Academy Advises FG to Shut Airports to Avoid COVID-19 s Third Wave thisdaylive.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thisdaylive.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
• We Need A Combination Of Various Solutions To Stop Spread NCDC Boss
Investigation by The Guardian has revealed that most government hospitals in the country, especially in Lagos State, have been overwhelmed by upsurge of COVID-19 patients needing intensive care with oxygen support to survive.
The daily rise in cases and deaths in the second wave has made some persons and groups to call for another lockdown, as obtained in United Kingdom (UK) and other climes.
Also, The Guardian investigation revealed that there is alarming demand for oxygen in most public hospitals. It was reliably gathered that the second wave infection has brought about increase demand for oxygen at isolation centres across the country. Three hundred cylinders of gas is said to be used daily in Lagos isolation facilities, with a critical patient needing about six cylinders of oxygen within 24 hours.
Crowded Idumota in Lagos Island bursting with buyers…yesterday. PHOTO: FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI
Concerns were, yesterday, heightened that another coronavirus variant had reportedly been detected in the country following reports from the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ACDC).
If confirmed, it would be the latest mutant strain to be identified after similar discoveries in the United Kingdom (UK) and South Africa.
Head of ACDC, John Nkengasong, told reporters: “It’s a separate lineage from that of UK and South Africa.” x
He said the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) would analyse more samples.
Experts say UK variant is already in Nigeria but may not make current vaccines less effective Academy says benefits of vaccination far outweigh risks but discourage use in pregnant women
Worried about concerns over the use of COVID-19 vaccines, the emergence of mutant strains in United Kingdom (U.K.) and South Africa as well as the commencement of second wave of the virus with attendant spike in new cases and deaths, medical experts have made recommendations of how best to contain the situation.
Former Commissioner for Health and Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Jide Idris, told The Guardian: “Yes, there are reports of the emergence of mutant strains of covid-19 virus. To me, the public health efforts for containment (non-pharmaceutical interventions) should continue, more so since the knowledge is still evolving and we don’t fully know what effects the new vaccine would have on it.
Academy of Medicine Specialties of Nigeria task FG on COVID-19 vaccines
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By Sola Ogundipe
The Academy of Medicine Specialties of Nigeria, AMSN, has called on the federal government to expedite action on providing the environment for a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine for Nigerians.
In a statement made available to Vanguard, the AMSN endorsed vaccination for all eligible groups at high risk of infection from COVID-19.
“We believe that the vaccine trials and the FDA and ACIP data evaluation process have been robust and transparent. In other countries across the world, regulatory bodies have also endorsed the vaccine, and similar processes will be followed globally to evaluate each upcoming candidate vaccine.