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Tag: COVID-19 Vaccine

  • Joe Biden to receive second Covid-19 vaccine dose on TV

    Joe Biden to receive second Covid-19 vaccine dose on TV

    US President-elect, Joe Biden will receive his second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine on Monday, January 11, three weeks after his first injection was broadcast live on TV to boost public confidence in the jab.

    Mr. Biden, 78, told Americans “there’s nothing to worry about” when he got his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine at the Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware on Dec 21.

    His transition team said that his second jab would also be done in front of the media, without giving further details.

    On Friday, Biden slammed President Donald Trump’s administration’s troubled distribution of vaccines as a “travesty.”

    As of Friday, more than 6.6 million first doses of the two vaccines had been administered, according to the nation’s health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

    The United States is the worst affected country in the world with more than 22 million cases and at least 3,74,000 deaths to date.

  • Governors Will Take COVID-19 Vaccine On live TV – Governors Forum

    Governors Will Take COVID-19 Vaccine On live TV – Governors Forum

    The Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Governor Kayode Fayemi, has announced that governors will take the COVID-19 vaccine on live television to demonstrate to their residents that the vaccine works.

    Governor Fayemi made this known on Friday to State House correspondents after a private meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari where security, the economy and vaccine management were discussed.

    He also noted that the president has agreed to convey to the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, the need to use influencers such as religious leaders, entertainers, and athletes to engender the confidence of citizens at the state and local level.

    This, according to the governor will help to address the cultural and religious concerns around taking the vaccine.

  • Atiku reportedly receives COVID-19 vaccine

    Atiku reportedly receives COVID-19 vaccine

    Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has received COVID-19 vaccine.

    Media Mogul, Dele Momodu confirmed this on his Twitter page.

    In the post displayed, Atiku was seen taking Pfitzer COVID-19 vaccine.

    Momdu’s tweet read: “ Former Vice President, The Wazirin Adamawa, ALHAJI ATIKU ABUBAKAR receives Pfizer Covid-19 jab vaccination.”

    Meanwhile, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has disclosed that Nigeria hopes to purchase 42 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine soon.

    Executive Director, NPHCDA, Faisal Shuaib, on Tuesday said the vaccine would be obtained through the global COVAX scheme.

    He noted that the initial dose was part of Nigeria’s plan to safeguard 40 per cent of the population in 2021.

  • France Promises Faster Vaccine Rollout After Criticism

    France Promises Faster Vaccine Rollout After Criticism

    The French government, under pressure for lagging behind EU neighbours in rolling out Covid vaccinations, promised on Tuesday to dispense jabs much more quickly and catch up.

    Health Minister Olivier Veran said more than 2,000 people had been vaccinated on Monday and that the “cruising speed of vaccinations will catch up with our neighbours in the coming days”.

    The French campaign had rolled out just over 500 doses as of January 1, with critics calling that figure “a scandal” compared with the 200,000 people immunised in Germany in a similar timeframe, after the EU-wide rollout began a week ago.

    President Emmanuel Macron, under pressure to take personal responsibility, met officials including Prime Minister Jean Castex on Monday to discuss the logjam.

    “By Thursday we will increase numbers in a major way,” Veran told RTL radio, saying that “we will be on an exponential curve”.

    France would now “amplify, accelerate and simplify” its vaccination strategy, he said.

    Veran said vaccinations for people over 75 years of age who are not in care homes would be authorised by the end of January, covering five million people.

    He said the campaign would also be widened to include firefighters and home helpers over 50.

    France was currently taking delivery of 500,000 doses of a vaccine developed by Pfizer per week, Veran said.

    Once approved for the EU, 500,000 doses of a vaccine by Moderna would be added every month, he said.

    Scepticism about vaccines is making the government’s task harder.

    Just 40 percent of French want to take the vaccine compared with 77 percent in Britain, according to an opinion poll last week by Ipsos Global Advisor in partnership with the World Economic Forum.

    Veran also said that France had detected “about 10 suspected or confirmed cases” of a new variant virus strain that emerged in England, adding that authorities were watching the highly-contagious mutant virus “like hawks”.

    French health authorities on Monday reported 4,022 new coronavirus cases confirmed in the previous 24 hours, taking the total to 2.66 million.

    French deaths from Covid totalled 65,415, they said, after 380 new deaths were recorded.

  • Senate charges FG to do more on Covid-19 vaccine storage

    Senate charges FG to do more on Covid-19 vaccine storage

    The Senate has doubted the ability of the Federal Ministry of Health to effectively store and distribute the COVID-19 vaccines when they arrived in the country.

    The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, and his colleagues expressed the reservation when its leadership met with the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, and his counterpart in the Ministry of Finance and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed.

    The ministers were in the Senate to brief the leadership of the upper chamber about the Federal Government plans to procure COVID-19 vaccines worth N400bn to save the lives of Nigerians.

    The President of the Senate expressed lack of confidence in the preparedness of the Federal Government to manage the COVID-19 vaccination in the country.

    Lawan said the National Assembly was ready to support the funding of adequate vaccines to save Nigerians but that the officials of the Ministry of Health must convince the Parliament that they had adequate facilities and manpower to protect the preventive substance.

    “I have not been convinced with your presentation that we are ready to bring in the vaccines.

    You have to do much more to convince me that we are ready. This is a matter of life and death. I am not only a doubting Thomas; I’m also a doubting Ahmad.”

    The Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, also joined in expressing concern in the ability of the health officials to guarantee the safety of the vaccines.

    He said, “I am a doubting Omo Agege also.”

    The Health minister, Ehanire, however, insisted that the country, which had successfully fought polio, would use the same storage facilities (cold chains) to store the COVID-19 vaccines.

    Ehanire urged the Senate to have confidence in the plan for COVID-19 vaccine campaign.

    The minister said about N400bn would be required to vaccinate 70 per cent of Nigerians 211 million population, at $8 per person.

    He said N156bn would be needed in 2021 while N200bn in 2022.

  • Joe Biden receives COVID-19 vaccine live on TV

    Joe Biden receives COVID-19 vaccine live on TV

    US President-elect Joe Biden received a Covid-19 vaccine live on television Monday in a campaign to boost Americans’ confidence in the jabs.

    The 78-year-old incoming president got the Pfizer vaccine at the Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware. His wife Jill received the shot earlier, the presidential transition team said.

    Biden told Americans “there’s nothing to worry about” when they get vaccinated and that in the meantime they should keep wearing masks and “listen to the experts.”

    They were the latest high-profile political figures publicly joining the first wave of vaccinations aimed at stopping a pandemic that has killed almost 318,000 Americans.

    Vice President Mike Pence and his wife got vaccinations last week but President Donald Trump has yet to take part in the drive.

    The Republican leader — who has become consumed by pushing conspiracy theories that his election loss to Biden was the result of mass fraud — cites the natural immunity he is believed to already have after recovering from a bout of coronavirus.

    However, he has done little, even in terms of issuing statements, to support the campaign to overcome Americans’ vaccine skepticism. His wife, Melania Trump, has also been largely absent from the issue.

    For Biden, who will be the oldest president ever to take office on January 20, this was the first shot in the two-stage Pfizer vaccine. He said he was “looking forward” to the follow-up.

    Biden praised “the scientists and the people who put this together — frontline workers, people who were the ones who actually did the clinical work.”

    He called medical workers “amazing and incredible.”

    Biden also had some rare praise for the Trump administration, which he said “deserves some credit” for overseeing record-speedy development and production of vaccines.

    But Biden, who spoke through a double mask, cautioned that there was still a long way to go before the inoculations can really halt the virus’ spread.

    “It’s worth stating that, you know, this is just the beginning,” he said. “It’s going to take time.”

    “In the meantime,” he said, “I hope people listen to all the experts… talking about the need to wear masks” during the holidays.

    “If you don’t have to travel, don’t travel. It’s really important.”

  • Nigeria to receive 20m doses of COVID-19 vaccine – FG

    Nigeria to receive 20m doses of COVID-19 vaccine – FG

    The federal government has said that it has initiated a move to receive 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine in early 2021.

    Faisal Shuaib, executive secretary of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency who spoke at the presidential task force on COVID-19 media briefing in Abuja on Thursday December 10, noted that Nigeria is a member of COVAX, an international coalition under the WHO umbrella.

    He further revealed that upon arrival, the COVID-19 vaccines will first be given to workers in the health sector and vulnerable citizens.

    Shuaib said;

    “We are on course to access safe vaccine in the first quarter of 2021. We will be leveraging on the polio platform to ensure effective delivery of vaccines to our vulnerable population.

    “We have established a supra-ministerial advisory committee to ensure a seamless administration. A technical group meets every week and has devised a risk communication plan to deliver safe vaccines to Nigerians.”

  • COVID-19 Vaccine: UK approves Pfizer-BioNTech ahead of US, EU

    COVID-19 Vaccine: UK approves Pfizer-BioNTech ahead of US, EU

    The UK became the first western country to approve a Covid-19 vaccine with its regulator clearing Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE’s shot ahead of decisions in the US and European Union, according to Bloomberg News.

    The emergency authorization clears the way for the deployment of a vaccine that’s expected to play a significant role in the global effort to halt the coronavirus. Pfizer and its German partner said in November that the shot, relying on novel technology called messenger RNA, was 95% effective in a final analysis of clinical-trial data.

    The vaccine will be available in Britain from next week, according to a statement from the UK government.

    The UK had signaled it would move swiftly in approving a vaccine as part of an operation to protect its population, and doctors across the country were put on standby for a possible rollout. For the government, it’s an opportunity to make up for missteps during the pandemic as Britain’s death toll nears 60,000.

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  • Covid-19 vaccine ‘to be delivered to UK hospitals in 10 days time’

    Covid-19 vaccine ‘to be delivered to UK hospitals in 10 days time’

    According to reports emanating from the UK, the new covid-19 vaccine could be given to  National Health scheme (NHS) staff in the next ten days before it is rolled out to care home residents and the over-80s.

    According to the Guardian, the NHS England expect to get stocks of vaccines produced by Pfizer/BioNTech on December 7, 8 or 9.

    The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said in September that elderly people living in care homes and their staff should be vaccinated first but the new reports state that medical staff could get the vaccine first.

    Covid-19 vaccine

    The report claims that the decision to vaccinate NHS staff first was determined based on the nature of the Pfizer vaccine, which cannot be safely transported to care homes and private homes.

    The Guardian report also adds that NHS officials believe that the vaccine will become unstable and ineffective if it is moved more than four times.

    Using it at hospitals first means it will have only been in transit twice from the Pfizer production plant in Belgium to storage centers in Britain, and to hospitals where it can be administered.

    One senior hospital executive told the Guardian: “We’ve been told to expect the vaccine on December 7 and plan to start vaccinating our staff all that week.


    “However, it’s the Pfizer vaccine we’re getting, so it can’t be moved again once it gets to us and we then have to use it within five days, as that’s its shelf life.

    “The original plan was to do care homes first. But once the vaccine gets to us it can’t be used in the community, so only NHS staff will be able to have it, at least initially.”

    An executive at another hospital said to Guardian: “Officially the assumption is that the government will follow the JCVI’s advice. But in practice the NHS will vaccinate NHS staff with the Pfizer vaccine, and pretty quickly, because of its short shelf life. So it will be NHS staff who get it first.”

  • Russia: vaccine to sell for $10 globally

    Russia: vaccine to sell for $10 globally

    Russia on Tuesday said its COVID-19 vaccine candidate Sputnik V has an efficacy over 95 per cent.

    It added that it would cost less than $10 a dose in international markets.

    The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) announced the price tag for its near-ready vaccine around the same time British vaccine creators from Oxford University and AstraZeneca said their version was 70 percent effective, up to 90 per cent if dosages are adjusted, The Washington Post reported.

    The Sputnik V vaccine candidate, named after Russia’s first satellite, became the first vaccine in the world to be registered in August.

    Russia’s decision was controversial as the vaccine had not been thoroughly tested at the time, though the candidate is now undergoing Phase 3 testing with around 40,000 volunteer participants.

    Last week, American vaccine maker Pfizer – which has an efficacy of over 95 percent – filed for Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and a similar viable candidate from Moderna is slated to be submitted for approval next month.

    RDIF said the vaccine would be free for Russians, and the rollout of dosages would start in 2021. For anyone outside the country, the two-shot dose will cost around $20.

    Russian officials also claimed its vaccine candidate has greater efficacy than the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine due to the country’s proprietary technology, which it offered to share with British vaccine developers.

    Production of the Sputnik V vaccine will commence in Hungary, Brazil, South Korea, India and China.