BY Samuel Akpan
Nigeria on Wednesday recorded 582 cases of COVID-19. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Thursday.
Moderna seeks US approval for COVID vaccine booster
Moderna has asked the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve the use of a third booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine.
Moderna said about 350 participants were given a third vaccine dose in a trial and that they generated a better immune response.
The drugmaker said it will submit data to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and other regulatory authorities around the world.
EU health body says no urgent need for COVID vaccine boosters
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) says there is no urgent need for booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines for fully vaccinated people.
The development comes weeks after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said more data is needed on the duration of protection after full vaccination.
ECDC said the evidence on real-world effectiveness shows that all vaccines approved in the region are highly protective against COVID-19-related hospitalisation.
However, ECDC said extra doses can be administered to people who experience a limited response to the standard regimen.
WHO identifies new COVID variant, says it may be resistant to vaccine
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it has identified a new variant of the coronavirus — labelled as ‘Mu’ — which may be resistant to vaccines.
The Mu variant is the fifth identified by the WHO — others are Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta.
In its epidemiological update published on Tuesday, the organisation expressed concern that the variant has shown some resistance to the COVID-19 vaccines, but said more studies are required to make an informed conclusion.
While the Mu variant has not been recorded in Africa, it has been identified in cases across South America and Europe.
Nigeria records 582 COVID cases
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed 582 COVID-19 infections across 15 states and the federal capital territory (FCT) on Wednesday.
The latest figure represents a decline of 7.03 percent compared to the 626 cases reported on Tuesday.
Lagos, the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, recorded 175 positive samples, followed by Rivers and Edo with 125 and 60 cases respectively.
Other states that reported infections include Delta (57), Akwa Ibom (44), Anambra (25), Bayelsa (22), Gombe (19), Ekiti (12), FCT (12), Kaduna (11), Kano (6), Benue (5), Plateau (5), Ogun (3), and Jigawa (2).
Although the number of daily infections is still on the high side, 241 patients were discharged on Wednesday, while 11 deaths were recorded.
Nigeria currently has 193,013 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 179,000 recoveries, 2,480 deaths, and 11,533 active cases.
UK to give third COVID vaccine dose immune-suppressed people
The UK says it will give a third dose of the COVID vaccine to severely immunosuppressed people to increase their chances of generating a better immune response.
The move is separate from the booster vaccine programme.
Public Health England said the decision followed data that showed 40 percent of immunosuppressed people generated low levels of antibodies from two vaccine doses.
“We want people with severely suppressed immune systems to have the best chance of gaining protection from COVID-19 via vaccination,” Wei Shen Lim, chairperson of COVID-19 Immunisation for the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said.
COVID-19 IN NIGERIA
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