Daily COVID Tracker: Nigeria records 69 infections — and one death

May 18, 2021 7:50 am

Nigeria on Monday recorded 69 COVID infections. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Tuesday.

South Africa commences second phase of COVID-19 vaccination

South Africa on Monday started the second phase of its COVID-19 vaccination campaign — with priority given to people aged 60 years and above.

On Sunday, Zweli Mkhize, health minister, said the country will speed up the vaccination drive as more vaccine is received.

“We will begin to vaccinate citizens 60 years and older, who are the most vulnerable for becoming ill or dying of COVID-19,” Mkhize said.

“By the end of June we expect to have received 4.5 million doses of Pfizer and two million doses from Johnson & Johnson.

In February, South Africa stopped the roll-out of the AstraZeneca vaccine, because it offered “minimal protection” against the virus variant in the country.

Thereafter, the country started vaccinating citizens with the Johnson & Johnson jab.

Brazil to receive vaccine ingredients from China

Brazil says it will receive COVID-19 vaccine ingredients from China to produce about 25 million doses of the AstraZeneca and Sinovac jabs.

Speaking at a media briefing on Monday, Rodrigo Cruz, executive secretary of the Brazilian health ministry, said the Fiocruz medical research institute will receive AstraZeneca jab ingredients on Saturday.

“The good news is that today I received confirmation that these two lots will be shipped on May 21. It’s enough to produce approximately 18 million doses,” Cruz said.

Nigeria records 69 infections

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says the country recorded 69 fresh COVID infections on Monday.

According to the agency’s update for May 27, the new cases were recorded in three states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

States that recorded new positive samples are Ondo (35), Lagos (30), Rivers (3), FCT (1).

The NCDC reported one death from COVID-19 complications on Monday, putting the death toll at 2,067.

Also, two persons were discharged on Monday after recovering from the infection.

Out of a total of 165,778 COVID-19 cases now confirmed across 36 states and the FCT, 156,415 patients have recovered.

US to share 80m COVID-19 vaccine doses globally

President Biden says the US will share 80 million vaccine doses globally over the next six weeks.

Biden who spoke from the White House, said the US will not be safe if the pandemic is not brought under control globally.

“Today, we’re taking an additional step to help the world. We know America will never be fully safe until the pandemic, that’s rising globally, is under control. No ocean is wide enough, no walls high enough to keep us safe,” Biden said.

“We’re going to bring the same whole of government response to the global effort that made us so successful here at home.

EU regulator extends storage time for Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has extended the storage conditions for the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from five days to one month.

“This change extends the approved storage period of the unopened thawed vial at 2-8°C (i.e. in a normal fridge after taking out of deep-freeze conditions) from five days to one month (31 days),” the EMA said in a statement on Monday.

EMA said the change was approved after an assessment of additional stability study data submitted by the marketing authorisation holder.

“Increased flexibility in the storage and handling of the vaccine is expected to have a significant impact on planning and logistics of vaccine roll-out in EU Member States,” the statement added.

COVID-19 IN NIGERIA