Coronavirus
US to start large scale distribution of COVID-19 vaccine November 1
The US government anticipates that a vaccine will become available days before the Presidential election.
The United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has told states to get ready for a Covid-19 vaccine, which is expected to be ready by November 1, 2020, and asked them to remove obstacles that would prevent distribution sites from opening.
This disclosure is contained in a letter that was sent to the governors by the CDC Director, Dr Robert Redfield, a few days ago.
According to a report from Bloomberg, the CDC had in early August told states to assume for planning that limited doses of a vaccine could be available in fall. The new August 27 letter, which was first reported by the news organization McClatchy, sets the stage for a broader rollout. A spokesman for CDC confirmed the contents of the letter.
READ: GTBank revenue for H1, 2020 rises to N225.14 billion
The new letter said the Department of Health and Human Services and CDC were rapidly making preparations to implement large scale distribution of Covid-19 vaccines in the fall of 2020.
The date suggests that the United States government anticipates that a vaccine will become available some days before President Donald Trump stands for reelection on November 3, an aggressive goal that would depend on shots being tested and reviewed by then.
READ: CBN reviews minimum interest rates on savings deposit to 1.25%
Trump had previously said that he thought a vaccine would be ready by election day or soon before. He had also accused the staff of the Food and Drug Administration of slowing vaccine development to hurt him politically. These claims have raised questions about political interference in vaccine reviews.
While referring to the CDC letter, Health and Human Services spokesman Michael Caputo said it was increasingly likely that many vaccine doses would be available by January.
Caputo in an email said, “Doctors and data are driving the development of all Covid-19 countermeasures. FDA career scientists will make these calls, independent government experts solemnly devoted to assuring the safety and efficacy of all vaccines.”
READ: COVID-19: Amazon to identify, prosecute its third-party sellers over price-gouging
The CDC letter asks governors to hasten facility permit applications from Mckesson Corp., the distributor contracted by the government for the vaccine, and to waive rules that would prevent the sites from becoming fully operational by November 1.
Bloomberg reported this week that state health officials have separately been told to get distribution plans to the federal government by October 1.
Business News
COVID-19 Update in Nigeria
On the 6th of May 2021, 28 new confirmed cases were recorded in Nigeria
The spread of novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria continues to record significant increases as the latest statistics provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control reveal Nigeria now has 165,301 confirmed cases.
On the 6th of May 2021, 28 new confirmed cases were recorded in Nigeria.
To date, 165,301, cases have been confirmed, 155,424 cases have been discharged and 2,065 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory
A total of 1.94 million tests have been carried out as of 6th May 2021 compared to 1.91 million tests a day earlier.
COVID-19 Case Updates- 6th May 2021,
- Total Number of Cases – 165,301
- Total Number Discharged – 155,424
- Total Deaths – 2,065
- Total Tests Carried out – 1,939,165
According to the NCDC, the 28 new cases are reported from 6 states- Lagos (10), Rivers (7), Akwa Ibom (6), Delta (2), Abuja (2), and Kaduna (1).
Meanwhile, the latest numbers bring Lagos state total confirmed cases to 58,524, followed by Abuja (19,802), Kaduna (9,064), Plateau (9,059),Rivers (7,130), Oyo (6,852), Edo (4,902), Ogun (4,678), Kano (3,961), Ondo (3,248), Kwara (3,122), Delta (2,623), Osun (2,575), Nasarawa (2,382), Enugu (2,401), Katsina (2,097), Gombe (2,034), Ebonyi (2,030), Anambra (1,909), Akwa Ibom (1,859), and Abia (1,689).
Imo State has recorded 1,657 cases, Bauchi (1,548), Borno (1,337), Benue (1,188), Adamawa (1,103), Taraba (974), Niger (930), Bayelsa (886), Ekiti (870), Sokoto (775), Jigawa (528), Kebbi (450), Cross River (394), Yobe (390), Zamfara (240), while Kogi state has recorded 5 cases only.
READ ALSO: COVID-19: Western diplomats warn of disease explosion, poor handling by government
Lock Down and Curfew
In a move to combat the spread of the pandemic disease, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the cessation of all movements in Lagos and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days, which took effect from 11 pm on Monday, 30th March 2020.
The movement restriction, which was extended by another two weeks period, has been partially put on hold with some businesses commencing operations from May 4. On April 27th, 2020, Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari declared an overnight curfew from 8 pm to 6 am across the country, as part of new measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19. This comes along with the phased and gradual easing of lockdown measures in FCT, Lagos, and Ogun States, which took effect from Saturday, 2nd May 2020, at 9 am.
On Monday, 29th June 2020 the federal government extended the second phase of the eased lockdown by 4 weeks and approved interstate movement outside curfew hours with effect from July 1, 2020. Also, on Monday 27th July 2020, the federal government extended the second phase of eased lockdown by an additional one week.
On Thursday, 6th August 2020 the federal government through the secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 announced the extension of the second phase of eased lockdown by another four (4) weeks.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State announced the closed down of the Eti-Osa Isolation Centre, with effect from Friday, 31st July 2020. He also mentioned that the Agidingbi Isolation Centre would also be closed and the patients relocated to a large capacity centre.
Due to the increased number of covid-19 cases in Nigeria, the Nigerian government ordered the reopening of Isolation and treatment centres in the country on Thursday, 10th December 2020.
On 26th January 2021, the Federal Government announced the extension of the guidelines of phase 3 of the eased lockdown by one month following the rising cases of the coronavirus disease in the country and the expiration of phase 3 of the eased lockdown.
On 28th February 2021, the federal government confirmed that the first tranche of Covid-19 vaccines will arrive in Nigeria on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2021.
On Tuesday, 2nd March 2021, the National Primary health Care Development Agency announced the arrival of the expected COVX Astrazeneca/Oxford covid-19 vaccines.
On Saturday, 6th March 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari and his vice, Yemi Osinbajo received vaccination against the covid-19 as the State House in Abuja.
READ ALSO: Bill Gates says Trump’s WHO funding suspension is dangerous
Coronavirus
COVID-19: US Government to support vaccine intellectual property waiver
The US government has announced that it supports the waiver of Intellectual Property Protections on Covid-19 vaccine development.
The United States government has announced that it supports the waiver of Intellectual Property Protections on Covid-19 vaccine development, in a bid to boost the fight against the pandemic, and says it will participate in the Okonjo-Iweala-led WTO negotiation to make it happen.
This was disclosed in a statement by Ambassador Katherine Tai, the US Trade Rep, on Wednesday evening.
What the statement on Covid-19 IP waiver said
“The administration believes strongly in intellectual property protections, but in service of ending this pandemic, supports the waiver of those protections for Covid-19 vaccines.
We will actively participate in text-based negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to make this happen.
The Administration’s aim is to get as many safe and effective vaccines to as many people as fast as possible.”
They added that they would continue working with the private sector and all possible partners to expand vaccine manufacturing and distribution.
What you should know
Recall Nairametrics reported earlier that World Trade Organization’s Director-General, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had warned that “vaccine nationalism” could affect the much-expected pandemic recovery, as well as decimate economic growth for all countries – rich and poor.
“A very top priority for me would be to make sure that prior to the very important ministerial conference … that we come to solutions as to how the WTO can make vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics accessible in an equitable and affordable fashion to all countries, particularly to poor countries,” she added.
