The severe winter weather sparked emergency declarations in about seven states, including Alabama, Oregon, Oklahoma, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Texas.
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FILE PHOTO: A test tube labelled vaccine is seen in front of AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken, September 9, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/File Photo
BY Samuel Akpan
US states delay vaccine distribution owing to winter storms
Vaccine distribution in some states and cities across the US has been slowed down because of winter storms that have left more than a third of the continental US with below-zero temperatures Monday.
The severe winter weather sparked emergency declarations in about seven states, including Alabama, Oregon, Oklahoma, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Texas.
109m Nigerians to receive COVID-19 vaccine in two years
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) says it plans to vaccinate 109 million Nigerians against the coronavirus within the next two years.
Faisal Shuaib, NPHCDA executive director, who disclosed this at the presidential task force (PTF) on COVID-19 briefing on Monday, said those who will receive the vaccine are eligible population from 18 years and above — including pregnant women who are at a high risk of contracting the virus.
“This guidance is based on the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation (SAGE). After excluding those that are under 18 years old, we plan to vaccinate approximately 109 million Nigerians that will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccination over the course of two years,” he said.
“They are: the frontline healthcare workers, support staff — including those that work in high-risk areas such as point of entry workers, rapid response teams, contact tracing teams, COVID-19 vaccination teams — strategic leadership, people aged 50 years and above, and people aged 18 to 49 years, with significant co-morbidities and additional at-risk groups.”
WHO approves AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday listed AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use.
The development is said to be so as to create more access to the relatively inexpensive vaccine for developing countries.
The AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine is said to be cheaper and easier to distribute than some rivals, including Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine which was listed for emergency use by WHO late in December.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said there will be rapid distribution of the vaccine.
“We now have all the pieces in place for the rapid distribution of vaccines. But we still need to scale up production”, he said.
“We continue to call for COVID19 vaccine developers to submit their dossiers to WHO for review at the same time as they submit them to regulators in high-income countries.”
Zimbabwe receives 200,000 doses COVID-19 vaccine
Zimbabwe on Monday received 200,000 doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccine.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the country will start vaccinating citizens this week.
“The first batch of vaccines for Zimbabwe has been successfully delivered. We start vaccinating Zimbabweans this week! The faster our country is protected against this virus, the faster Zimbabwe’s economy can flourish,” he said.
According to Worldometers, global statistics platform, Zimbabwe has recorded over 35,000 cases of COVID-19 while 30,759 recoveries has been made with 1,410 deaths.
Mobile court convicts 33 persons for violating COVID-19 protocol in Abuja
A mobile court on Monday in Abuja convicted 33 persons for breaching COVID-19 protocol.
The convicts, who were arrested for not wearing face masks in public, were arraigned for violating the COVID-19 Health Protection Regulation, 2021 signed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Some of the violators who were convicted after pleading guilty to the charges were fined N2,000 each with an option of supervised community service.
Idayat Akanni, the magistrate, said those who pleaded not guilty would be remanded in a correctional centre or fined of N10,000 each.
COVID-19 IN NIGERIA
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