Daily COVID Tracker: Nigeria records 45 infections, and US resume rollout of J&J vaccine

April 24, 2021 8:12 am

Nigeria on Friday recorded 45 COVID-19 infections but its fatality rate is on a decline. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Saturday.

UK to help India tackle COVID-19 pandemic

The United Kingdom says it is looking at ways to help India fight the surging COVID-19 cases.

China had also expressed a willingness to assist India in curtailing the spike in infections.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Boris Johnson, UK prime minister, said the south Asian country is “suffering so terribly” and is in need of assistance.

“We’re now in a position where we do have 30,000 ventilators, we’re able for instance to think about what we could do to help the people of India, who are suffering so terribly at the moment,” Johnson said.

India is witnessing a second wave and has seen a rapid rise in COVID-19 cases, and battling oxygen shortage for patients.

The country’s healthcare centres are reportedly filled and struggling to cope with the daily records of infections.

CDC, FDA lift pause on J&J COVID vaccine

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday lifted their recommendation for pausing the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

The agencies recommended the pause on April 13 after reports of six cases of a rare blood clotting syndrome among women who received the vaccine.

The CDC said with the suspension now lifted, vaccination can resume immediately.

“We are no longer recommending a pause to the Johnson and Johnson vaccine,” Rochelle Walensky, CDC director said.

“I support the ACIP’s recommendation that the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine be used for persons 18 years of age or older in the United States population under the FDA emergency use authorization, and I have signed this recommendation.”

Walensky added that “with these actions, the administration of Johnson and Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine can resume immediately.”

Nigeria records 45 COVID infections

Nigeria has recorded 45 new cases of coronavirus in seven states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

This was disclosed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in its update for April 23.

States that recorded infections on Friday include Lagos (26), Rivers (10), and Delta (3).

Others are Kano (2), Akwa Ibom (1), FCT (1), Kaduna (1), and Nasarawa (1).

According to the agency’s report, no COVID-19 related death was recorded on Friday— for the 11th day.

This keeps the total number of fatalities at 2,061.

Sixty-five persons were discharged on Friday after recovering from the infection.This number includes 25 community recoveries in Akwa Ibom and 18 in Kaduna state managed in line with guidelines.

Since Nigeria’s index case in February 2020, 164,633 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed, 154,643 have been discharged, and 7,949 are active cases.

Dwindling revenue stalls payment to contractors of COVID supplies

The federal capital territory administration (FCTA) says the delay in the payment of contractors for COVID-19-related supplies is due to dwindling internal revenue generation.

On Monday, contractors making COVID-19 supplies had barricaded the premises of the FCTA over alleged diversion of funds by Olusade Adesola, permanent secretary of FCTA.

Reacting to the development Adesola denied the bribery allegation, adding that one of the reasons the contractors have not been paid is the delay in the expected funds from the federal government.

“We are making serious efforts in ensuring that we get the expected funds from the federal government,” he said.

Apple to help employees get COVID-19 vaccine at its offices

Apple Inc, technology giant, on Friday said it will start a programme to help employees get voluntary COVID-19 vaccination at the iPhone maker’s offices.

According to Reuters, the company is working with drugstore chain Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc, as its vendor and will open a website for its workers to sign up for appointments.

Apple is said to be one of the first large Silicon Valley companies to launch a programme to help workers get vaccinated.

Deutsche Bank AG and Amazon Inc have launched a similar programme for employees.

COVID-19 IN NIGERIA