Health

A shortage in the supply of monkeys may slow down the development of COVID-19 vaccines that are still in the early stages of development in the United States. This scarcity could be a major obstacle to the vaccine moving to the next stage. The scarcity of the primates in the country was revealed by The Atlantic magazine on Monday, August, 31. Scientists in the United States are particularly worried, with around 35,000 monkeys used in experiments there every year.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had yesterday announces 221 newly recorded cases of the coronavirus in the country, lowest in the last three months. The Health agency made this known yesterday through its official tweeter handle. According to the trend, the record marks the lowest figure in the health agency record in the last three months.

Billionaire Bill Gates and African richest business mogul, Aliko Dangote have hailed the declaration of Nigeria and Africa by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as polio-free. Yesterday, 25th August 2020, WHO declared Nigeria and the rest of Africa as a polio-free nation. The WHO African Region Certification Commission said the major milestone was achieved four years after the last incident recorded in the country. In his verified tweeter handle, Gates tweeted that, it is a remarkable achievement and we are close to global to polio eradication. He stated, “Today, we move one step closer toward a world without polio. This is an incredible milestone that’s worth celebrating. It is also an important reminder of what we can accomplish when we work together toward a common goal.”

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has on Tuesday announced that the African Continent is free from the Poliomyelitis, also known as "wild poliovirus" after the last confirmed case re-emerged four years ago in Northeastern Nigeria. The official declaration is set to take place in a videoconference led by the Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adham Ghebreyesus, and global dignitaries and philanthropist including, Microsoft's Bill Gates are expected to be in attendance.

US. President Donald Trump on Sunday, announced emergency authorization of blood plasma from recovered coronavirus patients as a treatment for those battling the disease, following its approval by the US Food and Drug Administration, FDA. The development was described by President Trump as "a historic breakthrough." One of his top health officials said it was a "promising" development, but other experts have cautioned that the treatment needs further evaluation before it should be celebrated.

Five months after Nigeria confirmed its index case in Lagos state, the country has yesterday crossed the 1000 persons on its death record. The index death was first recorded on March 22, 2020. According to the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) as of August 23, 2020, five additional persons were confirmed to have died of the coronavirus complications pushing the death toll to 1,002.