The President, African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has said the travel ban on some African countries over Omicron, the new COVID-19 variant is “very unfair, non-scientific and discriminatory”. Dr. Adesina, who said this through his verified twitter handle @akin_adesina, urged the western countries to lift the travel...
Health News
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, has expressed disappointment over the United Kingdom government’s placement of Nigeria on its red list following the detection of the COVID-19 Omicron variant. “We were not very happy when six countries in Sub-Saharan Africa were placed on a red list and the...
The Federal Government has spent at least $29 million to procure the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccines in the country. This is according to the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, during an interview on Channels TV’s Sunday Politics. “We have procured Johnson and Johnson, about 40 million doses, at...
Y EZEKIEL OBI, Abuja – The Federal Government has said only about three per cent of Nigeria’s population has been vaccinated against COVID-19 largely due to poor access to the vaccine by developing countries. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said this in Madrid, Spain at...
The World Health Organization said Friday it had not seen any reports of deaths relating to the new Omicron variant of Covid-19. The WHO said it was collecting evidence about the variant of concern (VOC), as countries around the world scramble to stop it from spreading. But despite a...
African countries are stepping up measures to detect and control the spread of the Omicron variant. This became necessary as weekly new COVID-19 cases in the continent rose by 54 per cent due to an upsurge in southern Africa, said the World Health Organisation in a statement released on...
The African development Bank (AfDB) on Thursday said it had disbursed a total of 3.2 billion U.S. dollars as its contribution to combat the effects of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Africa. Prof. Kevin Urama, Acting Chief Economist and Vice President, Economic Governance and Knowledge Management, AfDB, disclosed this at the...
Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, has said the travel ban on southern African countries, due to COVID-19 Omicron variant, it a form of stigmatisation against Africa. Mahamat said this while reacting to the travel ban on the Southern Africa countries at a news conference at...
The United States on Wednesday announced its first confirmed case of the Covid-19 Omicron variant had been detected in California, in a fully vaccinated traveler who had recently returned from South Africa and was recovering from mild symptoms. Top health official Anthony Fauci said authorities “knew it was just...
South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa has called for a lifting of the travel ban imposed on his country and other sister countries. Ramaphosa said the restriction (which he termed discriminatory) should be reversed to avert long-lasting damage to the economies of the countries affected. The South African leader said...
The Federal Government has commenced the enforcement of mandatory vaccination against COVID-19 at the Federal Secretariat. As early as 7:00 am on Wednesday, security men manned the main entrance to the Federal Secretariat where they demanded either a vaccination card or evidence of negative PCR test before allowing the...
By CALLISTUS OFFOR, Abuja – The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed the first case of the Omicron variant in the country. A statement issued on Wednesday by the NCDC Director-General, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, said the three cases were linked to passengers from South Africa Recalled that...
UN Secretary-General António Guterres, has said the only way out of COVID-19 pandemic and out of unjustly distribution of vaccines is through a global vaccination plan. Guterres spoke to a meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Group of 77 developing nations (G77) and China on Tuesday at UN headquarters,...
U.S. President, Joe Biden, has urged vaccinated Americans to get their COVID-19 booster shots amidst the growing concerns about the potential threat posed by the new Omicron variant. President Biden, who made the call on Monday, also pleaded with those who have yet to be vaccinated to get their...
The Federal Government has insisted that the country is yet to record a case of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19, despite Canadian authorities’ claims that two passengers from Nigeria had tested positive. Speaking at the Presidential Steering Committee briefing in Abuja, Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease...
PATRICK ABANG, Calabar – Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade, on Monday suspended the 2021 Calabar Carnival. The Governor’s suspension of the 2021 Carnival at State Executive Council Chamber, took many by surprise as the governor had last week announced that the 2021 carnival will hold. The stakeholders meeting...
The surprising number of mutations in the Omicron Coronavirus (COVID-19) variant could signal that it originated in a patient with HIV or another immunodeficiency, a top German immunology expert said. Carsten Watzl, secretary general of the German Society for Immunology, told dpa that it was not only conceivable but...
World Health Organisation (WHO) says it still ‘not clear’ whether Omicron COVID variant is more transmissible or more severe than Delta variant. WHO, in a statement on Sunday, said that its experts, researchers in South Africa and around the world are currently conducting studies to better understand Omicron. The...
The head of the World Health Organisation in Africa on Sunday urged countries to follow the science rather than imposing flight bans in a bid to contain the new Omicron coronavirus variant. “With the Omicron variant now detected in several regions of the world, putting in place travel bans...