Daily COVID Tracker: Nigeria records 110 cases, and NAFDAC to produce vaccine

Nigeria on Wednesday recorded 110 cases of COVID-19. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Thursday. 

NAFDAC to manufacture COVID vaccine

Mojisola Adeyeye, director-general of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), says the agency will soon start manufacturing COVID-19 vaccine.

Adeyeye said this on Wednesday during a stakeholder interactive session organised by the house of representatives committee on safety standards and regulations in Abuja.

Speaking at the event, Fori Tatama, director, planning research and statistics, who represented the director-general said “she (Adeyeye) is currently discussing with the World Health Organisation (WHO), because the WHO is carrying out an audit of NAFDAC, which will enable the country to start manufacturing vaccines”.

She added that the “programme started on Monday and will last till Friday”.

WHO asks countries to be cautious lifting COVID-19 measures

The WHO has asked countries to be cautious when lifting COVID-19 restrictions.

Speaking at a media conference on Wednesday, Michael Ryan, WHO emergencies head, said countries must be careful not to “lose the gains you’ve made”.

“The idea that everyone is protected, and it’s ‘Kumbaya’ and everything goes back to normal, I think right now is a very dangerous assumption anywhere in the world, and it’s still a dangerous assumption in the European environment,” he said.

“We would ask governments at this moment not to lose the gains you’ve made.”

Ryan also asked countries vaccinating 12 to 15-year-olds to redirect such doses to COVAX facilities to help poor nations.

“It’s not the pediatric population that is suffering the most…It is the adults, it is the medical risk groups,” Ryan said.

Russia arrest medic for selling fake COVID vaccine certificates

Russian police say it arrested and detained a health worker in the Kaliningrad region for reportedly selling fake COVID-19 vaccination certificates.

In a statement on Wednesday, the interior ministry said the suspect issued fake vaccination certificates to more than 20 people.

The suspect could face a prison term if convicted under Russian law.

Nigeria records 110 COVID cases

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed 110 COVID-19 cases across six states and the federal capital territory (FCT) on Wednesday.

This is the highest daily count reported since the week began.

Lagos, the worst-hit state by the pandemic, recorded 88 positive samples – representing 80 percent of the total number of cases on Wednesday.

Other states that recorded new infections include Rivers (12), Akwa Ibom (4), Jigawa (2), Ogun (2), FCT (1), and Kano (1).

The agency said Wednesday’s data includes zero cases from Ekiti, Imo, Kaduna, and Sokoto.

With the latest report, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is 168,110.

No death was recorded for the second consecutive day, leaving the fatality toll at 2,122; while three persons were discharged on Wednesday.

The agency said 164,408 people across the 36 states and FCT have recovered from the infection.

Malaysia party withdraws support for prime minister over COVID

United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), Malaysia’s biggest political party, has asked Prime Minster Muhyiddin Yassin to resign from office.

Zahid Hamidi, president of the UMNO, said the party has withdrawn its support for the prime minister over his failure to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.