Category: Nigeria
Nigeria ditches AstraZeneca VaxZevria #coronavirus vaccine in favour of Johnson & Johnson
The Nigerian government has quietly ditched the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine meant to vaccinate tens of millions of citizens, and will gradually shift to the Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine, saying it is easier to administer.
Documents from the Nigerian Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) obtained by Health Policy Watch show that the agency intends to begin rolling out the J&J vaccine to almost 30 million people as soon as it can obtain the vaccine supplies.
While denying that safety concerns are an issue, the Nigerian government’s move also comes amidst growing global concerns about AstraZeneca’s efficacy against the SARS-CoV2 virus variant first identified in South Africa, as well as safety concerns that have led to the suspension of AstraZeneca vaccines for people under the age of 60 in Germany, and elsewhere.
Nigerian #coronavirus variant #B1525 isolated in Brescia, Italy. Mutations include E484K, Q677H, F888L and a similar suite of deletions to B.1.1.7.
The Nigerian variant of Covid has been isolated in Brescia. “For the first time in Italy we have isolated the virus carrying these mutations which are of concern because they could confer resistance to the anti Covid vaccines available today” explained Arnaldo Caruso, president of the Italian Virology Society and director of the Asst Spedali Civili Microbiology Laboratory. of the Lombard city which has been in the orange zone for a week and will remain so for another week.
“From the last survey, which ended on March 1, from the analysis of the variants on positive swabs causally extracted by the Lombard laboratories, it is highlighted that the English variant [B.1.1.7] is equal to 64% of the sampling on a regional basis. attended, a range ranging from 43% to 86% is observed “.
Image by Wilfried Pohnke from Pixabay
New #coronavirus variant B.1.525 with #E484K, #Q677H, #F888L and a similar deletions to #B117
International lineage with variants of biological significance E484K, Q677H, F888L and a similar suite of deletions to B.1.1.7.
Countries reported 2
Countries with sequences 10
Sequence count 102
Countries: Denmark 35, United Kingdom 32, Nigeria 12, United States of America 7, France 5, Ghana 4, Australia 2, Canada 2, Jordan 2, Spain 1
Photo by Jakayla Toney on Unsplash
New #Nigeria #Coronavirus #Variant P681H “has the 501 mutation”
A new variant of the coronavirus, P681H, has been identified, this time in Nigeria, with a separate lineage from the variants found in the UK and in South Africa, John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), said on Thursday.
“The one we are seeing in Nigeria, and this is based on very limited data yet, has the 501 mutation,” Nkengasong added, referring to the variant termed 501.V2 identified in South Africa and announced by public health officials there on Dec. 18.
The P681H variant in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, was found in two patient samples collected on Aug. 3 and on Oct. 9 in Osun state, according to a working research paper seen by The Associated Press.
Image by Miroslava Chrienova from Pixabay