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Tag: COVID-19 Vaccine

  • COVID-19 vaccine may be available in 6 months — NCDC

    COVID-19 vaccine may be available in 6 months — NCDC

    The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, says there are a lot of ongoing programmes on the COVID-19 vaccine research and that a vaccine may be available within the next six to 12 months.

    Speaking on Thursday during the virtual weekly briefing of the African Centre for Disease Control, he said the country recorded between 500 and 700 confirmed cases of COVID-19 every day.

    Why coronavirus test results are delayed – NCDC COVID-19: Nineteen potential vaccines under clinical trial — WHO He said the country had not experienced an explosion of cases as predicted by some models during the initial days of the outbreak.

    Dr Ihekweazu said Lagos accounts for about 30 per cent of the cases in Nigeria because of its large population and influx of international travellers into the country at the onset of the outbreak, among others.

    The NCDC boss said Nigeria had so far tested 250, 000 persons for COVID-19, adding that the figure was however not large enough for the country’s population.

    He said the country now has 60 molecular testing centres across the country.

    “We initially didn’t have enough molecular testing centres. But now we have 60 molecular testing centres. 85 percent of the 36 states of the country now have testing centres and we intend to cover the remaining six states by next week,” he said.

    He said NCDC would continue to improve the sensitivity of the country’s surveillance system, adding that it would also increase focus on Infection, Prevention, and Control (IPC).

    While enjoining the populace to stick to health guidelines against COVID-19, he said prevention was key in Nigeria’s response to the disease.

    According to him, Nigeria’s response also relies on science and not some unscientific claims screamed over microphones. Also speaking, the Director, Africa CDC, Dr. John Nkengasong, enjoined all African countries to establish centres for disease control, saying COVID-19 had shown that every African state needed one.

    He said as of today, 55 Member States in Africa have reported 891,199 cases of COVID-19 and 18,884 deaths, giving a case fatality rate of 2.1%. He said, “There have been 540,872 recoveries.

    In the past week, there was a 15 percent increase in cases, with 118,868 new cases reported, an average of 16,981 new cases reported per day. The average daily new cases for the previous week were 17,587.” Related

  • Obasanjo, 139 other world leaders demand free COVID-19 vaccine

    Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo is among 140 current and former world leaders calling for “a people’s vaccine” against the coronavirus (COVID-19).

    The leaders signed a petition on Thursday in which they urged all governments to push for a free COVID-19 vaccine for all when developed.

    President of South Africa and Chairman of the African Union, Cyril Ramaphosa; his Senegalese and Ghanaian counterparts, Macky Sall and Nana Akufo-Addo, respectively, are among the signatories.

    The petition was initiated by the Joint UN Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Nations agency dedicated to eradicating the HIV/AIDS virus.

    Obasanjo, who led Nigeria as a civilian Head of State between 1999 and 2007, is a member of the Champion for an AIDS- Free Generation.

    In the petition, the leaders demand that when a COVID-19 vaccine is developed, it should be made available free of charge to all.

    According to UNAIDS, the demand is the most ambitious position yet by world leaders “on what has become the most urgent quest in modern science”.

    The petition came ahead of a virtual meeting of the World Health Assembly, the world’s highest health policy making body comprising health ministers from UN member states, holding on May 18.

    “We are calling on Health Ministers at the World Health Assembly to rally behind a people’s vaccine against this disease urgently.

    “Governments and international partners must unite around a global guarantee which ensures that, when a safe and effective vaccine is developed, it is produced rapidly at scale and made available for all people, in all countries, free of charge.

    “The same applies for all treatments, diagnostics, and other technologies for COVID-19,” they said.

    The petitioners noted that the world would be safer only when everyone could benefit from the science and access a vaccine, “and that is a political challenge”.

    “We must heed the warning that ‘those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it.

    “We must learn the painful lessons from a history of unequal access in dealing with disease such as HIV and Ebola.

    “But we must also remember the ground-breaking victories of health movements, including AIDS activists and advocates who fought for access to affordable medicines for all,” they said.

    Other signatories include former President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Gordon Brown.

    The demand comes as the world searches for a vaccine against the novel virus.

    As of Thursday morning, the disease had infected no fewer than 4.4 million people and killed more than 300,000 others, according to the World Health Organisation(WHO).

    On April 24, the WHO in collaboration with world leaders launched what they call Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator.

    ACT Accelerator seeks to speed up the development, production and equitable distribution of COVID-18 drugs, tests kits and vaccines around the world.

    The petitioners called for a mandatory worldwide sharing of all COVID-19-related knowledge, data and technologies with a pool of COVID-19 licenses freely available to all countries.

    “Countries should be empowered and enabled to make full use of agreed safeguards and flexibilities in the WTO Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health to protect access to medicines for all

    “We call for an agreement that establishes a global and equitable rapid manufacturing and distribution plan, that is fully-funded by rich nations, for the vaccine and all COVID-19 products and technologies that guarantee transparent ‘at true cost-prices’ and supplies according to need.

    “Action must start urgently to massively build capacity worldwide to manufacture billions of vaccine doses,” they demanded.

    The leaders also called for urgent steps to recruit and train millions of paid and protected health workers needed to deliver them.

  • Trump to Americans: COVID-19 vaccine coming sooner than later

    Trump to Americans: COVID-19 vaccine coming sooner than later

    President Donald Trump said on Sunday he thinks there will be a vaccine against the new coronavirus disease in the United States by the end of 2020.

    “I think we’ll have a vaccine by the end of the year. We’ll have a vaccine much sooner rather than later”, Trump said in the Fox News virtual Town Hall at the Lincoln Memorial.

    Trump also said that he would like schools and universities in the country to open in September.

    “This virtual teaching is wonderful, but [students] will be fine. We have to go back”, the US president said.

    The United States remains the country with the largest number of cases (1,156,924) and the highest COVID-19 death toll (67,451), according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University (JHU), which tracks and compiles data from federal and local authorities, media and other sources.

    Globally, the number of coronavirus infections has surpassed 3.5 million, according to JHU. The global death toll from COVID-19 stands at over 247,100. The number of recovered individuals is more than 1,1 million.

    At the end of April, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed that a vaccine against the coronavirus, when developed, should be universal and available for every individual across the world.

    The University of Oxford in England started clinical trials of its coronavirus vaccine last month.

    The head of Russian virology research center Vektor, Rinat Masyukov, said at the start of April that the first stage of coronavirus vaccine clinical trials in Russia would begin in June.

  • FG warns Nigerians against consumption of made-in-Kano Covid-19 vaccine

    FG warns Nigerians against consumption of made-in-Kano Covid-19 vaccine

    The Federal Government has warned Nigerians against consumption of a fake made-in-Kano vaccine produced in Kano Sate for the treatment of the Novel Coronavirus.

    Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed gave the warning Tuesday in Abuja during the daily briefing of the Presidential Taskforce on Covid-19.

    He said; “In the absence of vaccine or drugs, Non-Pharmaceutical Intervention NPI remains the most effective way to contain the spread of the disease and protect Nigerians.

    By the way, you must have heard of the vaccine being hawked in Kano which is called ‘Covid-19 Vaccine’. It is yellow in colour.

    It is not certified by anybody. Please, do not patronize the hawkers. “In the meantime, the National Broadcasting Commission NBC has taken steps to prevent misinformation via the broadcast stations by warning them to adhere strictly to the professional ethics of balance and fairness in reporting COVID-19.

    “In particular, the Commission has warned the stations against bringing on their programmes ‘panellists’ with agenda to make reckless statements and insinuations”.

    Minister of State for Health, Sen. Olorunnimbe Mamora on his part disclosed that the Federal government has deployed teams in all states currently afflicted by the pandemic.

    He said; “the national rapid response team (RRTs) supporting the COVID-19 response in each affected state and 23 RRTs have been deployed. “With community transmission, we are doing active case search in communities.

    This strategy requires more testing kits and diagnostics. Currently, we are assessing additional laboratories for accreditation and will announce more laboratories soon”. Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abubakar also disclosed of efforts by his ministry to decontaminate several airports in the country, saying a lot of public places in Abuja have been decontaminated in conjunction with the Federal Fire Service.

  • BAT working on potential COVID-19 vaccine through US Bio-Tech subsidiary

    BAT working on potential COVID-19 vaccine through US Bio-Tech subsidiary

    British American Tobacco (BAT) is developing a potential vaccine for COVID-19 through its US bio-tech subsidiary, Kentucky Bio Processing (KBP).

    The vaccine is now in the pre-clinical testing phase and if it goes well, BAT is hopeful that, with the right partners and support from government agencies, between 1 and 3 million doses of the vaccine could be manufactured per week, beginning in June 2020.

    While KBP remains a commercial operation, the intention is that its work around the Covid-19 vaccine project will be carried out on a not for profit basis

    The vaccine in development uses BAT’s proprietary, fast-growing tobacco plant technology which has several advantages over conventional vaccine production technology

    Firstly, it is potentially safer given that tobacco plants can’t host pathogens which cause human disease. Then it is also faster because the elements of the vaccine accumulate in tobacco plants much more quickly – 6 weeks in tobacco plants versus several months using conventional methods.

    A further plus is that the vaccine formulation KBP is developing remains stable at room temperature, unlike conventional vaccines which often require refrigeration.

    It also has the potential to deliver an effective immune response in a single dose.

    Dr David O’Reilly, Director of Scientific Research, BAT said: “We are engaged with the US Food and Drug Administration and are seeking guidance on next steps. We have also engaged with the UK’s Department for Health and Social Care, and BARDA in the US, to offer our support and access to our research with the aim of trying to expedite the development of a vaccine for Covid-19.

    “Vaccine development is challenging and complex work, but we believe we have made a significant break-through with our tobacco plant technology platform and stand ready to work with Governments and all stakeholders to help win the war against Covid-19. We fully align with the United Nations plea, for a whole-of-society approach to combat global problems.”

    “KBP has been exploring alternative uses of the tobacco plant for some time. One such alternative use is the development of plant-based vaccines. We are committed to contributing to the global effort to halt the spread of Covid-19 using this technology.”

    BAT’s US subsidiary, Reynolds American Inc, acquired KBP in 2014, with the aim of using some of its unique tobacco extraction technology to aid further development of its new category non-combustible products.

    In 2014, KBP made headlines as one of the few companies with an effective treatment for Ebola, having manufactured ZMapp™ with California-based company Mapp Bio Pharmaceuticals in partnership with the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

    KBP recently cloned a portion of COVID-19’s genetic sequence which led to the development of a potential antigen – a substance which induces an immune response in the body and in particular, the production of antibodies. This antigen was then inserted into tobacco plants for reproduction and, once the plants were harvested, the antigen was then purified, and is now undergoing pre-clinical testing

    BAT is now exploring partnerships with government agencies to bring its vaccine to clinical studies as soon as possible. Through collaborations with government and third-party manufacturers, BAT believes that between 1 and 3 million doses per week could be manufactured.