Daily COVID Tracker: Infections decline as NCDC logs 89 cases, 169 recoveries

Nigeria on Monday recorded 89 cases of COVID-19. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Tuesday. 

South Africa: We won’t authorise Russian COVID vaccine for now

South Africa Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) says it will not approve an emergency use application for Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine for now because of concerns about its safety for people at risk of HIV.

There is a high prevalence of HIV in South Africa.

SAHPRA said the Sputnik V vaccine combines two separate adenovirus-vectored constructs, one relying on the Adenovirus Type 26 (Ad26) and the other on Adenovirus Type 5 (Ad5), as the delivery vehicles for the antigen.

The regulatory body said concerns have been raised about the safety of Ad5-vectored vaccines in populations at risk for HIV infection.

“SAHPRA resolved that the Section 21 application for Sputnik V by Lamar international Pty (Ltd) not be
approved at this time. SAHPRA is concerned that the use of the Sputnik V vaccine in South African, a setting of a high HIV prevalence and incidence may increase the risk of vaccinated males acquiring HIV,” the agency said in a statement.

WHO: We can’t cut corners to approve COVID vaccine

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has asked Bharat Biotech, makers of the Covaxin COVID-19 vaccine, to provide further data to consider its request for an emergency-use listing.

The global health agency said it cannot “cut corners” to approve the Covaxin vaccine, adding that it must thoroughly ensure the safety of the drug.

“We are aware that many people are waiting for WHO’s recommendation for Covaxin to be included in the #COVID19 Emergency Use Listing, but we cannot cut corners,” the WHO said on Twitter.

“Before recommending a product for emergency use, we must evaluate it thoroughly to make sure it is safe and effective.”

EU health agency reviewing Pfizer COVID-19 shot for children 

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) says it evaluating the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in children as young as five.

Pfizer-BioNTech submitted the data on young children to EMA last week.

The regulatory agency said it would review the data, including results from an ongoing study, for a vaccine known as Comirnaty.

Nigeria records 89 infections

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has reported 89 new cases of COVID-19 in the country.

According to the agency’s update for October 18, the new cases were recorded in eight states.

The states that reported new infections are Kaduna (34), Abia (22), Delta (11), Kano (8), Rivers (8), Bauchi (4), Jigawa (1), and Zamfara (1).

The NCDC said one person died of the infection on Monday, bringing the number of fatalities to 2,838.

But 169 persons were discharged on Monday after recovering from the infection.

Since the index case in February 2020, 209,387 infections have been confirmed, but with 197,312 recoveries across the country.

Russian regions introduce QR codes for access to public venues 

Several Russian regions on Monday introduced plans to keep museums and other public venues open only to those who have been vaccinated against or recently recovered from COVID-19.

The measures, the regions said, will limit the spread of the coronavirus amid the spike in infections in the country.

They introduced a QR code that shows if a person meets the criteria to access public places.