Foreign

Health Official Vaccinates 30 India Students with One Syringe

By Web News 495

A health official is being investigated for vaccinating 30 students with a single syringe in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

The incident took place in a school in the Sagar district where children were being given Covid-19 vaccines.

India’s health ministry mandates a “one needle, one syringe, only one time” protocol for Covid-19 vaccines.

India has administered over 2.03bn Covid-19 vaccines so far.

Single-use disposable syringes are widely used in India to avoid the spread of deadly diseases like HIV. However, there have been multiple incidents in the past where a single syringe has been reused in hospitals due to a shortage of equipment.

Jitendra Rai, who was vaccinating the children, told the media that he was only given one syringe by the health department and he was just following orders.

Parents who had accompanied their children spotted the issue and reported it to the school authorities.

When state officials reached the school, Mr Rai was missing from the school and his phone was turned off.

The state’s health department has registered a case of negligence against him. Meanwhile, it has also started an inquiry against the official responsible for dispatching equipment for the vaccination drive.

A spokesperson from the opposition Congress party has demanded that the state’s health minister should resign over the incident.

India is the second country after China to have crossed the two-billion Covid vaccines mark. In July, the government announced a 75-day free Covid booster dose programme for all adults to mark India’s 75th independence anniversary.

According to India’s health ministry, 98% of adults have received at least one dose of the Covid vaccine, while 90% have been fully vaccinated.

On Wednesday, the country reported 18,313 daily cases for the past 24 hours and 57 Covid-related deaths.

BBC/Simeon Ugbodovon

Health

Nigeria Receives COVID-19 Vaccines, Solar Refrigerators From Japan

By Web News 634

Japanese government has donated over 859,600 doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine and 175 Solar Direct Drive Refrigerators to the Federal government.

The country made the donation to the National Primary Healthcare Development, NPHCDA in Abuja

It’s been One year since the 1st arrival of covid19 vaccine to Nigeria, which was met with a lot of uncertainty and misconceptions.

However with the solidarity around the world, vaccines are now readily available as the nation has received a lot of donations from other countries and development partners.

Donating over 800k doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine and 175 Solar Direct Drive Refrigerators, Japanese ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Matsunaga kazuyoshi said this was the third Japanese vaccine to African region.

The ambassador explained that the peculiarity of power supply in Nigeria which could affect the storage of vaccines engineered the supply of refrigerators to help the proper storage system of vaccine

The Executive Director NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib who received the item Said it would boost the bilateral relationship between Nigeria and Japan.

He thanked the government ofJapan for the support, stating that the refrigerators would help Keep the vaccines potent for childhood immunization.

The world health organization, country representative, Dr Kazadi Mulombo Congratulated Nigeria for the scale up of vaccination to 200k doses daily aimed at reaching the 70% target of its population by June.

NANCY ANIKAEZIE

Health

Ondo Govt. Confirms Receipt of Covid-19 Vaccines

By Web News 643

Ondo State Government has received seventy three thousand, five hundred and seventy doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines from the Federal Government.

The Executive Secretary of the board, Dr Francis Akanbiemu confirmed this to Positive FM in Akure

Dr Akanbiemu said the vaccine was delivered yesterday evening through the Akure Airport and was received by officials of the Ondo State Primary Health Care Development Board on behalf of the state government.

He noted that the vaccination would be launched today by Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu where he is expected alongside his deputy, Mr Lucky Ayedatiwa to receive shots of the vaccine.

Dr Akanbiemu hinted that the vaccination would commence for residents in designated facilities on Friday.

He urged the people of the state to embrace the vaccine to reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19. 

Last week, Nigeria took delivery of about four million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines as part of an overall 16 million doses planned to be delivered to the country in batches over the next few months.

Bukola Bardi