Daily COVID Tracker: Nigeria records 52 infections as Omicron variant hits US

Nigeria on Wednesday recorded 52 cases of COVID-19. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Thursday. 

Lai: Low vaccination rate affecting fight against COVID

Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, says the poor vaccination rate in developing countries will negatively affect the fight against COVID.

Mohammed, who is currently in Spain for the 24th general assembly of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), said countries should be able to access COVID vaccines without any form of discrimination.

“‘Even before the clinical trials were completed, millions of doses of the most promising vaccines have been bought by Britain, US, Japan and the European block countries,” he said.

“Some of these countries bought doses five times the size of their population.”

WHO expects more information on Omicron transmission

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it expects to have more information on the transmissibility of the Omicron variant within days.

The index case of Omicron was detected in South Africa last week, after which WHO designated it as a “variant of concern”.

Speaking at a briefing on Wednesday, Maria van Kerkhove, WHO technical lead on COVID-19, said there is not much information regarding the transmissibility of the new variant because it is still in its “early days”.

UK secures 114 million Moderna, Pfizer COVID doses

The United Kingdom (UK) says it has reached a deal to buy 114 million Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine shots.

The deal is an additional 60 million Moderna shots and 54 million Pfizer vaccine doses for 2022 and 2033 and also includes access to any modified shots, if needed, to combat the Omicron variant.

“These new deals will future proof the Great British vaccination effort which has so far delivered more than 115 million first, second and booster jabs across the UK and will ensure we can protect even more people in the years ahead”, Sajid Javid, the country’s health minister, said.

Nigeria records 52 infections

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has reported 52 infections in six states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

According to the agency’s update for Wednesday, Lagos reported 29 cases, followed by FCT with 12 infections while Kaduna recorded 4 cases.

Other states that recorded new infections are Bauchi (3), Kano (2), while Ogun and Oyo recorded one case each.

The agency said eight persons recovered from the infection, increasing the total discharged figure to 207,312.

Meanwhile, one person was said to have died of COVID complications.

Nigeria now has 214,270 confirmed cases with 2,978 fatalities.

COVID: US records first case of Omicron variant

The United States has confirmed its first case of the Omicron COVID variant in California.

Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said the variant was detected in a traveller who returned from South Africa on 22 November.

“We knew it was just a matter of time before the first case of Omicron would be detected in the United States,” Fauci said.