TheCable

Nigeria on Tuesday recorded 154 cases of COVID-19. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Wednesday. 

Vietnam to combine Pfizer, AstraZeneca COVID vaccines for citizens

Vietnam says it will offer the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID vaccine as a second dose to people who received the AstraZeneca shot as their first shot.

“Pfizer vaccines will be prioritised for people who were given first shot of AstraZeneca 8-12 weeks before,” the government said in a statement.

Owing to concerns about blood clots in some vaccines, some countries are already combining different brands with some experts saying it triggers a stronger immune response.

However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) described the move as a “dangerous trend”.

The agency said there is no sufficient data to support the practice.

IOC says cancellation of Tokyo Olympic not option

Thomas Bach, head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), says cancelling the Tokyo Olympics is not an option because athletes have spent considerable time preparing for the event.

Tokyo, the venue for the Olympics scheduled to begin from July 23 to August 8, has been under a state of emergency owing to the spike in COVID infections.

“We, the IOC, will never abandon the athletes, and with the cancellation, we would have lost a whole generation of athletes. So, therefore, a cancellation for us was not really an option,” Bach said in an interview with Kyodo news.

Zimbabwe to vaccinate one million people in two weeks

Zimbabwe says it plans to vaccinate one million people against COVID-19 in the next two weeks.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa disclosed this on Tuesday after extending the COVID lockdown measures by another 14 days.

Mnangagwa on June 29 imposed a lockdown to curb the spread of the virus in the country.

“Latest genomic sequencing results received last week indicate that approximately 80% of the fresh cases in Zimbabwe are now due to the Delta variant,” Mnangagwa said.

UNILAG medical centre records surge in patients with COVID symptoms

The University of Lagos (UNILAG) says there has been a recent increase in the number of persons within the university community who have presented symptoms of COVID-19 infection.

The development comes days after Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, asked residents to comply with the COVID-19 protocol, while warning of the third wave of the pandemic.

In a statement issued on Tuesday by the institution, members of the university community were advised to ensure strict compliance with the COVID-19 protocol, considering the “potential threat” of a third wave of infections.

Nigeria confirms 154 COVID infections

Nigeria recorded 154 cases of coronavirus on Tuesday.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced this in its update for July 13, 2021.

The cases were recorded in eight states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

Lagos, the epicentre of the pandemic, recorded 119 cases followed by Akwa Ibom with 11 and Rivers with 6.

Other states that recorded cases include Oyo (5), Ekiti (4), Ogun (4), FCT (2), Gombe (2) and Kwara (1).

The agency said 147 people were discharged on Tuesday.

However, one person was said to have died of COVID complications.

Since the index case in February 2020, Nigeria has recorded 168,867 cases; 164,623 recoveries — and with 2,125 deaths.