Nigeria has recorded three more deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic with 477 fresh cases in the last 24 hours.
In its latest update on Friday night, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said the cases were reported in Lagos, 16 other states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The data indicates that Nigeria’s total infection from the pandemic currently stands at 203,991 while the fatality toll increased to 2,671
It also noted that four states- Nasarawa, Ondo, Osun and Sokoto – recorded no fresh cases.
The breakdown shows that Lagos remains the nation’s epicentre of the virus with 113 more cases on the log on Friday, followed by Rivers with 79 new infections and the FCT coming third with 68 cases.
In Nigeria’s South-south region, Delta had (37), Akwa Ibom (9), Cross River (7), Edo (6), and Bayelsa (2) respectively.
Other states with fresh cases include Kaduna – 68, Abia – 36, Oyo – 16, Benue – 12, Plateau – 9, Ekiti – 6, Katsina – 4, Jigawa – 3, Ogun – 1 and Yobe – 1.
Keeping Safe With Vaccination
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has thanked Nigeria’s partners and friends all over the world for their assistance since the outbreak of COVID-19, saying vaccination was the key to the safe emergence from the pandemic.
Addressing world leaders at the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA76) in New York on Friday, Buhari said the nation fully supports the COVAX initiative from which it has benefitted and is grateful to the United States, Turkey, India, China, European Union, and others for the vaccines provided.
“Despite the acknowledgment, however, I would like to reiterate my call for a fairer and more equitable distribution of vaccines to all countries so that, together, we can fight and contain the pandemic,” the President said.
“The rising wave of newer and more contagious strains makes this even more urgent; no country can afford the socio-economic implications of a prolonged shutdown. It is imperative to underscore that no one is safe until everyone is safe.”
Vaccination
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that shipments of COVID-19 vaccines to Africa must rise by seven times from about 20 million per month to 150 million each month.
Speaking during a virtual press conference, WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, said the rise is necessary if the continent is to fully vaccinate 70 per cent of its people by September 2022.
According to her, the United States pledged to share 500 million more COVID-19 vaccines to low-income countries between now and 2021, bringing its total pledges to more than 1.1 billion doses.
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