Daily COVID Tracker: Nigeria records 39 cases, and Norway to introduce vaccine passport

May 8, 2021 7:34 am

Nigeria on Friday recorded 39 COVID-19 infections. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Saturday.

FCT to end COVID-19 vaccination May 14

The first phase of the vaccination campaign in the federal capital territory (FCT) will end on May 14.

Salome Tor, programme officer, immunisation services, FCT primary health care board (FPHCB), disclosed this in Abuja on Friday.

She said the FCT received 248,400 doses of vaccine from the federal government to immunise residents, adding that 96,559 people had been vaccinated as of May 6.

Norway to introduce vaccine passports in June

Norway says it will launch a vaccine certificate in early June for domestic use, while that of international travellers will kick off at the end of June.

According to CNN, the certificate will be a secure document that would indicate whether a person has been vaccinated or recently tested negative. It would also show if a person has developed immunity against the virus.

As vaccines are being rolled out by most countries to combat the deadly virus, a few countries have introduced certificates identifying vaccinated people.

But the World Health Organisation (WHO) has rejected proof of vaccination as a condition for international travel, citing “persistent inequity in global vaccine distribution”.

France adds 7 countries to mandatory quarantine list

France has added seven countries — Turkey, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar — to its list of 10-day compulsory quarantine restriction.

This brings the number of countries subjected to travel quarantine in France to 12.

The country had earlier imposed mandatory 10-day quarantine to travellers coming from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, India.

Nigeria records 39 infections

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has recorded 39 new cases of COVID-19 and zero deaths.

This was announced in the agency’s update for May 7. The new cases were reported in seven states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

Lagos recorded 23 new infections, followed by the FCT with 4 new cases, and Kano with 4 as well.

Other states that recorded new infections include Zamfara (4), Akwa Ibom (1), Gombe (1), Nasarawa (1), and Plateau (1).

According to the agency’s data, 30 persons were discharged on Friday after recovering from the virus. This brings the total number of recoveries to 155,454.

So far, 165,340 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the country with 2,065 recorded to have died from the virus.

WHO approves Sinopharm, China’s COVID vaccine

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has approved the use of Sinopharm, the COVID-19 vaccine produced in China, for emergency use.

Sinopharm is the sixth vaccine approved by the WHO against COVID-19. Pfizer/BioNTech, Astrazeneca-SK Bio, Serum Institute of India, Janssen and Moderna vaccines are five others listed by the WHO.

Announcing the approval on Friday, the WHO said the decision was part of efforts to improve access to vaccines to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

COVID-19 IN NIGERIA