TheCable

Nigeria on Monday recorded 670 cases of COVID-19. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Tuesday. 

US approves Pfizer COVID booster shot for 12- to 15-year-olds

The US Food and Drug Administration has authorised the use of a third dose of the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children between the ages of 12 and 15.

The drug regulator also reduced the interval for booster shot eligibility from six to five months.

The agency also authorised a third shot for children aged five to 11 who are immunocompromised.

“Based on the FDA’s assessment of currently available data, a booster dose of the currently authorized vaccines may help provide better protection against both the Delta and Omicron variants,” Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said.

Danish study: Omicron bypass immunity better than Delta

A Danish study says the Omicron COVID variant is better at evading the immunity of vaccinated peoples than the Delta variant.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Copenhagen, Statistics Denmark and Statens Serum Institut (SSI), suggests the variant spreads more rapidly because it is better at bypassing immunity obtained from vaccines.

The researchers studied 12,000 Danish households and found that Omicron was 2.7 to 3.7 times more infectious than the Delta variant among vaccinated Danes.

“Our findings confirm that the rapid spread of the Omicron (variant) primarily can be ascribed to the immune evasiveness rather than an inherent increase in the basic transmissibility,” the researchers said.

Nigeria records 670 infections 

Nigeria recorded an increase in its daily COVID cases on Monday.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says 670 cases were reported across the country compared to the 573 recorded on Sunday.

The agency said the new cases were logged in 10 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

670 new cases of #COVID19Nigeria
Lagos-277
Kaduna-199
FCT-120
Kwara-20
Abia-14
Rivers-11
Gombe-9
Katsina-9
Bauchi-6
Edo-3
Cross River-2

According to the NCDC data, 828 people were discharged after they recovered from the infection.

However, six persons were said to have died from COVID complications.

The NCDC said 199 cases reported for Kaduna state are for January 1 (4); 2 (5), and 3 (10) with additional 180 cases for December 20 (65); 22 (70) and 23 (45).

It also said 120 infections reported for the FCT are for January 2 (109) and 3 (11), adding that 14 confirmed cases reported for Abia is for January 2.

The agency said 175 recoveries reported for Kaduna state are for January 1 (45), 2 (60) and 3 (70); 52 discharges reported for Abia is for January 2; while 163 recoveries for the FCT are for January 2 (4) and 3 (159) with 150 community discharges.

The NCDC added that four deaths reported for the FCT are for January 2 (3) and 3 (1).

So far, 244,120 infections have been recorded with 216,180 recoveries and 3,045 fatalities across the 36 states and the FCT.

Hong Kong to expand COVID restriction from February 

Carrie Lam, Hong Kong leader, says the government will expand COVID restriction to include venues such as gyms, cinemas and libraries from February 24.

According to Lam, only vaccinated people would be allowed into those venues.

Japan prime minister suspends visit to US, Australia before mid-January

Fumio Kishida, Japanese Prime Minister, has suspended visiting the United States and Australia for an in-person summit talk before mid-January.

Kishida said would instead focus on the COVID-19 response in his country.

Kishida had planned to meet US President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison as part of an effort to step up diplomacy this year.