The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has called on the Nigerian government to strictly enforce compliance with all COVID-19 safety protocols put in place to limit the spread of the virus.
The president of the association, Samson Ayokunle, made the call during the sensitisation meeting on COVID-19 vaccine introduction for Christian Leaders and Scholars in Abuja on Tuesday.
“I am saying it with everything within me that enforcement is key. We need drastic and tough enforcement of the law,” Mr Ayokunle said.
He said the association endorses the COVID-19 Executive Order signed by President Muhammadu Buhari that makes safety protocols such as mask-wearing and social distancing mandatory across the country.
Mr Ayokunle said lots of Christians have died from coronavirus and it is reckless to say the virus does not exist.
“It is not good to borrow reckless confidence that COVID-19 is not existing. We have seen Christians that have died,” he said.
The cleric appealed to Christians in Nigeria to cooperate with the government to succeed in curtailing the spread of the virus which has claimed millions of lives globally.
The meeting, organised by the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), was aimed at sensitizing religious leaders on the need to fully accept the COVID-19 vaccines when they finally arrive in the country.

The United States is in a race against time to vaccinate as many people as possible before other potentially more worrisome variants of the coronavirus emerge, according to experts.
Vaccination efforts in the U.S. have been hamstrung by delivery issues, insufficient supply and hesitancy to get the shots. But to avert another surge of infections, hospitalizations and deaths, scientists say it may be necessary to rethink how the vaccines are rolled out to ramp up the number of shots administered and to protect against new strains of the virus.
"We really are in a race against new variants," said Wan Yang, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. "We need to prepare as much as possible before things increase to a level that puts more strain on our health care systems."
The vaccines, one made by Pfizer-BioNTech and another by Moderna, seem to be effective against a more contagious variant that was first reported in November in the United Kingdom. With a separate variant that is thought to have emerged in South Africa, however, early lab studies by Moderna showed a drop in the level of antibodies produced by the company's vaccine. Although Moderna said antibodies remained above protective levels, the development prompted the company to start upgrading its existing vaccine to make it more effective against emerging strains.
In the meantime, it is essential for states to try to vaccinate as many people as possible, said Ali Mokdad, a professor of global health at the University of Washington. That could mean thinking beyond the phased-in approach that prioritizes certain age groups and professions and, instead, offering a vaccination to anyone who wants one.
"You can save lives by targeting the vaccine to the elderly, but there will be a point in time when we have enough vaccines, where these phases for who goes first, second and third should be abolished immediately," Mokdad said.
Mokdad cautioned that the U.S. is not at that point yet, because there are still too many snags to work through in the supply and distribution of vaccines. Across the country, the rollout of vaccines has been bumpy, with some states struggling to administer all the doses they received and others being forced to cancel appointments because of dwindling supplies.
"The reason we're doing this phased approach is because there is limited supply," said Deepta Bhattacharya, an associate professor of immunobiology at the University of Arizona. "By and large, if you can fix the supply issues, you can vaccinate as many people as fast as possible."
Without a stable pipeline between manufacturing and distribution, Mokdad said, the country remains vulnerable should a new strain begin circulating that is more contagious or more deadly or that can evade the current vaccines.
The prospect is not entirely unfounded, said Dr. Robert Califf, head of medical strategy and policy at Verily Life Sciences.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an update to its Covid-19 vaccine guidance that in "exceptional situations" people may receive a different vaccine for the second dose than they received for the first shot. 
In other words, if an individual got the Moderna vaccine as the first dose, the person could, if absolutely necessary, get the Pfizer vaccine as the second dose, and vice versa. 
The CDC stresses, however, that "every effort should be made to determine which vaccine product was received as the first dose, in order to ensure completion of the vaccine series with the same product." The agency notes that there is no data looking at using two different vaccines.
The "exceptional situations" described by the CDC are if the first-dose product that a person received cannot be determined, or if the first-dose product is no longer available. In these situations, the second dose should be given at least 28 days after the first. 
The interchangeability only applies to mRNA vaccines, which includes both Pfizer and Moderna. Future vaccines, such as the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, do not use mRNA. 
The update was posted Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AFP): President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday (Jan 19) signalled a new tone for the US government by leading a powerful tribute to the 400,000 Americans lost to Covid-19 as he arrived in Washington on the eve of his inauguration.
Biden, who himself has suffered deep personal tragedy of his own and who is known for his public displays of emotion, has stressed the need to unite the country after President Donald Trump's chaotic four years in office.
"It's hard sometimes to remember, but that's how we heal. It's important to do that as a nation," Biden said in sombre remarks at the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
Inauguration eve is normally a time of massive crowds gathering in the capital, but Biden, joined by Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris, were almost alone on the empty National Mall due to Covid-19 restrictions and heightened security after the deadly riot at the US Capitol.
On the Mall's grassy expanse, some 200,000 flags have been planted to represent the absent crowds at the inauguration ceremony on Wednesday (Jan 20).
Trump, who has not appeared in public for a week, broke days of silence with a pre-recorded farewell video address.
For the first time he asked Americans to "pray" for the success of the incoming administration - a change from months spent persuading his Republican followers that the Democrats cheated their way to election victory.
Trump snub
Trump, whose efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic and console its victims have been widely criticised, will snub Biden by not attending the inauguration.
He has also yet to personally congratulate Biden on his win or invite him for the customary cup of tea in the Oval Office.
In one of his last acts before he flies to Florida on Wednesday morning, Trump is expected to issue scores of pardons, with speculation rife over who might make the list.
The latest indications are that Trump will not take the legally dubious step of issuing himself and his children pre-emptive pardons.
Outside the White House fence, central Washington has taken on a dystopian look ahead of Biden's inauguration, swarming with National Guard troops and largely emptied of ordinary people.
Fears of right-wing attacks in the wake of the pro-Trump riot in the Capitol building on Jan 6 have triggered unprecedented deployment of armed personnel, concrete barriers and secure areas dubbed "green" and "red" zones.
Adding to the tension, the Senate is expected to put Trump on trial soon, following his record second impeachment by the House of Representatives over the Capitol riot.
Biden comes to town
Earlier on Tuesday, tears rolled down Biden's cheeks at a farewell ceremony in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, where he paid tribute to his late son Beau, a rising politician who died of brain cancer in 2015 aged 46.
"I only have one regret, that he's not here," Biden said.
Biden, a veteran Democratic senator who also served as vice-president to Barack Obama, is staying overnight with his wife Jill in Blair House, a residence for heads of state and other important visitors across the street from the White House.
His inaugural speech will last between 20 to 30 minutes, according to a source familiar with preparations, and "he will reach out to all Americans, and call on every citizen to be part of meeting the extraordinary challenges facing all of us."
To symbolise the new spirit, Biden has invited the two top senators - Democrat Chuck Schumer and Republican Mitch McConnell - and other congressional leaders to attend a church service with him on Wednesday before the inauguration.
A person familiar with McConnell's plans confirmed to AFP the Republican congressional leader would join Biden, a longtime Senate colleague, in church.
Pardons
According to CNN and other US media outlets, Trump has a list of about 100 people he may grant clemency to.
After what The New York Times reports has been an intense lobbying effort, these are expected to be a mix of white-collar criminals and people whose cases have been championed by criminal justice activists.
More controversial possible pardons that have been the subject of speculation for months would be for the likes of Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Trump's influential advisor Steve Bannon.
But Trump has, according to latest US media reports, moved away from the temptation to issue himself a pre-emptive pardon. This would anger his Republican backers in the Senate right ahead of the start of the impeachment trial.
Although Trump was easily acquitted thanks to party support in his first impeachment last year, this time it may not go as well.
Senior Senate Republican McConnell said in blistering comments Tuesday that Trump had "provoked" his supporters and that the "mob was fed lies" before embarking on the assault against Congress. - AFP

A political game that the whole world is paying attention to, finally played and ended on Capitol Hill full of soldiers. Trump's selfishness and bigotry have caused great harm to the United States in the past four years, and it has also had an impact on the world. It is ironic that the American political system elected Trump as president. Let us pray too. I hope that the United States can stand up again and show due respect to all mankind and other countries, rather than clinging to "America First."

The rapid expansion of COVID-19 vaccinations to senior citizens across the U.S. has led to bottlenecks, system crashes and hard feelings in many states because of overwhelming demand for the shots.
Mississippi's Health Department stopped taking new appointments the same day it began accepting them because of a “monumental surge” in requests. People had to wait hours to book vaccinations through a state website or a toll-free number Tuesday and Wednesday, and many were booted off the site because of technical problems and had to start over.
In California, counties begged for more coronavirus vaccine to reach millions of their senior citizens. Hospitals in South Carolina ran out appointment slots within hours. Phone lines were jammed in Georgia.
“It’s chaos,” said New York City resident Joan Jeffri, 76, who had to deal with broken hospital web links and unanswered phone calls before her daughter helped her secure an appointment. “If they want to vaccinate 80% of the population, good luck, if this is the system. We’ll be here in five years.”
Up until the past few days, health care workers and nursing home patients had been given priority in most places around the U.S. But amid frustration over the slow rollout, states have thrown open the line to many of the nation's 54 million senior citizens with the blessing of the Trump administration, though the minimum age varies from place to place, at 65, 70 or higher.
Up until the past few days, health care workers and nursing home patients had been given priority in most places around the U.S. But amid frustration over the slow rollout, states have thrown open the line to many of the nation's 54 million senior citizens with the blessing of the Trump administration, though the minimum age varies from place to place, at 65, 70 or higher.
More than 11.1 million Americans, or over 3% of the U.S. population, have gotten their first shot of the vaccine, a gain of about 800,000 from the day before, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. The goal of inoculating anywhere between 70% and 85% of the population to achieve herd immunity and conquer the outbreak is still many months away.
Hard-hit Los Angeles County, the nation’s most populous county with 10 million residents, said it couldn’t immediately provide shots to the elderly because it had inoculated only about a quarter of its 800,000 health care workers.
“We’re not done with our health care workers, and we actually don’t have enough vaccine right now to be able to get done more quickly,” Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. “We haven’t heard back from the state about vaccine availability and how it would be distributed.”

Three lawmakers have now tested positive for Covid-19 after sheltering in place with lawmakers who refused to wear masks during the violent rioting at the U.S. Capitol last week.
Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., said in a statement Tuesday morning that he got tested Monday on the advice of the House attending physician, but is not yet experiencing symptoms.
"Several Republican lawmakers in the room adamantly refused to wear a mask, as demonstrated in video from Punchbowl News, even when politely asked by their colleagues," Schneider said in a statement. "Today, I am now in strict isolation, worried that I have risked my wife’s health and angry at the selfishness and arrogance of the anti-maskers who put their own contempt and disregard for decency ahead of the health and safety of their colleagues and our staff."
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Washington state Democrat, said in a statement early Tuesday that she had been quarantining since the attack and learned of her positive test result Monday night.
“Too many Republicans have refused to take this pandemic and virus seriously, and in doing so, they endanger everyone around them," she said in the statement. "Only hours after President Trump incited a deadly assault on our Capitol, our country, and our democracy, many Republicans still refused to take the bare minimum COVID-19 precaution and simply wear a damn mask in a crowded room during a pandemic — creating a superspreader event on top of a domestic terrorist attack."
Jayapal said she was working from home.
“I will continue to work to the best of my ability because the deep urgency of our many crises is paramount,” she said in her statement. “I share the outrage and anger of my constituents and those across this country who have watched Donald Trump fail to combat this raging pandemic and refuse to take care of Americans who are suffering, dying, and devastated. Now, we have also watched him openly fuel and incite these insurrectionists who attacked the Capitol and our democracy on January 6 — so I will not rest until I do everything in my power to remove this President from office.”
Earlier Monday, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., said she had received a positive rapid Covid-19 test.
“I received a positive test result for COVID-19, and am home resting at this time. While I am experiencing mild, cold-like symptoms, I remain in good spirits and will continue to work on behalf of my constituents," Watson Coleman said in a statement.
The congresswoman is isolating and waiting for the results of a PCR test, which is known to be more accurate than rapid tests.
News of the lawmakers’ tests comes a day after the Capitol physician warned members and congressional staff that they could have been exposed to someone infected with the virus when they were sheltering in place. A video circulated last week that showed a House Democrat in a secure room offering face masks to a group of her fellow Republicans, who were seen turning them down.
In July, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a mask mandate for all members and staffers on the House floor.
Jayapal said that lawmakers who refuse to wear masks in the Capitol should be fined.
“Additionally, any Member who refuses to wear a mask should be immediately removed from the floor by the Sergeant at Arms,” she said. “This is not a joke. Our lives and our livelihoods are at risk, and anyone who refuses to wear a mask should be fully held accountable for endangering our lives because of their selfish idiocy.”

President-elect Joe Biden's first and most urgent task will be to repair the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given how badly the current president has bungled the job, it won't be hard to do better. Even so, the scale of the task is daunting.
From the start, President Donald Trump failed to organize the response or create a national plan to allocate medical supplies, coordinate test-and-trace efforts and prepare states to distribute vaccines. He refused to heed scientific reality or let professionals lead the public health response. He fomented bitter disagreement among his own advisers. Trump hasn't even bothered to wear a mask or otherwise lead Americans to take basic precautions.
In most ways, Biden simply needs to do the opposite. He can change the national conversation on COVID by restoring professional public health leadership, improving communication with the states and expediting the vaccine rollout — internationally as well as within the U.S. It's good that he's already outlined a solid pandemic response plan and gathered a team of experts who can be trusted to focus on ending the pandemic.
Above all, Biden should keep his pledge to heed advice from scientists and public health authorities — especially those at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC can do much to rationalize the pandemic response, as long as the president and his political advisers keep out of its way. The new administration should return to the tradition of CDC-led public briefings, to keep Americans up to date on the course of the pandemic and the progress of vaccination, and to deliver a consistent message about the need for masks, social distancing and hand-washing. The CDC should be granted its former authority to gather all detailed data on COVID infections, hospitalizations, deaths and so on from the states and feed this into a public national dashboard, as Biden has promised. And the agency should give states clear direction about when and how it's safe for restaurants, stores, gyms, schools and businesses to be open.
Biden is rightly preparing to address the pandemic's disproportionate effect on Black, Latino and Native American communities — where the COVID mortality rate has been as much as triple that among white Americans — by creating a special task force, led by Marcella Nunez-Smith, an eminent expert on disparities in health care access. Her challenge will be to ensure that vulnerable communities are adequately tested and treated for COVID-19, that people get the support they need to isolate and quarantine when necessary, and that they get vaccinated without delay. She must be given the authority her difficult job will require.
Vaccinations aren't going well. Operation Warp Speed has delivered vaccines to states but isn't guiding distribution appropriately. And states, cities, hospitals, nursing homes and other agencies in charge of shot-giving need to do better. Biden has pledged to push the pace to at least 1 million shots per day, by setting up more sites, deploying mobile units, and sending the message that vaccines are safe and essential.
Biden also wants to get schools open by the spring. He'll need to persuade Congress to pay for adapting school buildings and buses to social distancing. (If new variants of the coronavirus spread readily among children, vaccinating teachers and school staff will be even more urgent.) He wants to provide the resources to get more Americans tested, more quickly, by setting up a national pandemic testing board along the lines of Franklin Roosevelt's War Production Board. He says he'll boost production of personal protective equipment and work with governors and mayors to push, prod and inspire people to wear masks. All these efforts should have begun months ago.
As if all this weren't enough, Biden should also join the international effort to ensure that all countries get COVID-19 vaccines and treatments — by reversing Trump's withdrawal from the World Health Organization; joining Covax, the global vaccine purchasing pool; and donating and helping to procure vaccine supplies for poorer countries. As things stand, much of the world's population may have to wait until 2022 for a shot. It could take years to immunize 60% of the people in Africa. Yet no country can be safe from COVID-19 until all countries are safe.
Finally, Biden must do everything possible to make sure that the next pandemic is not as deadly or as costly. That begins by restoring the National Security Council's Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense, whose job was to monitor disease outbreaks around the world — until the Trump administration dissolved it in 2018. The U.S. must also support the WHO, the agency best positioned to help all countries recognize and head off emerging health threats.
By the time Biden is sworn in, nearly 400,000 Americans will likely have died of COVID-19, and the disease will still be raging. The new president need be in no doubt about his first and most urgent task.

Prof. Babatunde Salako, the Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), on Friday, in Lagos, said the institute had carried out over 10,000 COVID-19 free tests in the country.
Salako told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the institute, in collaboration with Lifebank, started a free COVID-19 drive through testing within the institute in March 2020.
According to him, the institute, saddled with the responsibility of conducting research on public health emergencies, was involved chiefly in the control of the pandemic in testing and research capacity.
“Since the establishment of NIMR’s COVOD-19 testing centre, in collaboration with Lifebank, we have tested over 10,000 Nigerians for free, without collecting any Kobo from anyone.
“We have been involved in two activities in the control of the virus in the country, which are testing and research, especially in the area of diagnostics.
“Our researchers have come up with COVID-19 diagnostic tools to help increase our testing capacity,” he said.
NAN reports that NIMR was established in 1977, to conduct research into diseases of public health importance and develop structures for the dissemination of research findings.

As more Americans continue to get vaccinated against COVID-19, U.S. officials continue to monitor for severe allergic reactions and other adverse events after getting the vaccine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said early safety monitoring has detected 21 cases of anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction, after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
The cases were detected in a pool of 1,893,360 first doses administered from Dec. 14 to 23. This translates to 11.1 cases of anaphylaxis per 1 million doses, said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, in a media briefing Wednesday.
This is higher than the flu vaccine, which has an average outcome rate of 1.3 cases per 1 million doses. However, Messonnier said the rate of anaphylaxis in the COVID-19 vaccine is still considered a rare outcome.
“We all would hope that any vaccine would have zero adverse events, but even at 11 cases per million doses administered – it’s a very safe vaccine,” she said.
In 86% of the cases, symptoms began within 30 minutes of vaccination, and 81% of them occurred in people with a history of allergies or allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis events. Most of the patients who reported having this severe allergic reaction – 90% – were women.

Even so, the risks from COVID and adverse outcomes from COVID are still greater than the risk of serious outcomes from the vaccine.

The homes of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were vandalized days after Congress failed to approve a measure to increase coronavirus stimulus checks to $2,000.
Photos taken Saturday showed the words "WERES MY MONEY" scrawled in white spray paint on the front door of McConnell's home in Louisville, Kentucky. "MITCH KILLS THE POOR" was written in red on a window.
"I've spent my career fighting for the First Amendment and defending peaceful protest. I appreciate every Kentuckian who has engaged in the democratic process whether they agree with me or not," McConnell said in a statement. "This is different. Vandalism and the politics of fear have no place in our society."
McConnell said that he and his wife were not intimidated and hope they that "our neighbors in Louisville aren't too inconvenienced by this radical tantrum."
Louisville police did not return a request for comment Saturday.
At Pelosi's home in San Francisco, a garage door was defaced Friday with phrases including "$2K," "Cancel rent!" and "We want everything!"
Police said a pig's head and fake blood were left on the ground.
The San Francisco Police Department's Special Investigations Division is looking into the vandalism, police said in a statement. Pelosi had not yet responded to a request for comment.
The House passed the CASH Act on Monday to increase stimulus payments from $600 to $2,000 to help people during the coronavirus pandemic, but it was blocked by McConnell, who said the bill had "no realistic path to quickly pass the Senate."
"The Senate's not going to be bullied into rushing out more borrowed money into the hands of Democrats' rich friends who don't need the help," he said on the Senate floor.
The act was supported by President Donald Trump.

For the education sector, year 2020 has been a challenging and turbulent one. The first inkling of what the year held for Nigerians manifested in the first quarter when the world woke up to the reality of the coronavirus pandemic that threatened everything the sector held dear. As part of measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic, the Federal Government, on March 23, closed schools and educational institutions nationwide.
The closure, which lasted for more than six months, halted teaching and learning across the country; academic calendar took a hit and almost everything came to a standstill. While private schools switched to online learning, most public schools could not continue learning as they were not prepared, although some states later introduced radio and television teaching programmes.
Candidates for National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE), Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) and National Examination Council (NECO) had to deal with the uncertainty of schedules for their exams. After much pressure from many quarters, government, putting in place COVID-19 guidelines, announced a phased reopening of schools, while most states cancelled the third term. Private schools could not meet their obligations to teachers, parents could not pay school fees, while many school owners who had taken loans could not service them. To save the sub-sector, government offered to support private schools with intervention funds, though not much has been done in this regard.
While efforts were on to contain the pandemic, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) reported that about 60.2 million teachers and 1.37 billion students, representing more than three out of four children and youth worldwide were out of the classroom due to the coronavirus pandemic. The body said school closures globally have impacted nearly 80 per cent of world’s student population.
A policy paper by the agency’s Global Education Monitoring (GEM), warned that global aid on education might decline by $2 billion as a result of recession caused by COVID-19. This means a 12 per cent drop in international support for education. Aid to education in 2018 reached a record $15.6 billion, an increase of nine per cent from the previous year. From one year to the next, it rose by six per cent for basic; seven per cent for secondary; and 12 per cent for post-secondary education, providing each with the highest amount of aid ever recorded. The report noted that without new measures, aid to education would only reach 2018 level in 2024, which posed a serious threat to the recovery of the sector from unprecedented disruption caused by coronavirus pandemic.
While primary and secondary school managers struggled to continue teaching amid the pandemic, tertiary institutions could not as learning in public universities was halted for over nine months due to industrial action by Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). For years, ASUU has been at loggerheads with the Federal Government over improved funding of university education, infrastructural development as well as teaching and learning aids.
The disagreement came into sharp focus this year as ASUU confronted government in battle for the soul of universities. The nine-month strike, which ended last week, paralysed teaching and learning in all government institutions.

Di tok-tok pesin to CAN Presido, Pastor Bayo Adedeji bin tell BBC Yoruba say before now dem tell dia member churches make dem follow wetin state goments dey order.
However, churches go fit hold dia cross over services earlier than usually so dat dia members go fit go house, before di curfew wey Federal goment put for ground, from 12am- 4am, go start.
Pastor Adedeji also tok say make states branches of CAN meet goment, in case anytin dey wey fit get any kain k-leg.
For Nigeria, na normal practice say pipo dey like enta church to launch in di new year, wey don lead to fear say cases of Coronavirus fit increase.
Di kontri don enta dia second wave of di virus from three weeks, according to wetin di goment tok.
Di Chairman of di Presidential Task Force on Covid-19, Boss Mustapha announce say di way new infections of di virus just dey show imself all ova di kontri in di last few weeks show say di second wave don start.
Mustapha add say dis period go hard for di kontri as di risk still high say dem fit lose all di winnings wey Nigeria don get ova di virus ova di past nine months.

A researcher who identified a novel coronavirus variant in Nigeria has cautioned against automatic assumptions that it poses similar risks to strains that have emerged elsewhere.
The new strain was uncovered last week by scientists at the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) in southeastern Nigeria.
ACEGID director Christian Happi said the variant was found in two out of 200 samples of virus collected from patients between August 3 and October 9.
The two samples were taken from the same state in Nigeria at different times.
They show a variant “different to the one that has been circulating in Nigeria, different from the one in South Africa and different from the one in the U.K.,” he said in an interview with AFP.
Britain tightened restrictions after finding a new strain there that it said was more contagious than initial forms of the virus. 
South Africa says a new strain detected there could explain the rapid spread of a second wave that has especially affected younger people.
Happi stressed that scientists were racing to unlock knowledge about the Nigeria strain and urged people not to “extrapolate.”
“We have no idea, no evidence to say that this variant is linked to the spike we are seeing in Nigeria or not,” said Happi, explaining that samples from the latest cases were being analysed for an answer.
Nigeria has recorded more than 82,000 cases of Covid-19, of which 1,246 were fatal.
Compared to the country’s population of some 200 million people, this number is tiny.
However, the tally of cases has been rising by several hundred a day since the start of December. There has been a major increase in Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital, prompting the authorities there to reinstate a curfew and gatherings of more than 50 people.
But the number of deaths in Nigeria has not experienced a proportionate surge.
Happi, a Cameroon-raised, Harvard-trained professor of molecular biology, works in a state-of-the-art lab in Ede, southeastern Nigeria.
It is one of only 12 in Africa designed to sequence viral genetic code and track mutations — telltale changes that can be used to build a family tree of the microbe.
From this, the scientists at Ede believe the variant evolved “within Nigeria, I don’t think it was imported from anywhere,” said Happi.
“When changes occur, what matters most, what we’re focusing on, is the spike protein,” he said, referring to the prong-like protein by which coronavirus latches onto a cell and infects it.
Happi said there was a “tendency to extrapolate” after a discovery of this kind.
But he cautioned strongly against automatically assuming that what happened in one population setting would also happen elsewhere.

President-elect Joe Biden warned Tuesday that the coronavirus pandemic will get worse before it gets better.
"Our darkest days in the battle against COVID are ahead of us, not behind us," Biden told reporters during a year-end news conference in Wilmington, Del.
He said that Americans, when united, could overcome the crisis, and he called the first vaccines being administered a good thing. But he noted that distribution of the vaccines is one of the biggest operational challenges the country has ever faced.
The House and Senate passed a $900 billion COVID-19 aid package late Monday after months of negotiations. Biden praised Congress for the bill, but he stressed it wasn't enough, especially considering it only would provide 10 weeks of federal unemployment benefits.
"It's going to take a lot longer than that" for the economy to recover, Biden said. He reiterated he would push for a bigger package when he is president, including for more direct payments to families as well as money for vaccine distribution and coronavirus testing, and aid for state and local governments.
Biden's remarks came a day after he and his wife, Jill, received a first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. U.S. cases of the coronavirus are again on the rise, and the national death toll from the virus nears 320,000 lives lost. Biden has said he hopes in the first 100 days to oversee the distribution of 100 million shots of the vaccine.
On Tuesday, Biden thanked health care and front-line workers, and said his family usually has 25 people or so over for Christmas, "but not this year.""Like we did over Thanksgiving," we all have to care for each other by staying apart, Biden said. "I know it's hard."

Vaccination is a good thing, but it is also true that adverse reactions have occurred. This is not the time to be optimistic. Maintaining social distancing and wearing a good mask are the best things to do now.

The CDC on Tuesday for the first time raised the possibility that travelers could bring a newly identified coronavirus strain from the U.K. to the U.S.
The agency said more research is needed to determine whether the strain is easier to transmit than other versions of the virus, as scientists in Britain have suggested.
"At this time, there is no evidence that this variant causes more severe illness or increased risk of death," the CDC said in a scientific brief on the U.K. strain — known as VUI 202012/01 for "variant under investigation."
There also is no evidence to suggest that the strain could reduce the effectiveness of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines now authorized for use in the U.S., CDC said.
Most people who have been in the U.K. within the last 14 days are already barred by the CDC from entering the United States; there are exceptions for U.S. citizens and green card holders, among others. But federal officials are already warning of the possibility that the virus is already in the U.S.
"You really need to assume it’s here already," said Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease doctor, during an interview with "Good Morning America" on Tuesday.
The context: Dozens of countries suspended travel to and from the U.K. over the weekend amid growing concerns about the risk posed by the new strain. The U.S. has not announced any new travel restrictions.
"CDC is following the situation closely and actively assessing the implications of the new variant and response options with respect to international travel," the agency said in a statement.
Scientists in Britain first discovered the variant in September through genetic sequencing of virus samples taken from U.K. patients. Experts are now raising alarm over how quickly it has spread throughout southeast England. The CDC’s brief cites reports showing roughly 6 in 10 cases reported in London are caused by the variant.
According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the strain could be up to 70 percent more transmissible than other versions of the virus, which collectively have infected more than 77.5 million people worldwide and killed 1.7 million.
What's next: The CDC said it is monitoring the situation in the U.K. and communicating with its EU counterparts. The U.S. agency, along with state and local health departments, are monitoring and studying virus transmission to detect any changes in the strains circulating in America.

The current situation is very severe, and mutated COVID-19 strains are beginning to appear again. This is really scary! I am worried for the United States and the United Kingdom, and hope to find a way to deal with it as soon as possible.

The U.S. economy could experience a “slight downturn” in the first quarter of 2021 if the Covid stimulus bill is not passed, an economist from Moody’s Analytics said on Monday.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Sunday that Congress had agreed on a $900 billion coronavirus relief package after months of failed negotiations. American lawmakers are expected to vote on the bill on Monday.
“This is really a critical factor, perhaps the most important factor right now in terms of the very near-term outlook for the U.S. economy,” Steve Cochrane, chief Asia-Pacific economist at Moody’s Analytics, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”

He explained that the U.S. economy appeared to be on a “downward trajectory” coming into this month, with moderating retail sales and rising claims for unemployment benefits.
Without another Covid relief package, the economy could see a “slight downturn” instead of a “mild positive growth” in the first quarter of next year, added Cochrane.
“And then we get beyond the first quarter, maybe the vaccine gets spread at least enough to begin creating some improved confidence in the economy and we continue moving on,” he said.
Lockdown measures to contain the spread of Covid-19 have hurt economies around the world. The International Monetary Fund in October forecast a 4.4% contraction in the global economy this year, with the U.S. economy expected to shrink by 4.3%.
The large economic hit from the pandemic means that governments have little choice but to increase spending to support their respective economies, said Cochrane. But in the coming years, governments will have to rein back spending and reduce their debt, he added.
“This will be something that will weigh on the economy down the road in a couple of years,” said Cochrane.
“Hopefully the economy will be growing fast enough that the weight from a lack of government spending won’t be enough to pull the economies down.”


The United States has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and the economy is declining. If the COVID-19 stimulus bill is not passed, the US economy will be under tremendous pressure in the next few years.

WITH thousands of deaths now routinely linked to the COVID-19 pandemic each day, obtaining a safe and reliable vaccine has been an urgent priority. Thanks to the ingenuity of science, the long-awaited vaccine is finally here.
Governments all over the world are already making plans to acquire doses of the milestone vaccine and make it available for their teeming populations. With vaccination already begun in the UK, many countries are following suit. Certainly, Nigeria cannot afford to be left out. Although the confirmed rates of COVID-19 infection in Nigeria are comparatively low, that should not be a reason for the government to be complacent in obtaining the vaccine for Nigerians. The promising results from clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines from two US drug makers, Pfizer (with German partner BioNTech) and Moderna Therapeutic Inc., has brought succour and rays of hope  to millions at risk. Both vaccines rely on revolutionary technology that utilises an innovative mRNA (messenger RNA) code to “teach” the body how to eliminate the novel coronavirus and fight symptoms if a person is to ever encounter the virus. This is the first time an mRNA vaccine has been officially approved for large-scale public consumption.

What encouraging news this is. I believe that our government will make the right choice for the sake of our citizens.

Nigerian music stars, Stanley Omah Didia aka Omah Lay and Temilade Openiyi professionally known as Tems, have been arrested in Uganda hours shortly after a concert. The news of their arrest was made public by an assistant superintendent of police in the country identified as Owoyesigyire (@lukowoyesigyire) on social media, on Sunday, December 13.
According to the officer who doubles as a police spokesperson, the managers of the venue where the concert was held have also been nabbed by the police.
Singers Omah Lay and Tems arrested in Uganda. Photo: @temsbaby/@omah_lay Source: Instagram He said: "Nigerian Artist Omah lay has been arrested by katwe police, the manager of the venue one Dungu Ivan and the Events manager Prim Kasana are also in custody." In a different post, Owoyesigyire confirmed that Tems and her manager, Muyiwa Awomiyi, were also arrested.
Although the officer did not reveal full details about their arrests, reports on social media claim that the musicians were arrested following an outcry by Ugandan artistes who called out the police in their country allowing foreign artistes hold events while the locals are denied.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert, has warned that the upcoming holiday season may be even worse than Thanksgiving in terms of spreading the coronavirus.
Fauci told CNN on Monday that because the traditional Christmas season is an extended period that stretches into New Year’s, the prospects for spreading the virus as people travel “may be even more compounded than what we saw at Thanksgiving.”
After millions ignored expert advice and travelled for the Thanksgiving holiday in November, Fauci anticipated Americans would once again behave recklessly during Christmas and New Year’s Eve festivities.
Fauci said the US was facing a “very critical time” with the virus surging and more important than ever for people to take precautions like avoiding indoor gatherings, wearing masks and social distancing.
“Nobody wants to modify, if not essentially shut down, their holiday season, but we live in a very critical time in this country right now,” Fauci said
Fauci’s warning comes as California compelled much of the state to shut down and for residents to stay at home on Monday, when some of the harshest coronavirus restrictions in the United States came into effect one day after the state set a record with more than 30,000 new COVID-19 cases.
In the most populated state of the United States, confirmed infections have surged past 1.3 million, bringing dire new records in hospitalisations and deaths.
Governor Gavin Newsom’s order was triggered in areas where fewer than 15 percent of intensive care hospital beds were available, affecting more than 23 million people in southern California.
In addition, five counties in northern California surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area have voluntarily imposed the restrictions even before reaching the intensive care unit threshold.
He said he planned on taking a vaccine once one becomes available, and that there is currently no data to support the closure of schools, universities and outdoor dining.
“And we see that these measures, they can be counterproductive,” he added, “people get mad and upset because the science don’t support them, the science does support limiting indoor dining and bars.”
The sheriffs of Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties have said they will refuse to enforce the order, emboldening non-essential businesses to remain open.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said in a videotaped message his office “will not be blackmailed” into enforcing the governor’s orders, and Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said in a statement his deputies would not respond to calls to enforce violations of the mask mandate, stay-at-home orders or the ban on social gatherings.

The U.S. should be able to distribute enough coronavirus vaccine doses to immunize 100 million people by the end of February, President Donald Trump’s Covid-19 vaccine czar said Wednesday.
That will be enough doses to protect a “significant portion” of the most at-risk Americans, which are the elderly, health-care workers and people with preexisting conditions, Dr. Moncef Slaoui, who is leading the Trump administration’s vaccine program Operation Warp Speed, told reporters during a news briefing.
There is a chance the U.S. could have more doses than expected that month if Johnson & Johnson’s potential vaccine is authorized by then, Slaoui said, adding he expects the company to release key late-stage trial data in January.
The federal government is expected to ship 6.4 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine to jurisdictions across the nation within 24 hours after an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, Army Gen. Gustave Perna, chief operations officer for Operation Warp Speed, said at the same briefing. Officials plan to ship 12.5 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine following an emergency authorization, he added.
The planning “is not about getting in front of the EUA,” Perna told reporters. “It is making sure we have everything locked so when EUA decisions come, distribution to the American people becomes immediate.”
The briefing Wednesday came as states prepare to distribute a Covid-19 vaccine in as little as two weeks. Moderna and Pfizer late last month requested emergency clearances from the FDA for their Covid-19 vaccines. The reviews by the FDA are expected to take a few weeks, and the agency has scheduled a meeting for Dec. 10 to discuss Pfizer’s request for authorization.
Initial doses will be limited as manufacturing ramps up, with top U.S. health officials predicting it will take months to immunize everyone who wants to be vaccinated against Covid-19 in the United States. The federal government has deals lined up with several drugmakers to buy some of their first doses.
Before the vote, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said most states and local jurisdictions expect it to take three weeks to vaccinate all of their health-care workers. Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines require two doses about a month apart. Both vaccines are using messenger RNA, or mRNA, technology. It’s a new approach to vaccines that uses genetic material to provoke an immune response.
Perna said Wednesday that the federal government has asked states to finalize plans for distribution by the end of this week.
States have already submitted early plans to the CDC on how they intend to inoculate some 331 million Americans against Covid-19 once a vaccine is approved. The CDC has allocated $200 million to jurisdictions for vaccine preparedness, though much of that funding hasn’t trickled down to the local level.