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COVOD-19

Nigerian Govt Destroys Over One Million Expired Astrazeneca Covid-19 Vaccines

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2 years ago

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The federal government has destroyed expired COVID-19 vaccines as AstraZeneca injections totalling 1,066,214 doses were destroyed.

The Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) Dr. Faisal Shuaib briefed Journalists shortly before setting out to destroy the vaccines at the Idu Dump site in the Federal Capital Territory,

He said with the destruction of the vaccines, the country was able to save about $40 million by accepting the donated short shelf-live vaccines from donor countries.

Shuaib said that the move was to further demonstrate the high standards that the agency operates within Nigeria.

“Government took the action to destroy the expired vaccines not only to safeguard the health of Nigerians, but to also engender trust in the COVID-19 vaccination campaign.

“There were about two million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines that were due for expiration last month, but that the agency was able to utilize over 60 per cent of the supplies before the expiry date.

“The agency has successfully withdrawn about 1,066,214 doses of expired AstraZeneca vaccine. The vaccines have been deposited by the Abuja Environmental Protection Agency (AEPA). We have come through on our promise to Nigerians to be transparent in our delivery of vaccines.

“These vaccines did not expire before we took the decision to withdraw them, today is an opportunity for Nigerians to have further faith in our vaccination programme because we have lived up to the expectations of all Nigerians, we had the option of taking the advice of some experts to use these vaccines even beyond the labelled expiry date, but working together with NAFDAC, we took the decision to destroy them at the point they got expired.

“This work that we do is a work that requires trust, it is a sacred trust that has been bestowed on us by the generality of Nigerians. We hold that trust to be true and we guard that trust very jealously.

“This is why today we are destroying these vaccines that have expired. The heroes of today’s activities is actually the frontline health workers.

“A few months ago when these vaccines were offered to us, we knew that they had short shelve life, but we are living in an environment that supply of COVID-19 vaccine were very scarce. They were not available due to vaccine nationalism, we had developed countries that procured this vaccines and hoarded them in their stores and at the point they were about to expire, they offered them for donations, while we appreciate the donations by these countries, we have to acknowledge the fact that they were almost expired vaccines.

“Because we wanted to satisfy and protect Nigerians, we offered to accept these vaccines, worked collaboratively with NAFDAC to ensure that the agency tested and made sure that these vaccines were in good condition and we rolled out under very difficult circumstances, we got our health care workers working night and day, staff of NPHCDA worked round the clock under extreme situations just to make sure that Nigerians have access to vaccines even when these vaccines were not available,” he said.

Shuaib said the agency have been able to vaccinate over 10 million Nigerians with the short shelf life vaccines. According to him, if the country were to wait until much later when vaccines would be widely available, may be it would not have gotten any Nigerian vaccinated.

“We still have short shelf life vaccines in the country and they are still potent, they have not reached their end of use date. We have saved Nigeria over $40 million, resources that can be ploughed into other areas of the health sector.

“We will continue to encourage our health workers and continue to work with them until we are able to vaccinate at least 70 percent of our eligible population and achieve herd immunity.

“We guarantee Nigerians that these vaccines are safe, effective and can protect Nigerians against severe form of COVID-19 and also protect against death from Covid-19. The only people that are mostly dying from COVID-19 are people who are unvaccinated, very few people that are vaccinated,” he said.

On her part, the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojishola Adeyeye said the agency was discharging its function by ensuring that expired vaccines and any other unwholesome medicine were destroyed and put out of circulation.

She explained that the vaccines destroyed yesterday were very good and potent only that they have reached their expiry date.

“Nigerians deserve the best in terms of the quality of medicines and vaccines. That was the basis of the meeting between NPHCDA and NAFDAC. When NAFDAC approves a vaccine meaning what you have seen on paper, inform of a dosage like a package of the vaccine. When we approve we wait for the vaccine to come,” she said.

Adeyeye explained that the usually life span of the vaccines as they arrive Nigeria was eight to nine months.

According to her because the country does not manufacture the vaccines before they are brought into the country, they would have only about eight months life span remaining.

She said NAFDAC keeps strictly to its core mandate by ensuring that vaccines are properly tested before usage, adding that the agency was one of the few in Africa that tests vaccines before their usage.

Adeyeye described the destruction of the expired vaccine as a means of quality control, saying it marked the end of the journey for a product.

The NAFDAC boss used the opportunity to reassure Nigerians of the hope of revamping the country’s capacity to manufacture vaccines locally in the next one year.

The highlight of the ceremony was the display of the truck load of the expired vaccines which were eventually crushed and poured into a ditch before being buried with sand.

 

 

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COVOD-19

COVID-19 Impact: Enugu Govt., Traditional Rulers Partners With AUDA-NEPAD To Empower 2,000 Farmers

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2 years ago

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January 30, 2022

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Rebuilding the nation from the debilitating effect of the Covid-19 pandemic is paramount as the Enugu State Government in partnership with the African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for African Development, AUDA-NEPAD seeks to empower smallholder farmers in the state to boost food production to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The administration of #Governor Ifeanyi #Ugwuanyi of #Enugu State has taken measures in furtherance of its efforts to cushion the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the people and the economy of the state.

Consequently, the Enugu State office of the African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for African Development (AUDA-NEPAD), yesterday, held an interactive meeting with stakeholders in the state (Traditional Rulers of autonomous communities and Presidents General of town unions) on the agency’s agricultural project aimed at empowering smallholder farmers and boosting food production to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Addressing the stakeholders, the Enugu State Commissioner for Special Duties and State Co-ordinator/Focal Person in charge of AUDA/NEPAD, Enugu Office, Hon. Mrs. Mabel Agbo disclosed that AUDA-NEPAD Continental Office in collaboration with some International Agencies took bold measures to cushion the impact of COVID-19 on the citizens by initiating the project, entitled “Innovative Strengthening of Smallholder Farmers Capabilities Towards Productive Land Restoration Amid COVID-19 in Nigeria”.

Mrs. Agbo said that “this project as the title connotes is aimed at empowering smallholder farmers in our different communities in all agriculture value chains and segments (crops and livestock) to boost their capacity for food production, especially in the aftermath of the devastating impact of COVID-19 on our economy”.

She stressed that “to reduce the negative impact of this pandemic, we must step up efforts to enhance the capacity of our farmers to provide food for the wellbeing of our citizens”.

Revealing that the African Union (AU) has set the ball rolling by providing the required money for the realization of the agricultural project, the AUDA-NEPAD State Coordinator pointed out that “our goal-oriented Governor of Enugu State, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, was equally not found wanting as he readily approved the provision of the counterpart fund required for this project”.

Mrs. Agbo, therefore, urged the Traditional Rulers of the autonomous communities in Enugu State and the Presidents General of Town Unions to ensure that lands are made available for use by the potential farmers, who she said are eager to embrace the challenges of cluster farming but do not have the requisite land space for the agricultural project in their various communities.

“As the custodians of your ancestral lands, we expect you to help by disentangling those cultivable lands under your jurisdiction that are not presently in use.

“We are also aware that in some communities, the Green Lands earlier earmarked/acquired by the government for agriculture have been encroached by land grabbers.

“We enjoin you to help us identify these lands and take necessary steps to free them for use in this project”.

Also speaking, the representative of the State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Afam Ngene, described the project as laudable, commending the AUDA-NEPAD for the initiative.

The Commissioner equally lauded Gov. Ugwuanyi for ensuring that the programme reaches all the nooks and crannies of Enugu State, for full actualization of the objectives in the interest of the farmers in particular and the state in general.

He hinted that the project has a ten years duration that will outlive the present administration both at the state and federal levels.

In their separate contributions, the Deputy Chairman of Enugu State Council of Traditional Rulers, HRH Igwe Barr. R.S.N. Eze; Igwe P.U. Agbo; Igwe Engr. Okey Ogbodo; Igwe Greg Ugwu; Igwe H.I. Eze; the Coordinating Chairman of Presidents General (PGs) in Enugu State, Barr. Paulinus Eze, and other PGs, thanked Gov. Ugwuanyi for attracting the international project to the state and promised to consult widely with their communities for the realization of the all-important programme.

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Flights From 12 African Countries To United Arab Emirates Resume on January 29

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January 28, 2022

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The National Emergency and Crisis Management Authority (NCEMA) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) revealed in a Twitter update that passenger flights from Nigeria and 11 other African countries will resume from Saturday, January 29.

Other affected countries are Ethiopia, Tanzania, Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana, and the Republic of Congo.

It added that entry procedures have been updated for flights originating from Ghana, Rwanda, and Uganda.

Travel restrictions were put in place by the Arab country in December last year, over the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

“From January 29, entry into the UAE for arrivals from Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, the Republic of South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe is allowed again.”

“Passengers arriving from the three countries must have a negative COVID-19 test which was obtained within 48 hours of departure from approved labs in their respective countries,” the tweet read.

The UAE authority also said the passengers must undergo a Rapid PCR test at the airports of departure.

On arrival in the UAE, they will be subjected to another PCR test

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COVOD-19

Over 14 million eligible Nigerians Received First Dose Of COVID-19 Vaccine

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January 27, 2022

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As of the 25th of this month, over 14 million eligible persons in Nigeria have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in the country while over 5 million eligible Nigerians had been fully vaccinated.

The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, stated this in Abuja during a media briefing on the Progress of COVID-19 vaccination in the country.

He also identified the Federal Capital Territory, Nasarawa, Jigawa, Ogun, and Kwara states as the top 5 performing states on COVID-19 vaccine uptake.

Dr. Shuaib however advocated State Governors support especially those on low performance to be charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the populace within their constituencies was duly vaccinated.

He said Nigeria has not recorded any death arising from Covid Vaccine since the commencement of the exercise in March last year.

Dr. Shuaib also said childhood immunization and other Primary Health Care services will be integrated into the mass COVID-19 campaign.

He said alongside the COVID-19 vaccines, childhood vaccines would also be available at COVID-19 vaccination sites to prevent any neglect in other health care services or even have outbreaks of childhood vaccine-preventable diseases at hand.

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