To reduce the number of deaths caused by the delay in access to healthcare services, the federal government has announced plans to introduce the National Emergency Medical Service and Ambulance System.
This will provide prompt and efficient emergency medical services to the people, the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, said at the dissemination of the Nigeria Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child Adolescent and Elderly Health Plus Nutrition (RMNCAEH+N), 2021 Annual Operation Plan in Abuja on Tuesday.
Currently in Nigeria, ambulance services are executed by individual hospitals (public and private) as well as organisations and agencies.
According to Mr Ehanire, elimination of delays in access to healthcare can indeed reduce the high mortality rates recorded in the country.
“It is estimated that an efficient emergency medical treatment service can reduce mortality by nearly 50 per cent by reducing delays in physical and financial access especially at night,” he said.
He explained that the services will involve “prompt response to medical distress calls of all types with first responders, transfer to facilities, (and) assured first aid at the point of care at no immediate user cost.”
Mr Ehanire noted that the lack of functional and affordable health centres has been identified as an impediment to the attainment of the desired health and wellbeing of Nigerians.
He said the availability of these essential services is needed to combat harmful traditional practices and strengthen the decision-making power to seek appropriate health care.
Focus on women, children
The minister said low awareness on hygiene and poor choices in nutrition contributes to the poor diet of growing children in some communities.
I support the government's policy. The epidemic has taught us the importance of health care. In the future, we need to pay more attention to medical treatment and continue to improve medical measures.

For the fifth time, the U.S. Supreme Court has sided with religious adherents and against California's COVID-19 restrictions. This time, the court barred the state from enforcing a rule that for now limits both religious and non-religious gatherings in homes to no more than three households.
The court's unsigned order came on a 5-4 vote. Chief Justice John Roberts cast his lot with the dissenters, but failed to join their opinion. He noted simply that he would have left the lower court order intact.
A panel of the 9th Circuit Court Of Appeals ruled that because the state treated both secular and non-secular groups alike when it came to home gatherings, the state restriction was constitutional. The appeals court panel declined to temporarily block its own order pending appeal.
But even as home worshippers appealed to the Supreme Court, the state said it was in the process of modifying its rules as part of its ongoing process of easing restrictions by April 15.
None of that satisfied the Supreme Court majority, including Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and President Donald Trump's three appointees, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
Government regulations are not neutral when they "treat any comparable secular activity more favorably than religious exercise," said the majority, noting that "it is no answer that a state treats some comparable...activities as poorly as...the religious exercise at issue."
In dissent, Justice Elena Kagan, joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor, noted that California has adopted a blanket regulation limiting all home gatherings to three households, and that just because the state does allow larger gatherings at hair salons and other retail venues does not invalidate the home gathering limit.
"The law does not require that the state equally treat apples and watermelons," Kagan wrote, noting that people remain for longer periods in private homes, tend to gather more closely, and that homes do not typically have air purification systems or other protections that have been adopted by most businesses. The majority "once more commands California to ignore its own experts' scientific findings, thus impairing the state's effort to address a public health emergency," said Kagan.
The court has done an about-face on these issues involving worship in churches, synagogues, mosques and now homes since the arrival of Justice Barrett. Until early 2021, after her arrival, the court, by 5-4 votes had generally deferred to the judgments of health departments and scientists when it came to state COVID-19 restrictions. Back then, it was Chief Justice Roberts who cast the fifth and deciding vote. But now it is Barrett, and Roberts is in the minority.

The Kogi State Government has commenced the administration of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in the state with priority giving to health workers and frontline essential non-health workers.The government on Monday night took delivery of about 16, 900 doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine.
Kogi State Commissioner for Health, Dr Saka Haruna, flagged off the COVID-19 vaccination exercise in Lokoja, in collaboration with the Kogi State Primary Health Care Development Agency (KSPHCDA).
The flag off was followed by the administration of the vaccines on Dr. Abubakar Yakubu, KSPHCDA Executive Director, who volunteered himself as the first person to take the vaccine, followed by the CMD Kogi Hospital Management Board, Dr Usman Zakari and some medical officers.
The Kogi CAN Chairman, Bishop John Ibenu; Kogi JNI Chairman, Amb. Usman Bello; Kogi NMA Chairman, Dr Omakoji Oyiguh; and some journalists, also received doses of the vaccines.
The commissioner called on the people of the state to volunteer themselves to take the AstraZeneca vaccine, saying nobody would be deprived or forced to receive it.
“I want to clarify that nobody is exempted or will be deprived from this exercise, also nobody will be subjected to force vaccination exercise in Kogi State,” Audu said.
He appreciated Governor Yahaya Bello, for taking proactive measures and for making sure that the vaccines were finally deployed to Kogi to cater for the health needs of the citizens.
The commissioner disclosed that the ministry had taken delivery of 16, 900 out of the total 33, 000 doses of the Oxford Astra Zeneca vaccine to be deployed to Kogi State.
He noted that the remaining balance of 16, 100 doses of the vaccines would be deployed to Kogi in the next two weeks.
He assured that the vaccine was safe, but reiterated that nobody would be forced to take it or deprived of taking it.
Also speaking, Dr Abubakar Yakubu, the Executive Director, KSPHCDA, said the vaccine had passed through series of laboratory tests by WHO, NAFDAC, and other relevant agencies, saying “the vaccine is virile and safe for the people of the state”.
He urged Kogi citizens to dismiss the claims that the vaccine was not safe, stressing that the state Governor would never approve any drug that would pose danger to the health of his people.
In his remarks, the State Chairman of Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN), Dr John Ibenu, commended Kogi Government for its pragmatic approach in managing the COVID-19 pandemic effectively from the onset.
He assured Kogi residents that CAN would be the number one body to stand against anything that could harm anyone.
He stressed that it was against the international standards and health practices to introduce anything that would be harmful to humanity, saying, “CAN will never be part of anything that will be harmful to humanity.
“The COVID-19 vaccine is safe; there is no trick in it; please let us take it to boost our health immunity against the virus,” Ibenu said.
On his part, the Kogi Chairman of Jamaatu Nasiru Islam (JNI), Amb. Usman Bello appealed to Kogi people not to allow themselves to be deceived against using the vaccine.
He assured that his organisation would intensity its effort in sensitizing Kogi residents to come out for vaccination against the covid-19 pandemic.
On his part, the Kogi Chairman of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr Omakoji Oyinguh, urged the medical doctors to make themselves available for the vaccination.
He assured of NMA support for the State Government, adding that as front-line workers, the wellness of its members and other health workers remained a priority to the government.
The State’s Chairman of People Living With Disability (PLWD), Mr Ibrahim Arome, thanked the state government for making the vaccine available for people who desired to be vaccinated.
Arome assured that his association would extend the vaccination campaign to all the communities where disabled people live to fully participate in the vaccination exercise.
Meanwhile, the commissioner immediately after the flag-off, inaugurated a Health Research Team comprised of selected Scientists and other health personnel.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday that the U.S. government will not require Americans to use vaccine passports to prove they’ve been immunized against COVID-19.
In an interview with the “Politico Dispatch” podcast, Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the federal government “may be involved in making sure things are done fairly and equitably, but I doubt if the federal government is going to be the leading element of that.”
Fauci said he expects some businesses and other institutions to create their own policies.
“I’m not saying that they should or that they would, but I’m saying you could foresee how an independent entity might say, ‘Well, we can’t be dealing with you unless we know you’re vaccinated.’ But it’s not going to be mandated from the federal government,” Fauci said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order Friday, effectively banning the use of vaccine passports in the state.
The executive order prevents any Florida government entity from issuing a vaccine passport to prove that a person has been vaccinated for COVID-19. The order also bans businesses in Florida from requiring customers to provide COVID-19 vaccine documentation to gain access or services.
The order says “requiring so-called COVID-19 vaccine passports for taking part in everyday life — such as attending a sporting event, patronizing a restaurant, or going to a movie theater — would create two classes of citizens based on vaccination.”
According to the governor’s order, vaccines are not mandated in Florida and an individual’s decision to get a vaccine is private health information.
When a person receives their vaccination they already receive a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention card certifying their COVID-19 vaccine.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The United States may not need AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, even if it wins U.S. regulatory approval, Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor told Reuters on Thursday.
The vaccine, once hailed as another milestone in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, has been dogged by questions since late last year, even as it has been authorized for use by dozens of countries, not including United States.
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical adviser to the White House, said the United States has enough contracts with other vaccine makers to vaccinate its entire population, and possibly enough for booster shots in the fall.
Asked whether the United States will use the AstraZeneca vaccine doses, he said, “That’s still up in the air. My general feeling is that given the contractual relationships that we have with a number of companies, that we have enough vaccine to fulfill all of our needs without invoking AstraZeneca.”
Late last year, the drugmaker and Oxford University published data from an earlier trial with two different efficacy readings as a result of a dosing error. Then in March, more than a dozen countries temporarily suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine after reports linked it to a rare blood clotting disorder.
Also in March, a U.S. health agency said data from the company gave an incomplete picture of its efficacy. Days later AstraZeneca published results showing diminished, though still strong, efficacy.
Fauci said that “If you look at the numbers (of doses) that we’re going to be getting, the amount that you can get from J&J, from Novavax from Moderna if we contract for more, it is likely that we can handle any boost that we need, but I can’t say definitely for sure.”

Almost two years after his last private trip to the United Kingdom (UK), President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, jetted out of the country on a medical trip to London for the sixth time since he was sworn into office in 2015.
The president and some aides departed the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja, for the London ‘routine’ medical check-up around 2:30 p.m. Those at the airport to bid the president farewell included the Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari; Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Muhammed Bello; Inspector-General of Police, Muhammed Adamu and other presidential aides.
Before departing the Presidential Villa, Buhari had met behind closed doors with security chiefs, where he directed them “to fish out and crush heads of bandits, kidnappers and their local collaborators to restore confidence in the society.”
The president’s trip has expectedly elicited reactions from Nigerians over the deplorable state of healthcare system with experts saying the country could be losing more than N576 billion ($1.2 billion) yearly to medical tourism.
Nigerians have for decades suffered from an inadequately funded healthcare system, squalid clinics and hospitals, and poorly paid and overworked healthcare workers who frequently move abroad for employment. There are at least 8,178 medical doctors of Nigerian origin working in the U.K., according to data on the U.K. General Medical Council website. The exodus has worsened healthcare in a country that has one doctor for every 5,000 people, according to the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA).
It would be recalled that President Buhari had in 2015 promised to stop medical tourism and save the nation scarce foreign exchange if elected president. In fact, he promised to ban elected government officials from foreign medical trips after he rued the millions of dollars expended on medical tourism.
Before the dawn of COVID-19 last year, reports suggested that almost 5,000 people leave the country monthly for various forms of treatment abroad. However, The Guardian investigation revealed that the rate of medical tourism reduced drastically since January 2020 due to the outbreak of the pandemic and the travel restrictions that followed.
Defending the trip, presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, said President Buhari began his yearly medical trip to London even before he came into office as Nigeria’s president in 2015. Shehu said this yesterday while addressing newsmen at the departure wing of the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, just after his principal departed the country for medical check-up.

The National Primary Health Care Agency (NPHCDA) said 513,626 persons have received the first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine across the country.
The NPHCDA disclosed this in its official Twitter handle on Sunday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigeria commenced vaccination since March 5, first with healthcare workers who are mostly at risk of infections being the first responders.
NPHCDA said that the vaccine roll-out would be in four phases, starting with health workers, frontline workers, COVID-19 rapid response team, laboratory network, policemen, petrol station workers and strategic leaders.
“Phase 2 – Older adults aged 50 years and above, those with co-morbidities, aged between 18 years and 49 years.
“Phase 3 – Those in states/LGAs with high disease burden and who missed phases 1 and 2.
“Phase 4 – Other eligible population as vaccines become available,’ it said.
According to the agency, as at March 28, over 513,626 eligible people have been vaccinated in 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The agency said that Kogi state is yet to commence vaccination as at March 28, because the state had not been supplied with the vaccines.
“Kogi State was not supplied with the vaccines because their cold store is still under repairs following vandalisation during the EndSARS protest,” it stated.
The NPHCDA stated Lagos state had vaccinated 110,042 people, making it the highest in the country.
It said Ogun followed with 47,507, Kaduna-38,063, Bauchi-32,482, Katsina-28,918 and Kwara-26,473.
NPHCDA also said that the states with the lowest number of those vaccinated are Abia-22, Taraba-111 and Kebbi-532,
NAN recalls that Nigeria first received 3.94 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines and another 300,000 doses from telecom giant, MTN, as part of the latter’s contribution to Africa.
The Nigerian government hopes to vaccinate 109 million people against the COVID-19 virus over a period of two years.

A double row of reflective squares sit atop a corrugated roof painted the same deep blue as the sky overhead. From the ground below, the upturned face of an ETS technician shields his eyes from the afternoon sun as he inspects the newly installed solar panels. His expression shows it’s a job well done.
The ETS and installation team is in the town of Bama, one of eight locations in North-East Nigeria where humanitarian hubs have been fitted with an innovative hybrid solar-based power system. Harnessing the sun’s energy, the solar panels make the most of Nigeria’s ample sunshine to store and spread power – even at night.
This is good news for the thousands of humanitarian responders operating across the region who rely on access to ETS services around the clock, seven days a week.
The solar panels replace a reliance on fossil-fuel generators – an unstable source of power. Fuel quantities, time allocated to running the generators and breakdown of machinery have regularly impacted on the critical sources of power that light up the lines of communication between humanitarian responders.
“The unavailability of a reliable power source is unimaginable to many. In these deep field locations, it can have a huge impact on humanitarian coordination. Ultimately, ETS services are power driven,” says ETS technician Ahmed Yusuf-Maiinji.
“Over the years, power has been a major challenge for ETS operations in these locations,” says fellow ETS technician, Unity Oware.
That has been the case – until now.
Unity has watched the project grow over several years. “To finally see it completed, in spite of delays, in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic and the logistics around that – it’s very satisfying,” he says.
“Most of all, it’s important for all the humanitarians working in those deep field locations – they will now receive uninterrupted services to pass on life-saving information in places where there is no public electricity grid,” Unity says.
COVID-19 is just one of multiple crises in Nigeria, namely a weakened economy, a growing number of violent attacks across the country as well as the ongoing protection crisis. Humanitarians in North-East Nigeria are operating in a complex and challenging environment. In a region where a third of households have resorted to emergency coping strategies, delivering humanitarian assistance to communities in North-East Nigeria is more critical than ever.
In Banki – which hosts the biggest humanitarian hub in Borno state – an extension has been built to accommodate a swelling number of responders in the area. Shola Alabi from the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) is the hub manager. He explains that frequent power interruptions due to generator refuelling and cut-off times affected humanitarian activities requiring connectivity – a huge portion of their work.
“ETS Internet connectivity is now stable and reliable”, Shola says. Over the past two months, he has seen this reflected in glowing feedback from those staying at the hub. “Services have improved – happy that we now have 24/7 connectivity,” one comment reads.
It’s a step forward for both sustainable energy and the delivery of humanitarian assistance. “This constant – and clean – supply of electricity for Internet connectivity and security communications equipment means a better and more coordinated humanitarian response, in a more secure environment,” says Ahmed.
In Bama, the installation team pack up their tools, ready to head back to base. As the sun sets behind them and evening falls, the steady glow of a dozen laptop screens spills through the windows of the humanitarian hub. Tonight, it’s still a hive of activity. Solar power is switched on.

Coronavirus vaccinations for pregnant women are underway in the United States, and public health officials say they have received no reports of adverse effects.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more than 51,000 expecting mothers got the shots as of March 15.
The CDC says "pregnant people are at an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19 when compared to non-pregnant people."
It also says although there are only limited data on the safety and efficacy of the vaccines in pregnant women, experts believe that the vaccines "are unlikely to pose a specific risk for people who are pregnant."
A study on about 1,800 pregnant women suggests that the risk of pregnancy complications is the same between those who were vaccinated and those who were not.
Vaccine developers have started clinical trials on the safety of the vaccines for pregnant women. Research laboratories are also studying the vaccines' safety.
The trials are expected to produce data that will help healthcare professionals decide when expecting mothers should be vaccinated and what amount of antibodies are transferred to babies in the womb.

Pregnant women are a huge vulnerable group. Vaccination with safe and effective vaccines is the best protection for them and their fetuses. It is hoped that it will be popularized.

The nation's homeless population grew last year for the fourth year in a row. On a single night in January 2020, there were more than 580,000 individuals who were homeless in the United States, a 2% increase from the year before.
The numbers, released by the Department of Housing and Urban Development Thursday, do not reflect the impact of the pandemic.
"And we know the pandemic has only made the homelessness crisis worse," HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge said in a video message accompanying the report. She called the numbers "devastating" and said the nation has a "moral responsibility to end homelessness."
Among the report's more sobering findings: homelessness among veterans and families did not improve for the first time in many years.
Also, more than 106,000 children were homeless during the once-a-year count, conducted in most communities across the nation. While the majority of homeless children were in shelters or transitional housing, almost 11,000 were living outside.
As has been the case for years, a disproportionate share of those experiencing homelessness were Black — about 39% of the total, though African Americans make up about 13% of the nation's overall population. Twenty-three percent of those who were homeless last year identified as Hispanic or Latino.
California was home to the largest number of people experiencing homelessness — 161,548 — according to the 2020 count. A quarter of all homeless individuals in the United States were living in either New York City or Los Angeles.

The pandemic has been incredibly hard on everybody for so many reasons.Still concerns have grown about what might lie ahead.

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organisation has disclosed that the WTO plans to assist female entrepreneurs in Nigeria to help them penetrate regional and international market and redress inequality through trade.
The WTO boss disclosed this during a meeting with the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Pauline Tallen, on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to Okonjo-Iweala, WTO is also trying to find small business holders and women entrepreneurs to upgrade their businesses to enable them penetrate both local and international markets.
She revealed that WTO was working to support women entrepreneurs in the country, as it had assisted a women cooperative producing shea butter in Oyo State to upgrade and export their products.
“So that they attain the quality that is required to be able to penetrate regional and international market that is one of the things that WTO can help with,’’ Okonjo-Iweala said.
She added that the WTO wants to redress inequality through trade, and sees trade as an engine of economic growth which is what we need during this pandemic.
What you should know 
Okonjo-Iweala has been on a week-long trip to Nigeria, which saw her state that Nigeria should start looking at establishing the capacity for manufacturing vaccines locally.
She also added that her role at the World Trade Organisation would be used to support women entrepreneurs, and MSMEs, and all the marginalized and excluded, in her meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.

As the controversy over the safety of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine continued on Monday, the Nigerian government assured of its safety as the country distributes almost four million doses of the vaccine.
At least  three European countries – Germany, France and Italy – on Monday joined a few others who had suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
However, the Nigerian government assured its citizens that it had tested the vaccines and they were safe for use, echoing the view of the World Health Organisation and many other countries including the UK.
A Nigerian official also said all Nigerian states but one had received doses of the Oxford-Astrazeneca COVID-19 vaccines except.
“The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines have been distributed to all states except Kogi state,” the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, said at the weekly briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19.
Mr Shuaib said Kogi State was not supplied with its portion of the vaccines due to a lack of adequate storage facility.
“Kogi State was not supplied with the vaccines because their cold store is still under repairs following vandalisation during the EndSARS protest,” he said.
Nigeria took delivery of 3.94 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines in early March and has since begun administration to prioritised groups.
President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and members of the PTF received jabs of the vaccines publicly to drive vaccine acceptance.
Mr Shuaib last Monday said the government has started distributing doses of the COVID-19 vaccines to various states across the country.
He explained that the delivery of the vaccines to the states is predicated on satisfactorily meeting the conditions to keep them safe and potent.
He, however, did not disclose the amount of COVID-19 vaccines each state received.

ABUJA (Reuters) - Eagle Square in Nigeria’s capital Abuja usually hosts concerts, rallies, and even presidential inaugurations but since the COVID-19 pandemic it has become home to a mobile court where those who break rules aimed at containing the virus are prosecuted.
Small groups of men reluctantly file inside the square, which is surrounded by stadium seats, to receive fines from a judge of 2,000 naira ($5.25) or more for offences such as not wearing masks, failing to social distance or being in a gathering over 50 people.
They are lucky; a law signed by President Muhammadu Buhari in January allows jail terms of up to six months for rulebreaking.
“The court has its discretion,” said prosecutor Udeme Umana, adding that it did not want to send anyone to prison.
Other Nigerian states, including southeastern Anambra and western Kwara state have also trialled mobile courts, where the accused are brought by police to courts that are dismantled daily and can move to different locations.
Enforcers face a daunting task - few in Nigeria’s markets, shops or on public transport wear masks, and those that do often wear them below their nose or mouth. Even some police at the many Abuja road checkpoints are without masks.
Rights groups have warned that arbitrary enforcement of these rules could lead to human rights abuses.
But authorities say letting up on the rules could allow infections to soar, even as Nigeria rolls out vaccinations. Nigeria has had 159,252 confirmed cases and 1,988 deaths from the virus.
Attah Ikharo, a member of Abuja’s enforcement team, said their work increased compliance.
A patrol picked up Martin Ukaa, among the 30 men and women prosecuted at Eagle Square that day, as he waited outside, maskless, for a job interview. He said he had no idea there were mobile courts, but would be more careful after the stinging fine.
“I don’t really feel bad because I know I am paying for my sins,” Ukaa said.

MIAMI — As the president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, with a database of over 6,000 pastors, Gabriel Salguero was getting messages from pastors and parishioners commenting about posts they had seen on social media about the Covid-19 vaccine.
The information included false claims that the vaccines would alter people’s DNA, that microchips would be inserted and used to track people and that tissue from fetuses that had been aborted was used to develop the vaccines.
That’s when Salguero decided to step up and create ways to educate members about the vaccines and help with vaccination efforts.
“There’s just an avalanche of misinformation and maybe fear and anxiety that feeds that,” said Salguero, a pastor at The Gathering Place, an evangelical church in Orlando, Florida. “Our commitment is not to tell people what to do, but to make the information easily accessible and to give trustworthy platforms.”
Latino churches have become a double-edged sword when it comes to Covid-19 vaccines. While some help to educate members and get them vaccinated, others spread disinformation. That includes statements about the vaccines' being “the mark of the beast,” a reference to a passage from the Book of Revelation about the apocalypse. Others say the virus was planned by world leaders and developed in Wuhan in 2015 after they visited a lab there.
The information is being spread not only in churches, but also on some church groups' social media.
Experts worry that the false claims are contributing to vaccine hesitance among Hispanics, who have been disproportionately affected by Covid-19.
“I think that pastors share what they think is correct. I don't even know if all of them are aware it's misinformation,” Salguero said.
Salguero and the National Latino Evangelical Coalition recently launched an information campaign that will show public service announcements in churches, part of a wider initiative to make correct Covid-19 information and outreach available in both English and Spanish. They are also hosting national Covid-19 webinars with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, answering questions about the vaccines.
Latinos are overrepresented in the number of Covid-19 cases throughout the country, and they are also more likely to suffer worse outcomes than whites, including death. The majority of Latinos — over 70 percent —say they are probably or definitely going to get vaccinated, a percentage similar to that of non-Latino whites, according to a poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Yet only 36 percent of Hispanics said in the survey that they would "definitely" get vaccinated, compared to 46 percent of non-Latino whites. This is problematic, health experts say, because many Latinos are at higher risk of contracting the virus through their work. Around 43 percent of Latinos are essential workers and work outside the home, making them more vulnerable to exposure every day.
Latinos have been vaccinated at a slower rate than whites; in Florida, Latinos account for 27 percent of the population, and 16 percent have been vaccinated.

Airline and business groups are asking the Biden administration to develop temporary credentials for travelers to show they have been tested and vaccinated for COVID-19 — a step the airline industry hopes will help revive travel.
Many different groups and countries are working on developing such vaccine passports, aimed at allowing more travel.
But airlines executives worry that a piecemeal, regional approach to these COVID travel passports wouldl cause confusion and result in none them being widely accepted.
“It is crucial to establish uniform guidance” and “the U.S. must be a leader in this development,” more than two dozen groups said in a letter to White House coronavirus-response coordinator Jeff Zients.
But the groups — which include the main U.S. and international airline trade organizations, airline labor unions and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — said vaccination shouldn’t be a requirement for domestic or international travel.
The White House did not comment.
The World Health Organization and the United Nations’ aviation arm are working on the type of information to include in a COVID travel credential. The airline industry groups are particularly interested in having the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention take a leading role, figuring that would lend legitimacy to the credentials.
In its new guidelines for fully vaccinated people, the CDC says they can — without face masks — meet other vaccinated people and visit unvaccinated people in a single household who are at low risk for severe disease. But the health agency still recommends against travel.
“Every time that there is a surge in travel, we have a surge in cases in this country,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the federal agency’s director.
Walensky pointed out that many variants of COVID-19 now spreading in the United States started in other countries. Still, she held out the possibility that, with more data, the CDC might soon approve of travel by vaccinated people.
Airlines have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic. Despite a partial recovery, U.S. airlines are still losing $150 million a day, according to the Airlines for America trade group.
In the United States, the number of people traveling by air remains down nearly 60% so far this year compared to 2019 — the latest normal, pre-pandemic year. Most of those people are flying within the United States.
Airlines are counting on widespread vaccinations to boost travel and for vaccine passports to especially give a boost to highly lucrative international flying.

MTN Foundation, the social investment vehicle of MTN Nigeria, has donated medical equipment to 12 primary health centres across Nigeria in the fourth phase of its What Can We Do Together (WCWDT) campaign.
The initiative allows Nigerians to nominate selected projects they consider of utmost need to their communities. The nomination of primary health centres in the fourth phase is in collaboration with the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC).
Speaking on the donation, Nonny Ugboma, Executive Secretary MTN Foundation said, "What Can We Do Together is in line with our social investment mandates to ensure that Nigerians have better expectations of medical facilities that work.
" Since 2015, we have executed projects in partnership with nominated communities across Nigeria. We partner with the people to make their lives brighter."
Items donated include delivery beds, adult weight and height scales, screens, foetal dopplers, baby weight scales, mattresses and pillows, manual succession machines, extractors, disinfectants, footwears, infrared thermometers, disposable gowns, aprons, gloves, hand sanitizers, megaphones, stretchers, eye charts, Samsung tabs, disposable nose masks, among others.
Recipients also expressed gratitude to MTN on behalf of their communities. Doctor-in-Charge, General Hospital, Apata, Oyo State, Dr. Tijani Adejare, said, "The medical equipment donated are of great quality. With this donation, we can save more lives and give better services to our patients.
"We are glad that MTN took interest in the welfare of the people and selected our health centre for this gesture."
In the same vein, the Officer-in-charge, Oko Erin Basic Health Centre, Ilorin, Kwara State, Mrs. Ahmed Sekinat Iyabo, said "Prior to MTN's donation, we have never had a foetal doppler. The weight scale, foetal doppler, hand sanitizers, face masks, and other items will be useful to the clinic and to the community. We are very grateful. The equipment will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our work."
The MTN Foundation has donated medical equipment to 132 Primary Health Centres across the country in previous phases of WCWDT.

An airplane carrying 3.92 million doses of the vaccine developed by drugmaker AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, on Tuesday. 
Nigeria is the third African country to receive its first batch of COVID-19 vaccines as part of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) COVAX program, a global effort to ensure equitable vaccine access for low- and middle-income countries.  
Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire are the first two African countries to receive doses of the COVAX jabs. Some 237 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine are to be delivered by the end of May to 142 participating countries, COVAX says.This batch of vaccines are the first part of the 16 million vaccine doses Nigeria will receive through the COVAX Facility in the coming months. Frontline and health care workers will be among the first to receive the vaccines doses. Nigeria is also expecting another 40 million vaccine doses from the African Union, to be delivered by the end of April, said government official Tolu Ogunlesi. He also tweeted that a supplementary budget has been pushed by President Muhammadu Buhari to purchase more vaccines. 
“Congratulations to Nigeria and our COVAX partners on making the third delivery of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa. We must #ACTogether to supply vaccines to all countries in the first 100 days of 2021. We have 39 days left to deliver on vaccine equity,” tweeted Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO.
Many richer countries have made progress in vaccinating their populace while most of the poorer nations of the world are yet to receive their first batch of vaccines, raising concerns around equitable vaccine distribution and vaccine nationalism. Nigerian authorities approved the AstraZeneca vaccine for use last month and vaccinations are scheduled to start on Friday, after final checks by the country’s drug agency.
With a 200 million-strong population, Nigeria has reported more than 156,000 cases and 1,900 deaths since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC).

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria received its first COVID-19 vaccines on Tuesday to kick off an inoculation programme in Africa’s most populous nation, delivered under the international COVAX scheme.
The West African nation of 200 million people took delivery of 3.92 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.
Nigeria is the third West African country to receive COVAX shots, after Ghana and Ivory Coast, which have both started vaccination campaigns.
Dozens of Nigerian officials, wearing yellow high-visibility jackets and facemasks, met the flight delivering the vaccines on the airport tarmac in Abuja.
“The successful development of vaccines and the accelerated process for emergency authorisation has brought hope to humanity all over the world,” said Boss Mustapha, chairman of Nigeria’s presidential task force on COVID-19.
The government aims to start by vaccinating frontline healthcare workers, the highest-priority recipients, in Abuja on March 5, followed by strategic leaders on March 8.
Mustapha said the government expected to receive 84 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine from COVAX this year, enough to inoculate 20% of the population.
COVAX, led by the vaccine alliance Gavi, and the World Health Organization (WHO), with UNICEF as an implementing partner, aims to deliver nearly 2 billion doses worldwide by the end of 2021.
Peter Hawkins, the Nigeria country representative for UNICEF, said Nigeria’s extensive experience in combatting infectious diseases, most recently the eradication of wild polio, would facilitate the rollout of COVID-19 doses.
“We will use the polio network to be able to ensure that people in the most extreme areas are reached as quickly as possible,” Hawkins said.
Ghana and Ivory Coast have begun administering COVAX doses, and Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo and his wife took them in an effort to boost public confidence.
Officials have also expressed concern with vaccine scepticism in Nigeria, but food scientist Chinedu Mokeke said people should take the shots and “be happy and move on”.

After waiting for so long, although it is not enough for everyone to be able to inject, it can also alleviate the current situation. I hope the government must do a good job of registration.

This weekend marks the addition of a third COVID-19 vaccine to America's arsenal against the pandemic. Johnson & Johnson's one-dose inoculation joins Pfizer and Moderna's two-dose vaccines for use in the United States. 
As impressive as the scientific advancements have been, getting shots into people's arms has been plagued by bad weather, bad logistics and bad information. 
The Biden administration's coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients, in his first television interview since taking the job, tells us there has been real progress over the past month on vaccine distribution. But with just over 50 million vaccine doses given since President Biden took office, the American public still needs patience.
Jeff Zients: We hit a grim milestone on Monday. 500,000 people have died from COVID in the U.S. And everyone's life has been impacted. You know, too many businesses and schools are no longer open. So this is a national emergency, a war. 
Bill Whitaker: President Biden said the other day that the rollout was a mess when you took office. What was the situation you inherited? 
Jeff Zients: I wanna start by giving credit where credit is due, which is to the scientists and the researchers and the people who participated in the clinical trials. It enabled us to have two vaccines ready in really a record-period of time and these two vaccines are very effective. So that was the good news. The bad news is there really was no plan to ramp up the supply of those vaccines. So there wasn't enough vaccine. There were not enough vaccinators, people actually take vaccine and turn it into vaccinations by putting needles into arms.  And then third there just were not enough places for people to get vaccinated. There was no comprehensive plan or strategy--
Bill Whitaker: When you came into office.
Jeff Zients: when we came into office.
Bill Whitaker: But once you step into the office, this becomes yours. 
Jeff Zients: Right. This is absolutely ours. And President Biden, within the first couple of weeks, secured enough vaccines that by July 31st, there's enough to vaccinate 300 million Americans. 
Bill Whitaker: People are scared. This is life or death for many people. And I think many Americans think that things aren't moving fast enough.  
Jeff Zients: Well I think that's a fair feeling this is life and death. We need to make sure that every day we're getting more and more people vaccinated, we're increasing the supply, we're increasing the number of vaccinations, we're increasing the places where people can go. So I understand the frustration. And we're doing all we can to move as fast as we can. 
Jeff Zients fixed the bungled rollout of the Obamacare website in 2013. Now he's tasked with fixing this vaccine rollout. As part of the plan, the administration has opened seven of 18 mass FEMA vaccination sites, supported more than 400 smaller vaccine centers across the country and has approved distribution of vaccine through pharmacies, targeting under-served communities.  
Dr. Travis Gayles: I think from a federal perspective, there has been significant improvements. They actually have a plan now. 
Dr. Travis Gayles is the chief public health officer for Montgomery County, Maryland, the most populous in the state and one of the most diverse, right next door to Washington D.C.
According to CDC data, Maryland ranks near the bottom when it comes to getting vaccine in people's arms.
The state's most recent weekly allotment shot up to 118 thousand doses - an increase of 55 percent since the start of the biden administration. Even so, dr. Gayles says demand far outstrips supply.  
Dr. Travis Gayles: For example, we have over 72,000 individuals who are over the age of 75 in Montgomery County. We're receiving as a local health department a weekly allotment of 4,500 doses. 
Bill Whitaker: How do you feel about that? 
Dr. Travis Gayles: Extremely frustrated and exhausted.
His department, he told us, is focused on inoculating the most vulnerable and under-served communities hit hard by COVID, but he's having to "prioritize." By that he means identifying the neediest of the needy for the life-saving shot. 
With so many confirmed cases in the United States, it is hoped that the speed of vaccination can exceed the speed of virus infection.

Speaker of House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila says Nigeria’s health sector will emerge stronger at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, going by efforts aimed at repositioning the sector.

Gbajabiamila said this when he received a report on stakeholders roundtable in the health sector, organised by the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs on Thursday in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the report titled the `Green Book’, was detailed documentation of sectorial engagements proffering solutions to challenges across the sector.

Gbajabiamila charged the House Committees on Health Institutions and Health Services to ensure that the house delivered on its contract with the Nigerian people with regards to healthcare service.

“So for me, it is a good start but the work has only just begun and the Health Committee and indeed the House have their work cutout, we have the legislative agenda, we have a contract with Nigerians and within that contract, we intend to tick boxes as we go along.

“I hope we will be able to tick the box in the health sector and tick it with very thick ink, knowing that we have achieved what we set out to achieve in that sector.

“We have the Green Chambers and now we have the Green Book, we will continue with the greens sector by sector as we go along.

“It is instructive that the first one is on health, we all said it here, that the whole world was thrown into disarray with the advent of the COVID-19, even the most advanced democracies and the most developed heath sectors did not know what to do, they were caught napping

“In our case in Nigeria, it brought out the under belly of the country, we did not even have a health sector, we only have a semblance of a health sector and I am very happy we were able to raise up to the challenges.

“It is not what will be fixed in one or two or three years, the deficit is so wide that it will take a number of years to fix it but the most important thing is that we have started and we are on the right track and I believe if we continue on this track, I believe at some point Nigeria we will get there at some point.

“Within two weeks, I inspected two major facilities in Lagos, a cancer centre, you need to go there, you cannot find anything better in the world and another hospital in Lekki and am opening another one in April.

“So out of the pandemic, something has come up that is of immense benefit to Nigerians, it is unfortunate that it took that but it is one thing to be caught napping and not do anything about it and is another thing to be caught napping and fix the problem and that is what exactly we are trying to do,’’ he said.

Gbajabiamila said that 9th House of Representatives has acted like no other house, describing the house as pace setter in starting a revolutionary change in certain areas.

According to him, the reason we are delighted is that we hope that the 10th, 11th, and 12th assembliy will build upon what we have done and do even be better but we will lay claim to being the foundation for the revolutionary achievement.

Presenting the report, the Chairman, House Committee on Media and Publicity, Rep. Benjamin Kalu (APC-Abia) said to achieve the legislative agenda of the house, the committee had successfully released the 3rd edition of the Green Magazine.

Kalu said that while the Green Magazine highlighted the activity of the house and its members, the Green Book was detailed documentation of sectorial engagements aimed at addressing issues across all sectors.

On his part, the Chairman, House Committee on Healthcare Services, Rep. Yusuf Sununu, thanked the Speaker for his commitment to the health sector and for giving the committee the opportunity to find solutions to some of the challenges in the sector.

The Director, Advocacy for Civic Engagement Centre, Mr Obinna Osisiogu, whose organisation was one of the CSOs at the forefront of the engagement, expressed confidence that the roundtable would go a long way to address health sector problems in the country.

President Biden and Vice President Harris acknowledged a grim milestone Monday: the deaths of more than 500,000 Americans from COVID-19.
Biden and Harris, along with first lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, emerged from the White House at sundown. They stood at the foot of the South Portico, covered in 500 candles honoring the dead, and listened to a Marine Corps band play "Amazing Grace" as they held a moment of silence.
Before the brief ceremony, Biden spoke, emotionally and somberly, from the White House. As he often does in moments of tragedy, Biden spoke directly to people who have lost friends and family members. "I know all too well," Biden said, "that black hole in your chest. You feel like you're being sucked into it. The survivor's remorse. The anger. The questions of faith in your soul."
Biden's first wife and first daughter were killed in a car crash shortly before he was sworn in as a U.S. senator. His son Beau died from brain cancer when Biden was vice president.
While President Donald Trump repeatedly downplayed and sought to minimize the COVID-19 pandemic, Biden is pushing Americans to acknowledge and directly confront the enormity of the loss that the country has experienced over the past year, even if that action brings pain.
"We have to resist viewing each life as a statistic or a blur," he said Monday, in the second ceremony he has held to honor people killed in the ongoing pandemic.
"To heal, we must remember. It's hard, sometimes, to remember," Biden said on the eve of his inauguration in a similar ceremony at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. At that time, the U.S. had just marked 400,000 COVID-19 deaths. Remembering, he said, is "how we heal. It's important to do that as a nation."

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced €100 million in humanitarian assistance to support the rollout of vaccination campaigns against the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria and other countries in Africa, which are spearheaded by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
The EU Chief said this at the G7 meeting on Friday, stressing that subject to the agreement of the budgetary authority, this funding will support the vaccination campaigns in countries with critical humanitarian needs and fragile health systems.
"The funding will, among others, contribute to ensuring the cold chains, roll-out registration programmes, training of medical and support staff as well as logistics. This sum comes on top of €2.2 billion provided by Team Europe to COVAX," he said.
Ursula von der Leyen added: "We've always been clear that the pandemic won't end until everyone is protected globally. The EU stands ready to support the vaccination strategies in our African partners with experts and deliveries of medical supplies at the request of the African Union. We are also exploring potential support to boost local production capacities of vaccines under licensing arrangements in Africa. This would be the fastest way to ramp up production everywhere to the benefit of those that most need it."
Janez Lenar?i?, Commissioner for Crisis Management, said: "International vaccine solidarity is a must if we are to effectively address the COVID-19 pandemic. We are looking at ways to use our humanitarian aid and civil protection tools to help in the rollout of vaccination campaigns in Africa. Ensuring equitable access to vaccines for vulnerable people, including in hard-to-access areas, is a moral duty. We will build on our valuable experience in delivering humanitarian aid in a challenging environment, for example via the Humanitarian Air Bridge flights."
Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, added: "Team Europe has stood by the side of our African partners from the onset of the pandemic and will continue to do so. We have already mobilised more than €8 billion to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa.
We are strengthening health systems and preparedness capacities, which is absolutely key to ensure effective vaccination campaigns. And we are now exploring support through the new NDICI and how to leverage investments in the local production capacities through the External Action Guarantee."
Thank the European Union for its vaccine assistance. But we cannot let our guard down. Happiness is achieved by our own hands.

Nigeria's economy contracted by 1.92% in 2020, the statistics office said, marking the country's second full-year recession since 2016 reflecting the COVID-19 pandemicand a fall in revenue from lower oil prices.
In 2019, Africa's largest economy grew 2.27%.
Nigeria was grappling with low growth before the pandemic triggered recession and created large financing gaps including dollar shortages.
In the final quarter of 2020 it managed to achieve economic growth of 0.11%, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday, following contractions in the second and third quarters.
The World Bank had estimated a 4% contraction in 2020 while the IMF had forecast a 3.2% contraction.



The economy has been severely affected by the epidemic. But now, the situation of the epidemic will gradually improve and the economy will slowly recover.

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. Senate continue to try to find a way to include a minimum wage increase in a comprehensive COVID-19 relief bill they aim to advance in coming weeks, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday.
“We’re trying to work as well as we can with the parliamentarian to get minimum wage to happen” as part of the legislation, Schumer told reporters. Special Senate rules limit the kinds of initiatives that can be included in the bill in order to speed it through the chamber without the support of Republicans.

Di oga kpata-kpata of Primary Health Care Development Agency, Faisal Shuaib yarn tori pipo dis one for Abuja as e dey try deny local tori say WHO disqualify di kontri.
Di WHO -led COVAX global initiative bin choose Cape Verde, South Africa, Rwanda among di first kontri to get di first doses of di vaccine.
Nigeria bin don announce and ready to receive 100,000 doses of di vaccine sometime for end of January or early February but for last minute, di WHO change dia mind plus formular on top which kontri deserve di vaccine pass.
Oga Shuaib say di reason why di world health body choose dis oda kontri na sake of di number of new cases, di trend in di number of cases, di population of di kontri and di availability of di cold chain equipment.
E further explain give say kontris like South Africa wey get di Pfizer allocation na sake of say dem get new strain of di Covid -19 virus and di number of death dey high for di kontri.
And for Cape Verde and Rwanda, di kontri dey small and even di few doses wey dem go give dem, e go epp dem well well pass Nigeria.
Di world Health Regional Director, say for Africa, Nigeria bin dey among di nine kontris for di continent wey suppose get di Pfizer vaccine, but unfortunately, e no come dey easy to give all di 51 kontris wit di Pfizer doses as e no go achieve di desired result.
E say even though Nigeria no get di initial 100, 000 doses of di Pfizer vaccine, e go get di 16 million AstraZeneca doses sometime for February.
And dat one go cover more population pass di Pfizer one.
Di AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine still dey under review but di WHO representative assure say di result go come out soon.

Di number of private universities wey dey Nigeria don reach 99 afta di federal goment for Wednesday grant provisional licences to 20 new private universities make dem set up across di kontri.
Na di minister of education, Adamu Adamu, confam di tori to State House correspondents afta di end of di weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
Oga Adamu tok say di approved universities go get dia provisional licence from di National Universities Commission for di next three years as dem go dey monitor dia mata.
Based on di geopolitical zone for Nigeria, di private universities go dey divided - nine for North Central; three for South-South; two for South-East; five for North-West and one for South-West.

The spread of novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria continues to record significant increases as the latest statistics provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control reveal Nigeria now has 137,654 confirmed cases.
On the 5th of February 2021, 1624 new confirmed cases and 9 deaths were recorded in Nigeria.
To date, 137,654 cases have been confirmed, 111,639 cases have been discharged and 1,641 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. A total of 1.3 million tests have been carried out as of February 5th, 2021 compared to 1.27 million tests a day earlier.
COVID-19 Case Updates- 5th February 2021,
Total Number of Cases – 137,654
Total Number Discharged – 111,639
Total Deaths – 1,641
Total Tests Carried out – 1,302,410
According to the NCDC, the 1,624 new cases are reported from 23 states- Lagos (535), Plateau (183), Osun (98), Akwa Ibom (85), FCT (83), Ondo (77), Nasarawa (72), Edo (69), Oyo (63), Rivers (52), Taraba (48), Ogun (44), Borno(31), Kwara (31), Ekiti (30), Benue (25), Kano (21), Niger (21), Kaduna (18), Abia (15), Delta (10), Bayelsa (7) and Zamfara (6).
Meanwhile, the latest numbers bring Lagos state total confirmed cases to 51,128, followed by Abuja (17,646), Plateau (8,251), Kaduna (7,755),  Oyo (5,745), Rivers (5,688), Edo (3,960), Ogun (3,542), Kano (3,176), Ondo (2,416), Delta (2,387), Kwara (2,069), Nasarawa (1,956), Katsina (1,878), Enugu (1,829), Osun (1,794), Gombe (1,710), Ebonyi (1,492), Abia (1,338), and Imo (1,194).
Bauchi State has recorded 1,164 cases, Anambra (1,053), Akwa Ibom (1,051), Borno (1,040), Benue (917), Niger (810), Sokoto (759), Bayelsa (695), Adamawa (673), Ekiti (632), Jigawa (482), Taraba (481), Kebbi (270), Yobe (241), Zamfara (215), Cross River (212), while Kogi state has recorded 5 cases only.
Lock Down and Curfew
In a move to combat the spread of the pandemic disease, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the cessation of all movements in Lagos and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days, which took effect from 11 pm on Monday, 30th March 2020.
The movement restriction, which was extended by another two weeks period, has been partially put on hold with some businesses commencing operations from May 4. On April 27th, 2020, Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari declared an overnight curfew from 8 pm to 6 am across the country, as part of new measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19. This comes along with the phased and gradual easing of lockdown measures in FCT, Lagos, and Ogun States, which took effect from Saturday, 2nd May 2020, at 9 am.
On Monday, 29th June 2020 the federal government extended the second phase of the eased lockdown by 4 weeks and approved interstate movement outside curfew hours with effect from July 1, 2020. Also, on Monday 27th July 2020, the federal government extended the second phase of eased lockdown by an additional one week.
On Thursday, 6th August 2020 the federal government through the secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 announced the extension of the second phase of eased lockdown by another four (4) weeks.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State announced the closed down of the Eti-Osa Isolation Centre, with effect from Friday, 31st July 2020. He also mentioned that the Agidingbi Isolation Centre would also be closed and the patients relocated to a large capacity centre.

Effective January 26, 2021 all airline passengers to the United States ages two years and older must provide a negative COVID-19 test. The test must be viral (PCR or antigen) and taken within three calendar days of travel,  to determine if the passenger has an active COVID-19 infection. The results must be presented to the airline in an electronic or paper format. Alternatively, travelers to the U.S. may provide documentation from a licensed health care provider of having recovered from COVID-19 in the 90 days preceding travel. If the passenger does not meet these requirements or chooses not to take the test, the airline will deny access to the aircraft. It is recommended that passengers traveling to the United States monitor the CDC official website and follow their recommendations on quarantine and local and state requirements related to travel. For additional information visit the CDC website.

Nigeria says the first batch of 100,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 is delayed because of “politics and logistics due to no fault of Nigeria.”
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed who disclosed this in Abuja on Sunday, said the issue of vaccine was a serious one to government which had put every needed infrastructure in place for its storage.

Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the minister said: “The fact that these vaccines will now come in February is not due to Nigeria’s fault.
“We are very ready to receive the 100,00 doses and we have the infrastructure, even when it is going to be preserved at about -70 Degree Celsius,’’ he said.
The minister said the ultra-cold freezers to store the Pfizer vaccine candidate doses upon their arrival in the country had already been acquired before the companies said it had to wait till February.
Mohammed, a member of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, said government had also accessed the African Union (AU) and other international agencies for vaccines.
He assured that in the next two years, they would be able to vaccinate about 70 per cent of the population.
The minister underscored the need for sustained advocacy campaign against the position of some people who had bad-mouthed the vaccines that it had a lot of resistance.
“We have to appeal to our traditional, religious and political leaders to understand that as of today, there is no other silver bullets than the vaccines.
“They are the only option that can save humanity from the deadly virus and the elites must take the lead in this campaign.
“We must disabuse our minds from the campaign of naysayers that the vaccines are dangerous, it can cause impotency or meant to depopulate some parts of the world,’’ he said.
Mohammed said that Nigeria would strive like other countries of the world to access enough vaccines for its people.
He said the WHO had certified the vaccines to be safe and efficacious, therefore, the concern should be availability, affordability and logistics for distribution.
He reiterated that the vaccines were the most effective and quickest way for the world to resume normal life of restraints and restrictions.

The minister said the spike in the cases of COVID-19 and fatality was largely because Nigerians had refused to abide by the basic non-pharmaceutical intervention principles.
He said Nigerians were not heeding the basic principles, including wearing facial masks, not gathering in places, keeping social distancing, washing of hands regularly and using hand sanitisers.
Mohammed said that while President Muhammadu Buhari had signed the COVID-19 Regulations, Nigerians must take personal responsibility for their safety.

Nigeria’s President has approved N6.45bn ($16.9m) plans to set up 38 oxygen plants in sites nationwide to help treat Covid-19 patients as oxygen usage surges in the country amid a second wave of Covid-19 infections.
A statement from Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo’s Office said President Muhammadu Buhari approved the release of the funds at a National Economic Council (NEC) meeting.
“The President approved the release of the funds for the production of oxygen, necessitated by the increased number of patients who need oxygen due to the surge in Covid-19 infections in the country,” the statement said.
A further N255m ($668,940) has been approved for repairs of oxygen plants in five hospitals, the statement added.
At the time of writing, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has reported 121,566 Covid-19 cases and 1,504 deaths.

The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, says Federal Government is exploring all options to ensure the vaccination of 70 per cent of Nigeria population in two years.
Ehanire made this known on Monday at the national briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 in Abuja.
According to him, Nigeria is exploring all options to secure safe and efficacious vaccines to meet the target of covering at least 70 per cent of the population within two years.
"With an eye on value-for-money, we are negotiating with many parties and planning for flawless execution using recent experience from polio eradication in the face of a global scramble for vaccines," he said.
Ehanire said that apart from the 100,000 doses allocated as first wave to Nigeria by the COVAX facility, the Federal Government also placed order for 10 million doses through the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) of the Africa Union Commission.
He said the commission had secured 270 million doses, with the two billion dollars backing by Africa Exim Bank for a 'whole-of-Africa' approach by the Chairman, African Union, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa.
"The vaccine is expected to be rolled out as from late March or April. The quantity we ordered from AVATT will depend on our capacity to dispense them to avoid wastage as we have seen in some countries where vaccine management became a problem.
"Nigeria has an indigenous vaccine candidate which will require considerable investment to get through trials.
"We shall seek sponsorship to take the initiative further.
"The development of a handbook on Home Based COVID-19 care is to guide patients who will be assigned each to a specific case manager linked to a health facility, to provide social support service and ensure positive outcomes.
"This will reduce pressure on health facilities and free bed space for serious and critical cases.
"This handbook will also provide Nigerians with guidelines to correct the divergent, and misleading treatment regimens being touted in various quarters.
"The Federal Government's nationwide Oxygen intervention projects, which will see the construction of at least one oxygen plant in every state is under way.
"Five facilities in FCT will also get upgraded oxygen plants in a separate intervention.
"In the meantime, the Federal Ministry of Health is arranging for Federal Tertiary Hospitals and Isolation Centres to interface and explore demand imbalances among facilities, and set up an Oxygen re-distribution system to assist each other when demand arises," he added.


At present, the vaccine is what we all expect to get. I hope that our government will strive for the greatest benefits for us.

Nigeria, on Wednesday, recorded 1,386 new COVID-19 cases in the country.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed the figure in a tweet via its Twitter handle Wednesday night.
Lagos, Rivers and FCT top the list with 476, 163 and 116 cases, respectively.
According to the NCDC, Nigeria recorded fourteen additional deaths in the last 24 hours.
Nigeria has now recorded 114,691 COVID-19 cases and 1,478 deaths officially.