Daily COVID Tracker: Vaccine not mark of 666 and China refuses to give data to WHO

February 14, 2021, made it one year since the first COVID-19 case was reported in Africa. Here are five updates on the pandemic this Monday. 

Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to be tested on children

Children are now set to get a shot of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

The University of Oxford has launched a new trial to test how well the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine works in children.

According to a statement from the university on Saturday, the new mid-stage trial will determine whether the vaccine is effective for people between the ages of six and 17.

About 300 volunteers will take part in the trial expected to begin in late February, 240 children will receive the vaccine, while the rest will receive a control drug.

Andrew Pollard, paediatric and chief investigator on the Oxford vaccine trial, said it is important to establish the safety and immune response to the vaccine in children and young people.

China withheld raw COVID-19 data WHO team

The controversy of a possible cover-up of the COVID-19 outbreak in China took another dimension over the weekend.

World Health Organisation (WHO) team probing the origins of COVID-19 says China refused to hand over raw data, complicating the effort to understand how the outbreak began.

Dominic Dwyer, infectious diseases expert,  member of the WHO-led team, said they had requested raw patient data on 174 cases that China had identified from the early phase of the outbreak in the city of Wuhan in December 2019, as well as other cases, but were only provided with a summary.

He said raw data known as “line listings” would typically be anonymised but contain details such as what questions were asked of individual patients, their responses and how their responses were analysed.

“That’s why we’ve persisted to ask for that. Why that doesn’t happen, I couldn’t comment. Whether it’s political or time or it’s difficult … But whether there are any other reasons why the data isn’t available, I don’t know. One would only speculate,” he said.

COVID-19 vaccine not mark of 666

Henry Ndukuba, primate of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, says COVID-19 vaccines are not the mark of 666 as being speculated.

He described as untrue the claim that when people receive the COVID-19 vaccine, they have received the anti-Christ number 666.

“COVID-19 is real and it kills. Some people are peddling unfounded campaign against the COVID-19 vaccines; they suggest that anyone receiving the vaccine will receive the anti-Christ number 666.

“This disease is like Polio, Yellow Fever and other virus diseases that we receive vaccines to prevent. Those who are infected are being treated and many recover. We should be careful not to propagate stories that are not true and which can only be destructive to the lives of our people.”

Lagos seals off 14 facilities for breaching COVID-19 protocol

The Lagos state government has sealed over 14 facilities including event centres, night clubs for violating a curfew imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The state safety commission and the police command sealed off the affected buildings on Saturday night for “non-compliance with Covid -19 Health Protection Regulations of the State and Federal Government.”

The affected facilities include FM, Triple C, Molobi Also, DNA NightClub, Pluto Club, Sailors Lounge, Club G12, Tiger Bar, Bayrock, Jadasport, Club Ibiza, Dynasty Sports Bar and Lounge, and 10/10 Bar.

Hakeem Odumosu, Lagos commissioner of police, said the police will continue to monitor compliance across the state, adding that violators will be arrested and charge to court.

WHO marks one year of COVID-19 response in Africa

The World Health Organisation (WHO) regional office for Africa says Sunday marked one year since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Africa.

In a one minute twenty-eight seconds video posted on its Twitter handle on Sunday, the agency chronicled the timeline of response activities since the outbreak of the pandemic in Africa.

According to WHO, the first case of COVID-19 in the continent was confirmed on February 14 2020, in Egypt and since then efforts have been made to tackle the spread of the virus which has killed 98,503 people.

Today marks one year since #COVID19 hit Africa. Take a look at the continent's phenomenal response over the past year.👇🏿 pic.twitter.com/Rj2EzMfNem

— WHO African Region (@WHOAFRO) February 14, 2021

COVID-19 IN NIGERIA