Daily COVID Tracker: Nigeria reports 377 infections in 16 states, two deaths

Nigeria on Wednesday recorded 377 infections of COVID-19. Here are five updates about the pandemic this Thursday. 

US asks world leaders to vaccinate 70% of global population

The United States has asked countries around the world to vaccinate 70 percent of the global population against COVID-19 by next September.

Speaking at a virtual meeting on Wednesday, President Joe Biden pledged to donate an additional 500 million vaccine doses to poor nations.

Biden said the pandemic is an “all-hands-on-deck crisis,” that requires all high-income countries to deliver more vaccine doses to countries in need.

Japan to double COVID vaccine donations to other nations

Japan has announced plans to donate 60 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to other countries.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Japan is increasing the target from the previous pledge of 30 million doses.

“Today, I am pleased to announce that, with additional contributions, Japan will provide up to approximately 60 million doses of vaccine in total,” Suga said.

Nigeria records 377 COVID cases

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed 377 COVID-19 cases across 15 states and the federal capital territory on Wednesday.

Lagos, the commercial city, recorded 70 positive samples, followed by the FCT and Kaduna with 67 and 38 cases respectively.

Other states that recorded fresh infections are Edo (36), Rivers (28), Delta (23), Kwara (22), Ondo (18), Plateau (17), Oyo (16), Benue (12), Ekiti (10), Gombe (8), Kano (7), Imo (3), and Jigawa (2).

The agency said Wednesday’s report includes a “backlog of 2 confirmed cases for Jigawa for 16th September 2021”.

Two deaths and 231 recoveries were recorded on Wednesday, raising the fatality and recovery figures to 2,666 and 191,601 respectively.

The country now has a total number of 203,081 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

England top medic says COVID transmission highest in children

Chris Whitty, England chief medical officer, says COVID-19 transmission is currently highest in 12-to-15-year-olds and almost all unvaccinated children may get infected at some point.

“There is definitely substantial transmission happening in this age group,” Whitty said.

People within the age bracket in England are to be vaccinated.

 FDA approves Pfizer COVID booster for people ages 65 and older

The US Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorised a booster shot of the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for people 65 years and above, those at high risk of severe disease, and others who are regularly exposed to the virus.

The development comes days after FDA advisers voted to recommend the booster dose for Americans 65 and older and those at high risk of severe illness, but rejected calls for broader approval.

COVID-19 IN NIGERIA