meningitis will have after-effects such as deafness, loss of sight, loss of limbs amongst others.
“The sad thing about meningitis is that it is a race against time and 50 per cent of people who have meningitis will die if untreated,” she said.