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Nigeria on Monday logged 90 cases of COVID-19. Here are five updates about the pandemic.  

Zimbabwe approves Sinovac COVID vaccine for 16 and 17-years-old

Zimbabwe has approved the use of China’s Sinovac Biotech COVID-19 vaccine for people aged 16 and 17.

The country’s health ministry said the approval was given after a recommendation from specialist paediatricians, adding it is considering whether to vaccinate younger children.

The South African country is targeting to achieve herd immunity by the end of December.

Novavax COVID vaccine gets first authorisation

Novavax COVID-19 vaccine receives its first emergency use authorisation from Indonesia on Monday.

The drugmaker said it is expecting more countries to approve the use of the vaccine in a matter of weeks.

The company said it will ship doses to COVAX immediately the vaccine is approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Bahrain approves Pfizer COVID vaccine for children

Bahrain has authorised the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use for children between the ages of 5 and 11.

Citing the National Health Regulatory Authority, the government said the approval followed a study which found the vaccine to be 90.7 percent effective for people in the age group.

Nigeria records 90 COVID infections 

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed 90 COVID-19 cases across seven states and the federal capital territory (FCT) on Monday.

The states that recorded new infections are Lagos (33), FCT (15), Nasarawa (14), Cross River (11), Rivers (11), and Kano (3), Bayelsa (2), Kaduna (1).

The NCDC said the report for Monday includes 22 and 11 cases reported from Lagos on October 31 and November 1 respectively.

According to the agency, 217 persons were discharged after recovering from the virus.

The NCDC said two persons died from the virus on Monday, increasing the total number of fatalities to 2,898.

Currently, Nigeria has 212,051 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 203, 338 recoveries.

Schools reopen in Indian capital after 19 months

Schools in New Delhi, the Indian capital, reopened on Monday after about 19 months of closure due to the COVID pandemic.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) had last week announced that schools would reopen for all classes from November 1 but with certain conditions.

All schools in Delhi were shut in March 2020 following the coronavirus outbreak.