Coronavirus
Nigeria set to receive 1.4 million doses of MTN-donated vaccines
The Presidential Task on COVID-19 has stated that Nigeria will soon take delivery of 1.4 million doses of vaccines donated by MTN.
The Federal Government has announced that Nigeria is about to receive 1.4 million doses of vaccines donated by MTN. The FG also announced that India plans to donate 100,000 vaccines to Nigeria.
This was disclosed by the Health Minister, Dr Osagie Ehanire, at the daily PTF briefing on COVID-19, in Abuja.
The Minister said that the first batch of the MTN vaccines would be delivered before the end of the month, and the rest would be completed by March 2021.
“The balance of 900,000 doses for Nigeria is expected by the end of March 2021. Other sources of vaccines are under negotiation,” he said.
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The Minister also disclosed that the Indian Government planned to donate 100,000 vaccines to Nigeria.
“I received a message from His Excellency, the High Commissioner of India, giving 100,000 AstraZeneca or covishield vaccine doses, also by the Serum Institute of India, as a gift of the government of India to Nigeria.
“These gestures of goodwill and partnership are appreciated by the people of Nigeria,” he said.
The Minister urged that all vaccines entering the country must pass through the Federal Government.
“It is important to stress that all COVID-19 vaccines carry a certain amount of risk and any vaccine not approved by the Federal Ministry of Health through its agencies cannot be used in Nigeria.
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“The government will not be responsible for the safety or efficacy of vaccines given outside the framework of the government. All the needs of Nigeria have been carefully calculated by NPHCDA and it is possible to accommodate all interests in the framework,” the Minister said.
He added that Nigeria had completed its account opening with the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team.
“With regards to the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team, AVATT, Nigeria this morning completed her account opening.
“It was signed by two officials each, of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance, Budget & National Planning, at Afrexim Bank as a requirement for access to vaccines on that platform,” he added.
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What you should know
MTN announced last month that it made a donation of US$25 million to support the African Union’s COVID-19 vaccination programme.
- The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, had earlier announced that the first batch of 15 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, which is from AstraZeneca under the COVAX programme, is expected to be available from February.
- This is coming after the African Union (AU)’s African Vaccines had allocated 42 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to Nigeria.
- Also, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, said the Nigerian government expected over 41 million vaccines from the African Union before the end of April, as it also expected to source vaccines from India and Russia.
- The UK Government has revealed that the Global Vaccine Alliance (GAVI) had announced that Nigeria would be one of the first countries to receive 16 million free doses of Covid-19 vaccines through the COVAX Global Vaccines Facility.
- BUA Group revealed that it had purchased a million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines for Nigeria, with delivery to be made soon.
Coronavirus
COVID-19 Update in Nigeria
On the 25th of February 2021, 634 new confirmed cases and 6 deaths 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 154,476 confirmed cases.
On the 25th of February 2021, 634 new confirmed cases and 6 deaths were recorded in Nigeria.
To date, 154,476 cases have been confirmed, 131,699 cases have been discharged and 1,891 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. A total of 1.49 million tests have been carried out as of February 25th, 2021 compared to 1.44 million tests a day earlier.
COVID-19 Case Updates- 25th February 2021,
- Total Number of Cases – 154,476
- Total Number Discharged – 131,722
- Total Deaths – 1,891
- Total Tests Carried out – 1,489,103
According to the NCDC, the 634 new cases are reported from 22 states- Lagos (259), Osun (45), Edo(38), Ogun (35), FCT (33), Anambra (26), Imo (24), Ondo (24), Akwa Ibom (20), Plateau (20), Abia (19), Kaduna (19), Ebonyi (17), Borno (10), Rivers (10), Kano (9), Delta (8), Kebbi (7), Nasarawa (4) Oyo (3), Enugu (2) and Ekiti (2).
Meanwhile, the latest numbers bring Lagos state total confirmed cases to 55,122, followed by Abuja (19,115), Plateau (8,854), Kaduna (8,422), Oyo (6,708), Rivers (6,398), Edo (4,491), Ogun (4,277), Kano (3,716), Ondo (2,944), Kwara (2,875), Delta (2,539), Osun (2,326), Nasarawa (2,208), Gombe (2,031), Katsina (2,029), Enugu (1,998), Ebonyi (1,839), Anambra (1,615), and Abia (1,487).
Imo State has recorded 1,440 cases, Akwa Ibom (1,439), Borno (1,247), Bauchi (1,221), Benue (1,188), Niger (912), Ekiti (797), Sokoto (768), Bayelsa (767), Adamawa (762), Taraba (712), Jigawa (496), Kebbi (358), Yobe (268), Cross River (267), Zamfara (219), while Kogi state has recorded 5 cases only.
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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.
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Coronavirus
Covid-19: Nigeria’s COVAX supplies on its way soon – Okonjo-Iweala
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala has stated that Nigeria’s COVAX vaccine supplies are on the way.
